Day 24-Joy


10 If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.  John 15:10-11 AMP
When you delight in the Lord, you remain in His love.  As a result, you become joyful.  Joy is the Greek word chara, meaning joy, gladness, or a source of joy.  It is from chairo: cheerfulness, calm delight, gladness.
When you study biblical joy, most scholars say it is not based on circumstances or how you feel.  Joy is the awareness of God's love, grace, and favor in every situation.  It is that calm delight in the middle of a storm.  It is when you know everything is going to be alright because God has you covered.
Even though joy is not a feeling or emotion, true joy will trigger them.  That is when your joy is made full, complete, and overflowing.  It is experiencing God's love and grace.  It is seeing God's favor work in your situation.  When joy is full, a calm delight fills your soul. As you see your circumstances affected by God's grace and favor, your joy is complete.  When joy is overflowing, it results in happiness, cheerfulness, and gladness.
 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines joy as the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: Delight.
The prospect of possessing the desires of your heart should fill you with joy.  As you take the time to delight yourself in the Lord, determine to obey and remain in His love.  It is His joy and delight to see that your joy will be full, complete, and overflowing.

Take a look at the desires you wrote down at the beginning of this month.  What stage is your joy at for each of those desires?  Is it full, complete, or overflowing?  Write down your expectations of each step in relation to those desires.  What does your joy look like when it is full?  What will it look like when it is complete?  How will you express your joy when it is overflowing?

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