Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

joy

Finding Joy

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Do you find yourself a little less joyful these days than you have been in the past? Life seems harder than it used to be, civility is difficult to find, and decorum seems to be a relic of the past. From news reports and social media to common experiences in our everyday lives, the world is teeming with anger, despair, and outright evil. It’s understandable we may experience a lack of joy in such a world.

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Against this backdrop, we must reconcile our feelings with the Apostle Paul’s admonition to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). Considering these words, how and where can we go about finding joy and peace for our souls in these dark days? I assure you that hope is not lost and indeed, if we are faithful, joy will come again tomorrow (Psalm 30:5).

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Happiness is Obedience

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People spend an inordinate amount of time seeking happiness. It occurs to me they are searching without a plan or any understanding of what happiness actually is. I think most people figure they will know happiness when they find it, but that’s a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. If you want to be happy, wouldn’t it be better to define what that means before embarking on the journey?

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The Bible gives us a good definition of happiness in John 13:17, where Jesus says, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” Looking back further in the passage, we see the “things” Jesus is referring to are the teachings and commandments He has given them. When we obey God, the joy that brings will bless us. To be blessed is to be happy. Therefore, happiness is obedience to Christ.

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All We Need

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Jesus is all we need. If we have Jesus, nothing else matters. Everything we work for in this life is going to go away. Nothing lasts except the eternal grace and love of Christ. The moment we try to find peace, joy, and rest anywhere other than Jesus is the moment we will become frustrated and angry.

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The world can and does offer a plethora of attractive options in which we can imbibe, but only Jesus satisfies. If you have Jesus, everything you need and desire is already within you. It’s time we stopped looking outside to find contentment and begin focusing on the Savior within our hearts.

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Complete Joy

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When we come to Christ, a joy we have never known fills us. We want nothing but more of Him. Over time, that joy may wane. Following Jesus is not an emotional journey, it is a journey of truth. The emotions we experience from knowing Christ are exhilarating, but in the end, it is not the emotion we seek. We seek only Jesus. Still, the emotional highs propel us in His Name to do work for His Kingdom.

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So, how do we continue to find joy when the struggles and trials of day-to-day living weigh us down? How do we find complete joy in a world intent on crushing us? The Bible shows us the way, and it is not about manufacturing emotion or attending events designed to elicit an emotional response from us. No, the way to reignite our joy is by sharing it with someone else (1 John 1:4).

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Days of Trouble

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What are we to make of this world today? Political unrest, divisiveness, viruses, and no one seems overly happy. What side should we take? What is our duty as Christians? Our duty is the same as it always has been. We are to seek God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). James told us to keep ourselves unentangled with the world (James 1:27). The Apostle John told us we must not love the things of this world (I John 2:15).

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I think one reason we feel such stress and frustration today is that we had gotten overly comfortable with the world. Now that the world is changing, we’re upset because our focus has been on the world instead of Jesus. He never changes. If we had kept our focus on Him, much of what is occurring in the world today would not phase us.

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