Happy last Saturday of 2025. I am actually quite happy to see this year come to an end. I am a firm believer that every day is a new beginning but sometimes we need the gift of a new calendar starting and to be able to close the door on the past. This has been an incredibly rough year in so many areas. There are years that things may be rough at work, but not so much at home or with friends, and vice versa, this year, the hard times seem to be coming from every direction. Last night, I was visiting with Robert about having joy. He made the statement that I always seem to have joy and I hadn't really thought about it but I realized he was right. I am definitely not always happy, but joy is not happiness. I feel joy is that ultimate peace and contentment that can only be found through that strong, stable relationship in Jesus.
Psalms 16:11 says, "You make know to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy". I decided as this year ends and the new one begins, we would do a quick "joy check".
I lost yet another friend this week. When we were in high school, he was Editor-in-chief of our school paper. He loved to write and wanted to be a reporter and he succeeded. So, paying a bit of homage to my friend David, We are going to do this in reporter style, lets look at the who, what, when, where and why of joy.
Who:
True joy comes from God. Sometimes in the form of God, sometimes through Jesus and sometimes through the Holy Spirit but it always comes from God.
Nehemiah 8:10 says "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
John 15:11 says "I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete" (Jesus speaking)
and even in the account of Jesus' birth, the angels said, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."
and then Galatians 5:22 points out that one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy".
What:
So, what exactly is joy? Is it happiness? No. Joy is that deep contentment that just makes life bearable even in the bad times. Joy is knowing that when a friend dies and you know they were saved, that even though you miss them, you know they are truly in a better place and you will see them again. Joy is knowing that everything is going to be alright even when you brain is not seeing how. Joy is peace that truly makes no sense.
Joy is truly knowing your past is in the past in God's eyes.
Please remember though, true joy and happiness are not the same thing. The dictionary even says joy is "great happiness" but I feel joy is great peace and you can have true joy and not be happy at that moment.
When:
Life steals our joy, the devil steals our joy and puts guilt in its place. The name of this blog is louder than the voices and that is because I have struggled for years with listening to the devil put me down. And let me tell you, as I said a couple weeks ago, the harder you work for God, the harder the devil works for you. When I don't eat the way I am supposed to, and the scales go in the wrong direction the devil has me convinced that it is stupid to try to be something I am not. The detrimental, self-hate comes in waves and my thoughts are to give up. Stop getting up at 4 in the morning to work out, stop trying not to eat what I am not supposed to and just stop trying, but God thankful steps in and reminds me, this isn't true. BIG POINT HERE. I know where to go when I am feeling like that. My Bible. Because I know being with God will bring my joy back.
If you aren't feeling true joy, come back closer to God. When we were young, do you remember how a bad day could melt away from a hug from your parents, when we get married, that would happen in the arms of our spouse. Andrew knows when I have had a bad day, to meet me at the door and wrap his arms around me and just hold me. When we go to God, he wraps his love around us and the peace comes.
Where:
That actually leads into this one, the where is wherever God is. I feel the greatest stealer of joy is guilt; guilt over things done in our past. And lets really think about that for a moment. Someone already died for those sins, to take that guilt away, right? Jesus paid it all. ALL. A.L.L. So, when the creator of the universe has already taken care of that sin, he sat it on a shelf and covered it up with Jesus' blood. don't you think you should do the same?
Yesterday is gone, it's done and over and not a single one of us can take back what we did or said, so why even think about it? Why dredge it up? Sometimes I see God up there putting his face in his hands and saying, "why are you bringing this up again?" I took care of that, I gave my son's life for that, why is that not enough for you?
And okay, I know, some of that is easier said that done, as I said, the devil gets in my way too. Right now, it feels like more than ever, but when you know it is just because you are making a difference for God, you have the tools to put him in his place.
And then the Why.
Why:
As I have said repeatedly, I don't feel like joy is happiness, I feel joy is deep-seeded contentment. We sing Joy to the World, and what is that joy stemming from? Jesus' birth. Why? because truly our Savior was born. Salvation is the key to true joy. I find joy in knowing that the ones nearest and dearest to me are waiting for me when I die. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is an eternity and that someday, I will be reunited with those I love most in this world. If you don't understand that or don't believe that, I really want to talk to you.
Jesus can't erase your past but He covered it with His blood. That means there should be no more guilt. It happened. God covered it. Move on, thanking Him beyond measure for taking that guilt and sin and shame away.
Have you ever seen someone testifying what God did in their lives, how He cleaned them up and put them on solid ground? Have you ever once thought, "they should be ashamed of themselves for doing that in the first place"? I doubt it, I never have, I am always just thankful that they found God and He saved them from all of that.
So, this has been a very different lesson from me but this one was very much lead by the Holy Spirit.
I don't do this often anymore but I am leaving you with a song. It is called I Thank God.
I feel like this song embodies the spirit of joy.
He picked me up, he turned me around, he placed my feet on solid ground. I thank the Master, I thank the Savior. I thank God.
Get up, get up, get up, get up out of that grave.----God is giving you full permission to stop burying yourself in your past. It is time to live for Him and live for all the blessings He wants to pour over you.
He made you, He loves you and He wants to see you have that true peace, that true joy.
Happy New Year.
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