Prayer: Pray for God to open our eyes to his truth:
Open my eyes, Lord
I want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch Him
And say that I love Him. Amen![1] – Robert Cull
Associative Scriptures: Read Psalms 5:11, NKJV.
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You (Psalms 5:11, NKJV).
And these things we write to you that your joy may be full (1 John 1:4, NKJV).
Correlative Quotes:
“Maybe you have seasons of happiness when everything is going well, but trouble inevitably returns, bringing stress and discouragement. For a believer, such experiences are deeply troubling because this doesn’t seem like the abundant life Christ promised”[2] – Charles Stanley
So, here’s the definition I’ve come up with from studying Scripture: Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation. You’ll find nothing in that definition about happy feelings, because, as we all know, happiness is fleeting and temporary.[3] – Kay Warren
Happiness is a cosmetic; it is on the outside. Joy is character; it is on the inside. Happiness only meets your surface needs, but joy meets your deepest needs.[4] – Adrian Rogers
Study:
Certain words belong to Christianity like salvation, resurrection, faith, and eternal life. Joy is one of those words. The world system may use the word joy but only as a synonym to the word happiness. Simply put, the worldly equivalent to the word Joy is happiness.
To us as believers, happiness and joy are not the same things. Happiness is external and temporal. Joy is internal and eternal. Happiness is a feeling that is motivated by the actions or events around us. As a result, when the object of our happiness disappears so does the feeling.
For example, it is a beautiful, sunshiny day and as we walk in the soft breeze, we feel happiness because of our external environment. Then suddenly the wind picks up, the clouds get dark, and it begins to pour down rain. We have no umbrella. We get soaked. Our happiness disappears and becomes either anger or sadness at the change in our environment. That’s happiness; it comes and goes since it is
externally caused and temporal.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB).
Christians can experience both happiness and joy, unbelievers, cannot. This is because joy is not a feeling, it is a gift from God. Since unbelievers do not have the presence of the Holy Spirit they cannot experience the gifts of the Spirit. Therefore, they cannot feel joy, nor can they understand it.
Since Joy is a gift to us from God and we cannot be separated from Him (Romans 8:38-39), nothing can cause us to lose our joy. In the direst of circumstances, we can fall back on our joy allowing us to survive through hardship.
In the sunny day, rainy day scenario, when the rain begins, we lose our happiness, but we still keep our joy. The joy that tells us that we belong to God and no matter the external circumstances all things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28) and His glory. Enjoy happiness when it comes along, however, celebrate joy for it is eternal, not temporal.
Five things you might want to remember about Philippi
Three things seem particularly special about this short letter. First, its key word is "joy." The words "Joy" and "rejoice" occur again and again and suggest a helpful strategy for the book's study.
Second, Philippians contains one of the most powerful New Testament affirmations of Christ's deity and lordship. Jesus who was God from eternity emptied Himself to become a man and, after suffering death, was raised again to His original glory and given a name above every name: Lord.
Third, Paul shared his own personal goal in life, his yearning for a present experience of that transformation which will be ours at the resurrection.
How great an opportunity we have, to learn from this short, but warm and powerful review of what we have in Christ.
Old Testament uses of joy cast the word in terms of the worshiping; community's response to God. Relationship with Him is the key to joy.
The New Testament uses a Greek word indicating both a state of joy and that which brings us joy on a personal level.[6]
Happiness is the quality or state of being temporarily satisfied.[7] Happiness is an emotion. Happiness then is dependent on outward circumstances. It is short-lived.
Joy is the position of contentment based on our relationship with God. Joy is an attitude of the heart not necessarily a feeling. A person can experience joy when there is a complete absence of happiness. Nehemiah 8:10, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (NASB)
Joy is a salvation experience, we are filled with joy at the point of our salvation (Psalm 51:12). It is also expressed in our relationship with Jesus (Romans 5:11). Finally, we experience joy through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit that is our only source of our joy (Galatians 5:22).
We cannot experience joy outside of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He alone provides us with joy.
We cannot experience joy’s power when we are not in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Since joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit, we reflect these fruits through our lives. We can only experience that joy when we are in a right relationship with the Spirit through repentance.
We find joy through a living, deep, and continual relationship with Jesus. In John 15:10-11 Jesus tells us, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. “
We also find joy from answers to prayer. In John 16:24 (NKJV) Jesus says, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Jesus wants us to have a full and joyous life through prayer.
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Through our Salvation, the Holy Spirit lives in us. He brings to us God’s great power. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of His working in us. It is the fruit of the Spirit not our fruit. When we experience one of the fruits of the Spirit and/or others recognize it in us, we are expressing God’s Spirit and His works not anything that we have done.
The Spirit expresses himself through us. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV) that, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law Jesus was impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see in Luke 10:21, “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.”
We are also motivated and spurred on to action by the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 1:6 (HCSB)says “and you became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with the joy from the Holy Spirit.”
Furthermore, Joy is not of this world system and its rewards: Even though mankind continually searches for happiness they will never quench that thirst. What they are really searching for is Joy. Joy is not a result of material possessions but is a consequence of Salvation and obedience to God:
Joy is not determined by external circumstances it is a result of our relationship with God. 2 Corinthians 7:1-4 (HCSB) tells us that, “since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God. Joy and Repentance.”
Deeper joy is a reward for a deeper relationship with Christ. Those who find no joy in their lives but only occasional happiness, need to look at their relationship with Jesus. 1 John 1:4-8 (NKJV) says, “And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. Fellowship with Him and One Another.”
Joy in the believer is a direct work of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit to work in believers, they must be obedient to God through Him. Obedience fulfills our responsibility to God.
Steps to obedience:
Summary Statement:
Personal happiness has its inception in self-fulfillment and never give us long-term satisfaction. Whereas Joy is a gift from God. Enjoy the gifts that are eternal not temporal.
Lessons within the Lesson:
What brings happiness in your life?
What brings joy into your life
How is happiness expressed?
How is joy expressed?
[1] Robert Cull, © Copyright 1976 Maranatha! Music/CCCM Music (ASCAP)(both admin. by Music Services). All rights reserved. Used by permission
[2] Charles Stanley, The Empowering Emotion of Joy, In Touch Ministries, www.intouch.org/magazine/content/topic/ the_empowering _emotion_of_joy #.VNRC2Z3F_sY.
[3] Kay Warren, Choose Joy: Because Happiness isn’t Enough, Baker Book Group, copyright 2012, http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/the-definition-of-joy
[4] Adrian Rogers, The Difference Between Happiness and Joy, Love Worth Finding Ministries, copyright 2013, http://www.lwf.org/site/
[5] Robert P. Lightner, information presented adapted from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved, no actual qutoes
Bruce B. Barton, D.Min., Mark Fackler, Ph.D, Linda K. Taylor, David R. Veerman, M.Div.,
The Life Application Commentary Series Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
[6]Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006
[7] Dictionary.com, dictionary.reference.com/browse/happiness?s=t.
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