Other Voices
Surpass earthly happiness
Gary Toole
There's a little song learned as a child, "I've got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, up in my head, down in my feet. I've got joy, joy, joy, joy all over me. All over me to stay!"

A lot of people confuse happiness with joy. Especially in this materialistic secular world. They talk about being happy.

If you are successful you will be happy. If you are wealthy then you are happy, but what they don't realize is, happiness is not joy.

Happiness is superficial, but joy is down in the heart. Joy is divine.

Joy is that warm peaceful feeling you have deep down in your soul in the midst of adverse circumstances. In the times when you are not happy by the world's standard.

Joy comes from the Lord. From being personally acquainted with him. It is one of the fruits of the spirit.

Happiness is just for a season. It's temporal, but real joy can last forever. It is there in the darkest times of your life.

It can take you even through the very shadow of death and that peaceful soothing-comforting joy will keep you from fearing any evil, because you know the Lord is with you.

Joy in the midst of the storm and joy in spite of the storm.

In the Bible when they were stoning Steven he certainly was not happy, but oh he had a peace, a joy that passeth this old world's understanding.

A joy that made him say, " I see Jesus standing at the father's right hand."

Then the love of God that goes hand and hand with joy made him ask the lord not the hold this sin of stoning him to their charge, in other words he had a forgiving heart.

Only the joy and the love of God can do that.

Can you say amen?

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