Funny what motivates me when I do my blog postings. Today it was a video of a girl and a street musician.

Looking around at the peoples faces and lives, its easy to see all the pain of the world that is on their shoulders and in their hearts. I do think we all have our own pains and struggles. But that shouldn’t be the reason to take our joy when we know the Lord. There have been many times I just want to hit something or throw my arms in the air and give up. Thankfully those are fleeting moments. If we really look around us, we can see joy.. Joy can come in many forms. And at times we may miss it if we only look at the pain and struggles.

Today while I was watching the video on wimp.com, I was reminded of this. It all starts with a cello player, I think he was that is standing on the sidewalk and a young girl puts her coin in her hat. He begins to play. What happens after that is nothing less than pure joy, happiness and love. Check out this video. It will bring joy to your heart and maybe tears to your eyes. I sure can read a lot into a a couple minute video, lol…

I know from my own personal experiences that it can be hard to find our Joy when we are going through difficult circumstance in our lives. And at the same time I know that the only choice I have to surrender it all to God and He will be there and things work out. There is no amount of money, possessions or other worldly things that will give me the kind of joy that God can give me. There is no comparison. Now I’m not saying that money isn’t important and that we don’t need things to survive. But I am saying these things can’t be what dictates what real joy is. They are all temporary things, while God is forever. This is a great verse to remember when we think about true joy that can only be because of God.

(Habakkuk 3:17-18). When we look to anything or anyone other than the Lord to satisfy us, we will not discover true joy. We may find a measure of happiness, pleasure in the moment, but not real and lasting joy.

Then I think about a young lady that is a cousin of mine. Her name is Page. I have never met her and just became acquainted with her because of my Uncle George passing away. This young lady has very much been affected by the passing of her grandfather. I didn’t know him very well, but because of her, I got to see the love and joy she had. I can also see the pain and struggles she is going through. But then at the same time, she is relying solely on God alone and not what the world says. Yes, she has her moments like we all do.

Pages real joy is in the Lord. And that is the kind of joy any one of us can have if we believe and accept Christ as our Savior. Her father, my first cousin is a pastor and it is awesome to read their messages and see the love and joy they have in the Lord.
It is heartbreaking to see all the pain people go through. And many times I do understand that they made the bed they are lying in. But they don’t have to stay there and wallow in it. Real joy and peace is something that God has provided for all of us. I’m not saying that life will be perfect and we will never be hurt or hurt others. Joy is essential in bearing life’s burdens. And we all have burdens, but we can choose how we respond to them. Are we going to respond in despair or in joy? For me, joy is something everyone needs and I depend on to have strength to live my life for Christ.

In Nehemiah 8:10 it says; Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Jesus says, “…that My joy might remain in you….” It’s not joy that comes and goes. It is joy in the good times, the bad times, the nighttime, the daytime, the rainy day, and sunny day. We’re to rejoice in the Lord always. And Jesus didn’t say these words lightly. He was facing a dark time when He instructed us to have His joy.

I’m going to end this here since I have a way of going on and on and my blogs becoming a book almost, lol.

in John 16:33 Jesus says, “These things have I spoken unto you….”, so it only makes sense to see what He has just spoken. There, we will find a recipe for joy.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is when Jesus said in Luke 10:20, “Rejoice that your name is written in heaven.” Now of course if your name isn’t there, that would be a good reason to despair and if you are reading this and breathing, you might want to know what you have to do in order to be assured of where you will be when your time on earth is done. Anyone is free to message or comment. And if I don’t have the answer, I will try to point you in the right direction. But I can say, the only real and honest answer is through Christ Alone. There is NO OTHER WAY.