In the Old Testament, they celebrated joy with feasts and festivals. My joy comes from discovering God's will for my life, which the Bible reveals is good, pleasing, and perfect. It's not about what's happening around me or how I'm feeling at the moment, but about finding true joy in the salvation I have in Jesus.
I want to encourage you today to let go of any sadness you're holding onto. Cast out bitterness and resentment from your heart, and let the everlasting joy of Jesus flood your soul. You'll find you have so much to smile about, and so much less to feel down about.
Think about it: everything around you was created by God for your enjoyment. So smile for Him, and let your heart overflow with love in His presence. That gray sky will soon disappear, and He’ll paint a rainbow just for you.
He’s turned my mourning into dancing; He’s filled me with joy. Sure, life isn’t always happy-go-lucky, but in God, I find peace because I trust that He’s working everything out for my good (Romans 8:28).
Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
Rejoice always,pray constantly,give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
The hope of the righteous ends in gladness, but the expectation of the wicked comes to naught.
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The Lord your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already approved what you do.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;also that it is God's gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil.
For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit;
Though the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.
For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy!
For thou, O Lord, hast made me glad by thy work; at the works of thy hands I sing for joy.
Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.
A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Every man also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and find enjoyment in his toil—this is the gift of God.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
Thy words were found, and I ate them, and thy words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by thy name, O Lord, God of hosts.
Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’
So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
“Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt make me full of gladness with thy presence.’
Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. With all our affliction, I am overjoyed.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not irksome to me, and is safe for you.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit;
As I remember your tears, I long night and day to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials,for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror;for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain.Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
But let all who take refuge in thee rejoice, let them ever sing for joy; and do thou defend them, that those who love thy name may exult in thee.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance,who exult in thy name all the day, and extol thy righteousness.
O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who err in heart, and they do not regard my ways.”Therefore I swore in my anger that they should not enter my rest.Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased its joy; they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies.
Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with timbrels, and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.
And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people;
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full.
So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren.
Finally, brethren, farewell. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the face of great opposition.For you are our glory and joy.
For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God,
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children following the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.
For I greatly rejoiced when some of the brethren arrived and testified to the truth of your life, as indeed you do follow the truth.No greater joy can I have than this, to hear that my children follow the truth.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing,