Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
Our Lord Placed So Much Emphasis on Joy
“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials.” James 1:2
Our Lord placed so much emphasis on joy that we might do well to ponder on it awhile. It is not the same as happiness that comes and goes according to whether we are pleased or not. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, and the Spirit lives in the believer always. There may be heartache and troubles that blow hard against the joy flame, but these things cannot extinguish it. “Weeping endures through the night, but joy comes in the morning.”
A joyful heart cannot hate, and neither can it do a neighbor wrong. Joy refuses to let us stay in the dumps. “Your grief will be turned to Joy.” John 16:20
A servants heart is a joyful heart. Jesus’ last lesson before Calvary was that we serve one another in humility so that our joy may be full.
Joy is not the absence of troubles and trials, but the nearness of God.
“My heart can sing when I pause to remember
A heartache here is but a stepping stone,
Along the trail that’s winding always upward,
This troubled world is not my final home.
But until then, my heart will go on singing,
Until then, with Joy I’ll carry on…”
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
