“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” - John 15:9-12
Father God loves us to the fullest and unconditionally. God is love and we should not be surprised that Jesus says that He loves us just as He is loved by His Father. The more we obey God, the more we prove our love to Him and the happier we become. As we try to please those that we love and we love to see them happy and smiling, we should also want to please God, to abide in Him all the time, to obey His leadership and to constantly communicate with Him through the Holy Spirit.
Obeying the command of loving one another, is also beneficial for our own selves. You may wonder what I mean by that. Well, first of all, we are happier when we love, secondly, it is easier to forgive those that we love. When someone that we love hurts us, it is simply easier not to be offended or hurt by their words and actions than when someone else does it. Isn’t that true? We give grace to those we care for. The more we love people, the more of “Jesus’ full joy” fills our hearts. So, by loving others we become more blessed and live happier lives.
EVERY DAY CAN BE A DAY TO REJOICE
This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalms 118:24
It is good to know that every day is a gift from the Lord and we are to rejoice and be glad. Because every day is “this day,” we can choose to be glad, and consider that even if "our glass is just half full," the full half matters more than the empty half.
For the optimistic person, it is natural to rejoice without a special reason and not get upset over every little issue. Instead, for the pessimistic person, it is normal to worry, be frustrated and fearful, and any little problem they encounter is a serious matter. But, I know from my own experience, that it is possible for us to choose to be glad, when naturally we would be sad. Even if it requires effort on our part, it is worthwhile to be glad.
God created us to be joyful, cheerful and content. Stress, fatigue, fears, worries and all negative feelings come from the evil one with the purpose to destroy us. We do ourselves a great favor when we choose to be glad and joyful as often as possible.
THE JOY THAT WE HAVE IN THE LORD IS THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH
“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10
In “The New JPS Translation Tanakh,” as well as in “God's Word Translation,” translators caught the true meaning of the original text of Nehemiah 8:10, namely: “Do not be sad because the joy you have in the Lord is your strength.” How encouraging! I have to admit, that I did not understand how God's joy could give me strength. But after I read the original Hebrew verse, I understood what the text really meant. If when we go through hardships, instead of giving into self-pity, we choose to rejoice in the Lord, thank Him for everything He has done for us and for whatever He is doing next, we will then have the strength we need to handle any situation.
ONLY IN THE LORD DO WE FIND TRUE AND LONG-LASTING HAPPINESS
Preserve me, o God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, You have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.” - Psalms 16:1-2
True protection and security can only be found in the Lord. There is a certain security in knowing who the Lord of our lives is and in whom we trust. Nothing can be more encouraging than to know that the Creator of the whole universe loves us, is with us wherever we go, there is no power above His power and that He wants what is truly best for us. The only living and true God wants us to be His, by the redemption through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to take care of us. True happiness does not come from possessing good things. We can be truly satisfied and blessed only if we live in obedience to the Lord. When we know that the Lord is the source of all we need, that He never abandons us during hardships and wants to rejoice with us when we are happy, we are tasting true happiness. The joy that the Holy Spirit brings into our hearts, when we are born-again, becomes more intense and profound as we grow in fellowship with the Lord. If here on earth, we can taste so much joy and happiness through the Holy Spirit, the eternal joy and happiness that awaits us in heaven, is beyond our imagination! It is so worthwhile to live for the Lord here and now, but especially in knowing that it is for all eternity! No price is too high, in order to get what Jesus has for us in heaven!
THERE IS JOY IN THE SAFETY WE HAVE IN OUR LORD
Lord, You have been our dwelling place and our refuge in all generations... O satisfy us with Your loving-kindness in the morning, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. - Psalms 90:1,14
What a beautiful prayer of Moses! God is offering so much to His children. In Him we find the most secure dwelling place and refuge any time we need help, protection and shelter. But God does not force any of us to dwell in Him. We have to choose to do so.
When we have such a deep and close relationship with God, that we dwell in Him, not only visit from time to time, we can be satisfied with His loving-kindness as He gives us bright joy in the morning that can even follow a night of distress.
The original word used for “morning” means in this case “figurative of bright joy after a night of distress (poetry),” according to “Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon.” Moses actually says that if God pours out His loving-kindness over us, after we go through a hard time, that it will increase our faith and trust in God’s love and because of that we may rejoice and be glad the rest of our lives. The most stable source of joy is the firm faith in God’s love, protection and help no matter what we are going through.
WE ARE HAPPY, WHEN WE OBEY GOD
You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to your fathers - Deuteronomy 6:18
God promises us such amazing blessings in His Word and all He is asking from us is to “do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord.” By doing what is right, we are empowering God to work in our behalf, bless, protect and make His wonderful plan for our lives to come to pass. When we do the opposite, we hurt ourselves, as we empower the powers of darkness to attack and destroy us. Our welfare depends on our obedience. Even when the wrong decisions of those around us are affecting us, as long as we remain in the palm of God’s hand, He will turn all the bad into something beneficial for us in the long term. The only way we truly change and become more like Christ is by going through hardships. While things go well, our carnal nature attempts to overcome the Spirit and pride rises up. We are tempted to believe that we can do it all and we can make it on our own, without God’s help. We can hurt ourselves by being prideful, without any help from the enemy. Only by living an obedient life, loving God and pleasing Him, can we enter in the possession of all that God has prepared for us to have. The happier life for each of us is the one that God planned for us, ahead of time. The more we follow God’s plan, the more fulfilled and happier we are here and now and for all eternity!
