“Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” — C. S. Lewis

Before we get too far along on this journey of “focusing on joy,” let’s understand what joy means.

The Miriam-Webster dictionary has the description listed as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” It appears to base joy upon “happiness” or “things” we are currently experiencing, have, or hope to have, which are not permanent. Interesting. So how does this work when we are facing trials? It doesn’t.

Since the New Testament was originally written in Greek, I researched its translation of joy and found that it’s called chara (5479). The Strong’s Concordance (Greek) has it identified as joy, delight.

Elsewhere, I found that it’s known as a feeling of inner gladness, calm delight, or even rejoicing. Additionally, chara is linked to charis (5485), which in Greek means grace. It indicates that joy is produced by the grace of God and is not defined by temporary human emotions. Now, this is the understanding of joy we need to have!

Let us discover more about joy based on this insight as we continue to focus on joy.

If you missed the previous entry, click here.

Thank you for your time. Be Blessed… LR Maddox
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