WHAT IS JOY?

It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, coming just second on the list behind love. It captivated the focus of Jesus Christ. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, scorned the shame and sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

We are told to count it all joy when we encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance. Joy was welded to the disciples' character when they saw the resurrected Christ and no one could ever take it from them. Our joy is made full when our prayers are answered. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.
Is joy a feeling?

Joy can make one feel good - but the emotion that joy may produce is not joy itself. There is an element in joy that is a yearning or longing. Joy is a word used to attempt to describe a powerful working of the human heart. We have the power to hold in our heart the certain knowledge that we are living out our part in the Master's plan. Joy is the yearning for that moment when our faith will be sight. This yearning, fueled by the Holy Spirit of God, leaves no room for doubt or the possibility of disappointment.

Joy stakes everything on the truth that death could not hold Jesus Christ in the grave. Any circumstance, past present or future, cannot alter that. In fact, joy's arena is the heart that embraces all circumstance in the sure knowledge that we are moving toward a reunion that is beyond our comprehension.

(Galatians 5:22; Hebrews 12:2; James 1:2; John 16:22; John 16:24; Luke 15:10)