Get Joy

My baby sister, Joy, is fourteen years younger than me.  I remember when she began to toddle around, it was a family effort to keep up with her. Countless times a day someone would ask, "Where's Joy?"

How many times a day do you ask yourself, "Where's joy?"  I'm talking about the Joy of Christ.  It does seem to scatter when trouble shows up, doesn't it!  Trouble rarely gives early warnings: those situations that explode, those testy relationships that push too much, those peaceful days in which conflict materializes, those plans that are melted into uncertainty – they usually just barge full-speed into our lives.  Our circumstances can change like the wind, and will likely do so. Joy becomes obscure unless it is anchored in something more solid than circumstances.  Romans 14:17 says the kingdom of God is "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Unless you begin each day reading the Bible, praying to God, and submitting to His Spirit, Joy will be absent all day.  David Jeremiah writes, "Christian joy is the deep, settled peace that comes to live within your heart when you know that the really important things are all right."  That

"settled peace" is what we desire most.  Friend, this is not rocket-science; it is nothing new, and it is the bottom line for knowing real Joy. I challenge you to begin each day right: Get Settled -- Get Joy.