"Being joy filled does not mean that your life is perfect. Who could claim that? It doesn't even mean that your life is great. What it does mean is that you emphatically trust God and believe that he has great plans for your life, regardless of what is happening right now. Joy is the infectious and uncontainable fruit of divinely inspired growth. It's a deeply entrenched, unshakeable belief, the result of sustained right thinking and dwelling on the nature and character of God. Joy is an outward sign of inward faith in the promises of God. It is a way of acting and it is evidence of spiritual maturity. Joy is not a distant destination at which you arrive; rather, it is a path you choose to travel each day."
As I continue to read this book that definition of joy has convicted my heart. Joy is an outward sign of inward faith in the promises of God.
Either I believe that God is who he says he is and can do all he says he can and will do, or I don't. If I truly believe, peace and optimism despite any circumstance will be my companions. If I don't, then hope for my welfare will fade. It all depends upon what (or rather, who) I choose to set my thoughts on.
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"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:5
2 Corinthians 10:5
