The Pursuit of Joyness by Dominic Muir

ecstasy anyone?

Jesus says to us, daily, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

To me this is one of the most offensive verses in the bible. Everything within me wants to get.

But then, you see, we have this Lover who breaks into our lives and gives us an agonizing revelation of 'giving'. God so loved the world that He gave. God gives. That’s who He is.  He gives to the ultimate point. When you've given all, where is there left to go? You give your beaten, tortured and executed body. You cannot out-give God. Chew on that cud.

This God, this Giver, lets us peak through the crack of a doorway that leads to a world of joy. ‘Joy’ is an increasingly scarce commodity in the western world. What does that say to you?

Winston Churchill said, ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’

These are just some thoughts from a joy-novice, who just purchased his first joy glove, racket and ball, and is looking to get lessons off the local joy pro. Joy is free. Joy comes out of emptying oneself, not filling oneself; giving, not receiving. 'Happyness' (Will Smith might agree) requires dollars, joy requires love. Joy is higher and meets the need of every human heart, 'receiving' leaves us half-full. Joy is heavenly and complete, 'Happyness' is earthly and requires more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more....

C.S.Lewis said, 'I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not a substitue for joy'. You gotta love Clive Staples! Never one to mince his words. But listen, don’t worry, God invented ‘pleasure’. He loves it!  I’m not getting religious on you and I’m sure that wasn’t Lewis’ intention either.  God is into pleasure and I think He’s best placed to teach us a thing or two about it. Where do you think we get the words ‘heaven’ and ‘ecstasy’ (greek word ek’-stas-is)? Not the local rave scene or gay nightclub. They’re in the bible and THEY’RE OURS, in this life, right now (Matt 6:10, John 15:11, Acts 10:10, 2 Cor 12:4). Did you know that you give God the most pleasure, for simply breathing?  (Matt 3:17)  But as the Inventor of pleasure, God wants to release us into True pleasure. Pleasure, ‘heaven’, ‘ecstasy’, ‘Happyness’, joy, whatever we choose to call this yearning in our souls, comes through Him.  And He leads us to give.  God hates religion, He is not interested in what we do (religion) but why we do it (love). There’s a very big difference.  In this way God can meet everyone where they’re at. God loves relationship. God looks beyond the deed, the job title, the stuff in our lives, and straight to our hearts. As a perfectly loving, hopeful and expectant Father He will always meet us exactly where we are and from there, encourage us to come higher.

Who wants to get high? Get giving, get joyful!  Living in joy comes out of giving joy to others. Living in anything, comes out of giving it, by His spiritual grace and empowerment from the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ. Wow. Amen. (John 3:27, James 1:17, 1 Corinthians 15:10, Galatians 6:7, Galtaians 5:22-23) Below are ‘8’ (new beginning?) beautifully simple keys I found in a book over the weekend.

 

Building Joy

Building joy means getting close to God and to people. While it is a very authentic process that cannot be fabricated, here are some 'joy-building' ideas to first practice with our families and then to extend to the wounded community.

* Smile whenever you greet those you love, and use sincere voice tones.

* Ask questions that invite others to tell you truthfully how they are doing, and what they are thinking. Listen intently without interrupting.

* Take a sincere interest in really knowing the other person. Work hard to understand the other's fears, joys, passions, talents and pain.

* Treat each other with dignity and respect. When ending a group discussion, try to make both people feel affirmed.

* Use touch whenever appropriate. Hold hands, link arms, give hugs and use physical connection as effectively as you can.

* Discover what brings the person joy: a time to talk, encouraging notes, a helping hand or evening walks. Custom fit your attempts to bring joy.

* Give them little surprises that will cause their eyes to light up and let your eyes light up, too! The joy builds as the glances go back and forth.

* Cherish babies and children by establishing through words and actions that you are authentically "glad to be with them"

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This entry was posted on 2010-01-18 23:43:00 and is filed under Big Questions , You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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