JOY IS A CHOICE
Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! - Philippians 4:4 (AMP)
We may have true joy, no matter what, only in our Lord! God is always the same and so is His love for us! God would never force us to rejoice or be happy. We are to choose to delight and be glad in Him. Once we have become born-again, our desires started to change and we long to please our Lord more than our flesh or other people. As we have a constant, relationship with Jesus, and we seek His face and opinion about every decision we are to take, we learn that we may have peace and joy even if we go through things that would normally cause us to be upset, worried or frustrated.
How can we rejoice when things are not working out as we would like them to? We can rejoice no matter what, if we understand that our citizenship is in heaven, we do not belong to this world anymore and what troubles us here will end at some point, but the mansion that Jesus prepares for us there, will be ours forever. We need to put things in the right perspective, which is that we belong to Jesus and our main goal in life is to praise and please Him. Once we learn to do that, we are able to accomplish our duties and responsibilities from a position of victory and not defeat.
WHEN WE LOVE GOD WE ARE TRULY HAPPY
So the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. - Isaiah 51:11
All those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and abide in Him, are the ransomed and the redeemed. Jesus redeemed us with His blood and by His power we receive joyful deliverance from every enemy. While living in these bodies, so many things happen to us it is hard for us to always remain joyful 100% of the time. But the more we love our Lord and long for more of Him, we seek to spend more time in His presence and as a result, His gladness fills our hearts, overcoming our sorrows.
All those who love God are much happier than those who do not. When we love someone, we do our best to please them and we are to do the same with our Lord. God delights in our sincere praise and worship. When God is pleased with us, we taste the most wonderful and long-lasting joy and happiness. God’s gladness, makes the sadness to vanish away!
JOY IS THE BEST MEDICINE
A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. - Proverbs 17:22
Because God created us for love and happiness, a happy heart is good medicine for the one who has it. When we rejoice our brains send the right messages to all the organs in our bodies, causing everything to function right. When we are joyful we handle bad situations better. Because optimists see everything through “rose colored glasses” they overcome hardships much better than pessimists. Some of us can easily talk ourselves into being unhappy, discouraged and even fearful, while others have an easy-going attitude about life and they find something good in every bad situation. For pessimists, it takes more work and determination to have a joyful heart and to hope for the best, no matter what. But it is in our best interest to do it. Even doctors testify that for the patients who have happy hearts and positive attitudes about their conditions, they heal much faster than those with negative attitudes.
Science proves that bad, toxic thoughts result in negative emotions which produce unhealthy chemicals that are poisonous for the body and may cause different sicknesses. We can be happier if we pay attention to the thoughts we think and replace the evil ones with the truth of God’s Word. By developing the habit of asking the Holy Spirit to help us keep our peace and joy, we can be healthier than if we are sad and unhappy most of the time.
TRUE HAPPINESS COMES ONLY FROM THE LORD
Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment? - Ecclesiastes 2:24-25
When God told Solomon that he would give him anything that he asked for, the new king asked for wisdom to be able to rule the big nation of Israel. God made him the most wise man and gave him also the power and fortune that he did not ask for. The book of Ecclesiastes reflects Solomon’s wisdom and his lifetime experiences, proving that even the wisest man can make mistakes and wrong decisions. We all need the wisdom that comes from above and God gladly gives it to all who ask for it.
For the present life, in this body, it seems that the above verses are the ultimate truth. Some people work much more than they should, without allowing themselves to enjoy the fruit of their labor, as they try to gather more and more for their heirs. We should be balanced in everything we do, including how much we work and what we do with our income. When we have a true, loving relationship with Jesus, He has the first place in our lives and all we do is unto Him. We follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in earning our living, we give and share with others and we truly enjoy our food, blessing and glorifying God for everything. True, lasting joy and peace are in God’s presence and only come from Him.
TO REJOICE IN THE LORD WHEN THINGS GO WRONG IS A CHOICE
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! - Habakkuk 3:17-18
Most of us cannot truly relate to what Habakkuk wrote in the above verses. Translated into today's language this might be said: even if I lose my job and there will not be many jobs available, the economy fails, the stock market collapses, calamities destroy the crops, the price of food, oil and inflation goes through the roof, I will continue to choose to rejoice in the Lord.
We choose how we respond to what happens to us. We cannot control lives circumstances, but we can control the way we respond to them. When we realize how loving, merciful and compassionate God is, we can trust that He will take care of us no matter what happens with the economy or what other people do. It takes desire and determination to keep the right attitude, but we can do it, because the Bible says we can, and God’s Word never lies. The Holy Spirit is always ready to help those of us who call on Him, to strengthen and help us rejoice. The more we choose to praise the Lord, the more we rejoice in Him and the easier it is to grow in faith for our victory and salvation!