DL Moody, the great pastor and publisher from the late 19th century, differentiated “happiness”vs. “joy” in one of his sermons. Moody spoke of “happiness” as being temporal or of this world, which means we twist in the wind of change as things happen to us. Our personal happiness is affected by things around us.
Joy, on the other hand, has its source in God’s Kingdom. When His kingdom comes and He is in our lives daily, we are little (or less) affected by what goes on around us. Read any of the apostle Paul’s writings and imagine he’s been beaten, shipwrecked and imprisoned. You’d never know it from the tenor of his letters.
So, aim for JOY which is found in Him.
[photo credit quotesgram.com]
Richard Bahr 