Greetings All,

There are 3 things upon which I often reflect in wonder, and I believe
that God has given wisdom to overcome certain issues which we all face.
I felt led that a written reminder can always be helpful.

1.  Why aren't Christians always Happy?
Well, it's absurd to begin with thinking that Christians are supposed to
be happy all the time.  You see happiness is an emotion, now all emotions
are God given yet, while it is healthy and normal to experience our
emotions we must understand that we are not to be ruled by our emotions.
You see emotions come and go.  I believe that God gave us emotions
because He experiences emotion, and we are created in His image.  Still,
we must understand that His heart is based on truth, not emotion. Truth
does not come and go.  We as Christians should always strive to live in truth.
 
2.  What's the difference between Joy and Happiness?
Joy is not an emotion as happiness is, and from an outward appearance joy
can often be confused as happiness.  Happiness can put a smile on your
face and, so can joy. Joy also surpasses mans' understanding; man might
say, how can that person smile in the midst of what is going on in their
life? Yet, we can smile in the most troublesome times because of our joy.
Still, joy is not just an occasional outward expression; it is a way of
life that we must strive to live in.   Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit
and a gift from God.  Joy is what He gives His children to help overcome
the emotions of sorrow, grief, guilt, and shame.

3.  How do I receive my Joy back when I allow myself to lose it?
It's like all gifts from the Lord; it's there for the taking by all of
His children.  Yet, the word says that it is a fruit, which I believe
implies that it takes time and practice to have it always accessible
because fruit is something that grows and anything that grows takes time.
So it will take practice to have that fruit easily accessed.  I believe
that often Joy, Compassion, and Love work closely together.  They are all
also easy to lose if we are not careful.  But, all are just as easy to
get back.  I think that the first step is to live in a state of mercy
towards others and even yourself.  Often we judge ourselves and refuse to
be joyful after we fall into sin, even after we repent we wallow around
in pity thinking somehow this self-punishment will make us more forgiven.
Doesn't work that way, if it did we would not have to repent we could
eventually just be sorry enough to be forgiven.  When we repent our joy
is immediately at our disposal.  Our compassion can be redeemed when we
have the love of God.  But, we in our sinful nature sometimes lose that
as well.  Just remember the depths from which you have fallen because we
all have need of much forgiveness and those who have been forgiven much,
love much.  Love covers a multitude of sin.  So Rejoice and again I say
Rejoice! (Gal. 5:22, John 15:9-11, Luke 7:47,1Peter 4:8)

Blessings,
Dennis