#31Days of Encountering God ...in Joy

Today is Day Twenty-Seven of 31 Days of Encountering God! If you missed the kick-off, you can go HERE and find the Introduction as well as each days post! (I will be adding every day as the month goes on!)

Encountering God in Joy...

Oh - how He loves it when we go beyond Happy and enter into His Joy!  

Here's the wonderful thing about our Father in Heaven... He is a Good God, He's in a good mood, and He loves to pour out blessings and joy.  He wants to bless us - and not in the Name-it-and-Claim-it sort of way, although I do believe it includes those kinds of provisions! But it goes deeper... He wants to fill us up and bless us to overflowing Joy... He wants us to be contagious with His Joy so that when we get around others, it splashes out and gets all over!

We know Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that the Joy of the LORD is our strength.  But I think we forget that it's His Joy.  It's His Joy that is our strength! It's not our own... we can't possibly muster up the kind of real Joy that gives us strength that lasts and makes a difference!  And we are not called to!  

Oh in our culture and in our pursuit of this messed up crazy 'American Dream' - we confuse comfort with need, and we mix up happiness with joy and we think we need to do it on our own!  

There are things that we enjoy that help us to be comfortable - but they are not needed. The needs often get taken for granted while we strive for more (and more) comforts.  We think as we pursue things that we hope will make us happy, we will find joy.  But Joy is not something that we just stumble upon... it is not something that can be found on the outside... but it wells up from within!  

Joy resides inside, because Christ lives inside... 

Joy is not dependant on our income, our relationships, our outer circumstances, or even our happiness!  

Joy is a choice...
and when we choose Him - we choose Joy!
So - to help you choose Him... and choose Joy... here are a few of my favorite Scriptures:

"You will show me the path of life;

in Your presence is fullness of joy,

at Your right hand there are pleasures

forevermore."

                                                                                                ~ Psalm 16:11 

"And now I am coming to You;

I say these things while I am still in the world,

so that My joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them

[that they may experience My delight fulfilled in them,

that My enjoyment may be perfected in their own souls,

that they may have My gladness within them, filling their hearts]."

                                                                                     ~ John 17:13 Amplified 

"for the kingdom of God

is not eating and drinking,

but righteousness and peace and joy

in the Holy Spirit."

                                                                       ~ Romans 14:17

"Weeping may endure for a night,

but joy comes in the morning."

                                                              ~ Psalm 30:5 

...& for your weekend pleasure,
a little bonus joy-filled worship:

Linking up with The Nester and 1000s of other #31Day Bloggers!

Tomorrow I will share an Encounter where I got to see Grace in Motion and was reminded of how thin the veil is that separates two realms.  Today - in the Comments below, I'd love to hear what brings you Joy?