Christianity is a relationship of joy. Genuine joy originates from God, who has invaded us, conquered us, and freed us from endless demise and trouble—who has given us expectation and joy because He has spilled out His love inside our souls by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us (Rom. 5:5). Joy originates from God, not from the inside.
When we search inside of us, we just get miserable. We have joy just when we look outside ourselves to Christ. Without Christ, joy isn't just elusive, it's difficult to discover. The world frantically looks for joy, but all in the wrong places. In any case, our joy comes because Christ looked for us, discovered us, and keeps us. We can't have joy separated from Christ, because it doesn't exist. Joy isn't something we can evoke.
Joy isn't the nonattendance of bitterness—it's the nearness of the Holy Spirit. What's more, in spite of the fact that the Holy Spirit produces joy inside us, He frequently does as such by lowering us with the goal that we would take our eyes off ourselves and fix our eyes on Christ. Genuine joy exists even in the midst of genuine bitterness, and genuine joy doesn't generally mean there's a grin on our appearances.
It once in a while implies we are on our knees with tears of atonement. Charles Spurgeon conceded, "I don't know when I am more splendidly upbeat than when I am sobbing for transgression at the foot of the cross."
Joy comes in atonement and forgiveness and by every day seeking Christ and living for His radiance, not by seeking self and living for our wonderfulness. Be that as it may, in the event that we experience every day bearing the disgrace of yesterday and the nerves of tomorrow, we will never encounter the joys of today.
So let us generally rush to raced to the cross to look for the joy that no one but Christ can give, for attempting to discover joy separated from Christ resembles endeavoring to discover day without the sun.
Christ was a man of distresses and familiar with melancholy all together that we may have completion of joy, now and for eternity. This is the reason the main answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism shows us that "man's central end is to celebrate God and to enjoy Him until the end of time." C.S. Lewis properly said that "joy is the serious business of heaven." But having genuine joy that originates from enjoying God isn't something we will encounter just in heaven.
It is the thing that we encounter now. For the best joy in this life is to realize that our most prominent joy isn't in this life yet in the one to come. We experience every day in light of our desire for the future, when Christ "will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and demise might be not any more, neither should there grieve, nor crying, nor torment any longer, for the previous things have passed away" (Rev. 21).
Also, when we see Christ, He will dry each tear from our eyes—not just our tears of pity, but rather our tears of joy too. Else, we could never have the capacity to see Him. Thanks for stopping by!
