ARE YOU WALKING IN JOY?

I want to remind you today that there is a massive difference between happiness and JOY, as much as we would like to be happy all the time, the reality is that for a thousand reasons we will not be happy all the time. Often something we have said or done (or not done) will rob us of happiness, the circumstances of life and other people can wittingly or unwittingly rob us of happiness to.
When it comes to JOY it can be a very different situation, we can actually maintain and deepen ourit is in the midst of a very difficult situation we must maintain that spirit of JOY Nehemiah could declare in Neh. 8:10 NKJV the joy of the Lord is your strength.
How do we maintain this joy? by walking in victory and purity, and embracing our glorious inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we do fail the Lord, and sin, we run to him swiftly in confession and repentance, and can then pray like David in Psalm 51:12 NKJV Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by your generous spirit.
I have used the old Pentecostal saying, “We must stay under the spout where the glory (joy) comes out. The Prophet Isaiah declares in 12:3 NKJV Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of Salvation. It is our responsibility and privilege to daily make an act of our will and draw, drink, and refresh ourselves with the joy of the Lord.
David could declare in Psalm 16:11 NKJV In Your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
We can also feed our JOY by regular attendance in God’s House, we can say with the Psalmist in 122:1 NKJV I was glad when they said to me, “let us go into the House of the Lord. Simply spending time in fellowship with God’s people also feeds the3 joy of the Lord within us.
Most of us have our favourite sporting teams, and try and watch our team play on tv or fo to the ground, and we can get excited when our team scores. The Psalm numerous times encourages us to shout, we read in Psalm 132:9 NKJV Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,and let your saints SHOUT for joy.  It is interesting the Psalmist links righteousness AND JOY TOGETHER, AS i WIL LSAY again, IT IS ALL ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP  WITH THE lORD.
So do you want to experience joy intermittently or CONSTANTLY? Learn to live and walk in the Spirit, keep short accounts with God and man, and the river of joy can continually flow through you.