Maintaining Joy

How do you feel today?

Are you JOYful?

Sad?

Tired?

Full of expectation?

Does the promise of a new week excite you?

Make you anxious?

Or depressed?

The Holy Bible says that God wants to give us JOY unspeakable, even in the midst of our day-to-day problems. (1 Peter 7:8)

I like the way The Message translation of the Holy Bible explains it:

“I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.”

But with all of life’s pressures, how do we maintain our JOY, our laughter, and our singing?

The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians that one way was to keep themselves from excess, stay full of the spirit, and speak to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. (Ephesians 5:18-20)

Another way is to let the word of God dwell in your hearts. Meaning, think about God’s word and let it soak in your spirit, etc. Also, the Apostle Paul says, “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus." (Colossians 3:15-17)

Jesus himself gave a clear path to joy in John 16:23-24:

“…Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

But how does all this translate to our lives in a practical sense?

Starting every day with prayer and Bible reading will lay a good JOY foundation. I usually read my Bible while having my morning coffee and then spend at least 30 minutes talking and praying to God, worshipping Him, inviting Him into my day, and telling Him about my concerns.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, circumstances crash into our lives that threaten to steal our JOY.

Whenever I am going through a particularly stressful time at work, I write out a JOY Scripture or some other verse from the Bible that speaks to my struggle and put it in a prominent place on my desk. This simple act of meditating on God’s word nourishes my spirit and feeds my JOY because every time I look at it, I am reminded of God and His promises.

I also have a JOY Playlist on my Ipod that I use frequently at work.

Listening to upbeat worship songs helps me to focus on the greatness of God and this, in turn, feeds my JOY as I realize that there is nothing in my life too big for God to handle. (Jeremiah 32:7)

The words I use also determine my level of JOY.

The Holy Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21)

The Message translation of this verse sums it best:

“Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.”

As you can see, there are many ways to maintain our JOY.

I’ve offered a few JOY MAINTAINERS that work for me but would like to hear how you maintain your JOY on a day-to-day basis.

Leave a comment and join the conversation so that all our JOY may be full.