Joy is Our Strength...

Today the message at church was about joy.

We actually started out talking about three passages from Proverbs, all focused on a merry heart.

One verse alluded to how the heart affects the spirit, which then affects the body.

Being miserable or anxious can actually make one sick...

There's scientific evidence of that.

Just as someone who has a positive attitude tends to do better with medical treatment.

As Pastor Kemper talked about a merry heart, he brought about how joy must be sought after and how it must be seen by others.

Joy is our strength.

and as I sat there listening, I thought about how a person can't be content without joy.

Contentment is feeling satisfied, and we are told by Paul that it is something we can learn... he told us in Philippians that he could be content in all things, whether he had little or much. He goes on in that same passage to talk about how we should be anxious for nothing... asking God for what we need, and praying... and thinking about good, lovely, pure things. We'll get peace when we do those things. And because of this, because of our perspective, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

Strength because He came to live in us, and give us joy... "so that your joy may be full."

Because it's in that joy that we find our strength.

So, being content?

We've got to learn to be joyful, and that's not something we can do on our own.

True joy comes from the wellspring of life, Jesus Christ.

And His Grace is sufficient to help us learn to be content AND to make our joy full.