Happiness and joy are two totally different things.

Happiness and joy are two totally different things because they each spring from a different source. Happiness comes from the world around you. Joy originates directly from the Spirit of the Living God. Happiness is conditioned by and often dependent upon what is “happening” to you. If people treat you good, if things are going well in your life, then you’re happy. If your circumstances aren’t favorable, then you’re unhappy.

Joy is a compelling quality of life that surpasses the events and disasters which may drag you down. Joy is a divine dimension of living that is not shackled by circumstances.  To have the fruit of joy ripen in your life you need to recognize the journey involved in getting there. It takes time, diligence, patience, and hard work to make joy ripen in your life. If you want to see this fruit ripen in your life, you desperately need the Holy Spirit to prune away whatever it is that hinders your joy and then empower you to make some choices that move you closer to the lifestyle of rejoicing..

A spirit of discontentment can rob you of joy. The secret of being content with what God has given you is in Philippians 4:12: “When you know what it is to be in need, and you know what it is to have plenty. Being content in any and every situation, whether your fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

You’ll learn the “secret.” in contentment for there is a mystery about it. You also have to “learn”  how to live with unsatisfied expectations. Likewise, you must learn to live with plenty or with little. Contentment doesn’t come when you have everything you want but when you want everything you have.

If you want the kind of joy that is complete, lacking nothing, then you must remain close to Jesus. Apart from Him you can bear no fruit. Jesus said it clearly in John 15:4: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Him.