Discover True Joy

I told a Vietnamese woman that our God is a happy God. She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. “What religion did you say that is?”

Christianity is the only religion that has a happy God continually desiring to do us good. Other religions envision their gods as angry and always in need of appeasing. But we have a God who is singing over His people with joy.

To come to Jesus is to come to a joyful celebration! Jesus said the invitation to come into His kingdom is like being invited to a wedding banquet. He’s calling us into fellowship with a God who is exceedingly joyful. 

But we can say we are a follower of Christ and still not find true joy .

One night I overheard a man say, “Life is the pits. I don’t have a life.” The lady beside him agreed. “Yes, life is the pits.”

I thought, That’s true. They don’t have Jesus. He is our life.

 A few days later I heard two Christians making a similar statement. I thought, Lord, why is it that Christians would say such a thing?

These words came to me and I felt there was sorrow in them: “My people are looking for joy in the same places nonchristians look for joy.”

An old song titled “Fellowship With Thee” says:

“Earthly things are paltry show, 

Phantom charms, they come and go:

Give me constantly to know

Fellowship with Thee.”

The secret of the deepest joy is learning to enjoy Christ, letting Him be all to us. Only then are we truly “in Christ” and His joy is in us.

Dear Father, give me wisdom to recognize when I am substituting earthly pleasures for the joy of fellowship with You.

“The mirth of the wicked is brief; the joy of the godless lasts but a moment” (Job 20:5).