Joy Is Finding and Pursuing God

You truly have every reason to be joyful and walk daily in His inexpressible and glorious joy. So why aren’t you?

March’s Awakening, Day 16

The religion of Christ is the religion of joy. Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prison house, to cancel our debt; in a word, to give us the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Is not this joy? Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure, so lasting? There is every element of joy—deep, ecstatic, satisfying, sanctifying joy—in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a happy man. The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought-of, untold, and endless blessedness. With such a God, such a Savior, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man?

 —Octavius Winslow

What I am anxious to see in Christian believers is a beautiful paradox. I want to see in them the joy of finding God while at the same time they are blessedly pursuing Him. I want to see in them the great joy of having God yet always wanting Him.

 —A. W. Tozer

Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. Jeremiah 31:13 NIV

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11 NIV

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8–9 NIV

            Pure joy is embracing Christ’s love for you as shown on the Cross—forgiveness, justification, redemption, sonship, victory over sin and death, eternal life with Him, inheritance, blessings—all yours when your faith is in Him. Are you not joyful and thankful for all this? And in your daily walk and continual pursuit of Him—His presence is always with you through every trial and tribulation and hardship. Are you not joyful and thankful that He is always with you in your pursuit of Him?  Sometimes, we lose sight of the obvious that is right in front of us and take all that for granted. Stop for just a moment. Embrace the infinite worth of His joy and live each day in that. Do you really need more to be joyful, living each day for Him and walking each day with Him? Let your joy be overflowing to all, and don’t let anything, or anyone, steal your joy.