Joy in living

"It is in solitude, in that lonely life alone with God, in profound recollection of soul, in forgetfulness of all created things, that God gives Himself to the soul that thus gives itself whole and entire to Him." (Charles de Foucault)

Or as Isaiah the prophet put it, " God will keep in perfect peace one whose mind is fixed on God because he trusts in God."

 Henry Van Dyk, who wrote "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee", said that joy was a Christian duty. Christians are not as much calmer, steadier, stronger and more cheerful than other people as they ought to be. Some Christians are among the most depressing and worryful people in the world - the most difficult to live with. But cheerful (joyous) piety is the best piety...the real test of character is joy. We are to serve the Lord with joy and gladness and remember that "the joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehemiah 8:10)

"As Christians in this world, we sail on troubled waters. We're often in storms. If we're inflated with the fullness of the Spirit, we can stay afloat. We can experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit - love joy peace, goodness - and all the rest. We can rejoice because the Holy Spirit fills us with the power of Christ. Since we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit, try praying every morning: "Lord, may I be Spirit-filled today. Fill me with Christ!" Yield every thought and deed to His control day by day, and let His presence keep you inflated and buoyant on the choppy waters of life."  (David Jeremiah

Thinking about the fruit of Holy Spirit, these words come from the devotional book Streams In The Desert, "yet the gifts of the fruit of the Spirit do not automatically become evident in our lives. If we are not discerning enough to recognize their availability to us, to desire them, and then to nourish them in our thoughts, they will never become embedded in our nature or behavior. Every further step of spiritual growth in God's grace must be preceded by acknowledging our lack of a godly attribute and then by exhibiting a prayerful determination to obtain it. We must die to ourselves if we are to put on the nature of Christ. And our dying to self will involve suffering. It will mean experiencing genuine brokenness and a crushing of self, which will be used to afflict the heart and conquer the mind."

So you can see that this life of sanctification is no easy task.

The ESV study Bible commenting on James 1:16-27 states: "Obedience is the hallmark of the true child of God." James had said, "Be doers of the Word and not hearers only!"

"The self-reliant anger of man, even when directed against some wrong-doing, fails to recognize that mere human reproach cannot change another person's heart and thus does not produce the righteousness of God nor indeed is such anger righteous." James had said, "...be slow to anger, for your anger does not produce the righteousness of God."

I pray that you are doing well and that God's peace and joy are overflowing in your soul.