My sweet little grandchildren brought me over some cookies this morning…
I smiled and took a bite of the cookie they brought…
”Yummmm…did you really make these with mom?”
They both grinned from ear to ear.
What makes you happy?
If you asked my grandson he would answer…”cookies”. Then my granddaughter would interrupt to say…
”No…No…I like making the cookies with mom”. Now that is happiness…spending time with mom making cookies.
But joy now that is a bit different.
Happiness is based on our current situation… and it’s result.
Joy...on the other hand is a...centered contentment... a deep delight...a beautiful bliss
not dependent on outward circumstances.
You see if they had added salt by accident to the batter of dough, there would have been no smile with the first bite.
Their happiness would have faded.
Joy...on the other hand...is true satisfaction and pleasure.
It starts as a whisper in our heart…but then wells up into an overflowing contentment.
This fulfillment comes from the internal aspect of our faith-based relationship with the Lord.
As the cookies got gobbled up…we were on to the next event of the day…out to the green house to plant seedlings. Because our happy event of eating cookies was done they were looking for the next happy moment with grandma.
"No one can get Joy by merely asking for it. It is one of the ripest fruits of the Christian life, and,
like all fruits, must be grown."
- Henry Drummond
I smiled and took a bite of the cookie they brought…
”Yummmm…did you really make these with mom?”
They both grinned from ear to ear.
What makes you happy?
If you asked my grandson he would answer…”cookies”. Then my granddaughter would interrupt to say…
”No…No…I like making the cookies with mom”. Now that is happiness…spending time with mom making cookies.
But joy now that is a bit different.
Happiness is based on our current situation… and it’s result.
Joy...on the other hand is a...centered contentment... a deep delight...a beautiful bliss
not dependent on outward circumstances.
You see if they had added salt by accident to the batter of dough, there would have been no smile with the first bite.
Their happiness would have faded.
Joy...on the other hand...is true satisfaction and pleasure.
It starts as a whisper in our heart…but then wells up into an overflowing contentment.
This fulfillment comes from the internal aspect of our faith-based relationship with the Lord.
As the cookies got gobbled up…we were on to the next event of the day…out to the green house to plant seedlings. Because our happy event of eating cookies was done they were looking for the next happy moment with grandma.
"No one can get Joy by merely asking for it. It is one of the ripest fruits of the Christian life, and,
like all fruits, must be grown."
- Henry Drummond
I had them fill 4” x 4” pots with soil
and then I placed a sprouted seed in each one of their palms.
I showed them the root and we carefully tucked the seed with its root into the warm soil.
As they gently patted it in the soil,
we talked about how the root would grow and provide for the seed until it grew its leaves.
As I have walked this path as a believer I have come to
understand that my joy…rooted in the Lord…cannot be taken away from me.
Why?
Because it has it’s roots deeply and forever planted in the truth of His love for me…
which in turn develops my love and devotion for Him.
This relationship has become my everlasting source of joy…
happiness comes and goes…
but my joy is forever and ever in the Lord!
understand that my joy…rooted in the Lord…cannot be taken away from me.
Why?
Because it has it’s roots deeply and forever planted in the truth of His love for me…
which in turn develops my love and devotion for Him.
This relationship has become my everlasting source of joy…
happiness comes and goes…
but my joy is forever and ever in the Lord!
1 Peter 1:8-9,
“You love him, although you have not seen him,
and you believe in him, although you do not now see him.
So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express,
because you are receiving the salvation of your souls,
which is the purpose of your faith in him.”
(GNT)
Caprice <><
“You love him, although you have not seen him,
and you believe in him, although you do not now see him.
So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express,
because you are receiving the salvation of your souls,
which is the purpose of your faith in him.”
(GNT)
Caprice <><
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