On the fifth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

J.O.Y. hmmm… What is joy and how does one get joy?  I find joy although not intangible, is one of the most difficult phenomena to describe. I believe this is partly because joy, very much like peace happens in spite of present circumstances. Although it comes from deep within a person and spills right on the outside, it is beyond a person. When I think of joy, I think of something that wells up and overflows from the inside like a bubbling spring. More importantly to me, than trying to describe joy is how I can get joy in my life.

I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. John 15:11 BSB

Whoa! What did Jesus say that gives us joy? let’s backtrack…

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.  John 15:9-10 BSB

If you love me, you will obey my commandments. John 14:15 NET

well… I guess the secret to joy is out of the bag! It all comes down to love and obedience!  If we love God we will obey Him; When we obey God we will be in God’s love and one of the perks of being in God’s love is that we will have joy. Seems easy yes? Well…. the obedience part is not so easy otherwise the word obey would not appear 69 times in the King James Bible(this does not include other variants of the word)! But there is good news:

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:3-5 BSB

You can do this! You’ve got this! Love God… and obey Him and reap a bountiful harvest of joy!

Yours truly.