Monday, February 18, 2013

You Don’t Get Joy From the World


Jesus is a great giver. He gave us His peace. Not as the world gives it, but only as He can. The world gives stuff temporarily and usually with a price attached. In the world nothing’s free.

I downloaded a “free” program to help me unzip files. It came with at least five additional programs that would do other useful things to my computer. These additional programs had a price attached that if I hadn’t been careful would have cost me far beyond the value of the “free” program.

Life does that. It dangles its advantages on the low branches, failing to mention what that one bite is going to cost us big time in the long-run.

And when life isn't draining me due to its cost, it’s shorting me by giving me just enough to make me want more. Like trying to get someone hooked on drugs, the first few are designed to take me captive to the supplier.

When we discover our Joy is already present in our lives, we don’t have to look outside, toward people, places, things to find it. We merely need to focus on the Giver and realize the Joy is in us.

Jesus doesn't give us stuff and then hide it to make a game out of finding it. He places it in easy reach, on the shelf of our spirit, where we can find it whenever we search for it with all our hearts.

It’s like keeping our books in a library. We know where to look, but we have to go into the library to get them. Joy is within us, tied directly to our relationship with Him. If I lack joy, I must go to Him. It will always be there.

And since it comes from Him, the world doesn’t give it to me…and the world can’t take it away.

Question: Been to the Joy spot within your spirit lately?
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