Advent Week 3 JOY

Joy: great happiness; delight.
a source of happiness

Happy: fortunate.
having, displaying, or marked by pleasure or joy.
fitting; appropriate.
pleased and willing

I am finding it really interesting to examine our language and how we are using our words. Week 3 of advent brings us to a week we are dedicating to joy. Websters' II gives us the above definintion which brings me to the word happy, again see above definition.

Interesting to see how God wants us to feel these things, as He made us to feel Joy. He even tells us how in Proverbs 12:20 "There is deciet in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace." To promote peace eh? hmmmmmm.....

Reminds me of the week which went before. Promoting peace brings us here, to a celebration of Joy. A remembering of the Joy that has been and the anticipation of the Joy that is to come. Of course the Joy that is to come here in our lives as we know them now, is only one aspect to the anticipation, with the Joy we will one day know throughout eternity as another thought to keep us all alligned to a bigger focus.

I have been reading an interesting book "The Rest of God, Restoring your soul by restoring Sabbath" by Mark Buchanan. He writes about giving up of ourselves and our wants to do what is needed or wanted by others. "But joy is found here." is what he writes explaining how God will bring us to joy if only we would follow His lead.

How hard we work and toil to find ourselves empty and definately not feeling Joy! A little pissed off as well if this is something we should be able to achieve, something we should be able to feel, and yet are so far removed from this sensation that we will question the very existance of such an emotion. We forget that we sometimes need to give up ourselves to achieve this, God will bring us there, if we follow His lead! If we give up ourselves (once again) we will experience something GREAT; great happiness as a matter of fact. JOY.

Proverbs 14:10 "Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy"

Bitter: having or being a sharp, unpleasant taste
causing or manifesting sharp physical or mental pain or discomfort.
caused by or exhibiting strong animosity

Sounds like the opposite of Joy to me! If we choose to learn about ourselves, about what is realy in our hearts, we will recognize the pain that is there. When we choose to no longer live in that pain, when we can move on to letting go of it and letting God deal with it, no one will be able to experience the Joy that will fill us in our hearts when it happens.

To celebrate peace we can begin inside ourselves, letting God love us and showing us how to love others. This seems to be a natural course to fall into celebrating Joy. As we promote Peace we will find Joy.

Who would have thought?!

Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may over flow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

As we trust, rely, on God he will fill us with Joy and Peace. As we hope in Him, (He is our Hope), as we give up ourselves to God, He gives us all what we can not give ourselves.... Joy and Peace.

One sermon I heard described joy as recognizing Gods' presence. If we are the center of our lives it is hard to see beyond our wants and needs. When we choose to give up ourselves we can see Gods' greatness, we can see His presence, we can let go of our wants to make room for someone else. We can experience joy. We can be filled with it.

I wish you all Joy as we enter the new year.

Nicole