“I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart to stay. And I’m so happy, so very happy. I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heaaaart….“
Well, you get the idea.
This was one of my favorite songs as a child. As an adult, though it is sometimes difficult, it is one of my greatest desires to be able to wholeheartedly sing this song with the same passion and truth as I did back then. As a believer in Jesus, I have every reason to be joyful--my God has overcome the world!
The Bible tells us time and time again to rejoice. Psalms 96:11-13 says, “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.”
Psalms 47:1 says, “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!”
Do you have this joy? Or have you allowed your circumstances to fill you with anxiety, despair, sorrow, or a downright bad attitude.
One of my favorite quotes on this topic comes from Charles Swindoll. He writes,
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
It seems a little easier said than done at times. Face it. Life is hard. How can we turn our bad attitudes to joy? How can we keep the circumstances from robbing us of our joy?
First, we must answer the question, “Are we really called to rejoice during those hard times when nothing seems to be going right?”
Well, Philippians 4:4 tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
Notice that the Bible does not tell us to rejoice only when things are going our way. It says ALWAYS! And then it says it again. . . Rejoice! It must be important.
James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Regardless of what is going on around us, we can rejoice in our circumstances. We are reminded again in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Is it time you got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy BACK down in your heart?
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