Joy

“something has happened in the last several years. The joy quotient for most people, even followers of Jesus, has taken a dive.” - Challies

“The fruit of the Spirit is the fundamental hallmark of a transformed life with Christ. But when we consume news haphazardly, we often spiral into distinctly joyless, impatient, ungentle, and not peaceful modes of doom and gloom.” - TGC

“While happiness is what we all want and what believers throughout the centuries affirmed is a good desire when it’s sought in Christ, countless modern Christians have been taught various myths about happiness—including the false ‘happiness vs. joy’ dichotomy” - Randy Alcorn

“So it is with all secondary sources of happiness. Things such as art, music, literature, sports, careers, and hobbies generate no light on their own. The light they bring comes from ‘the Father of lights’ (James 1:17).” - Randy Alcorn

“…spiritual warfare rages over who appears to make people most satisfied: God or Satan. Thus, sounds of human gladness in God taunt Satan’s ears. Saints have understood their joy as a polemic: ‘You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound’ (Psalm 4:7).” - Desiring God

“The custom of praying to thank God for each meal is a wonderful one. But why should we restrict this custom to meals? Why not thank God throughout the day for a hundred other things?” - Randy Alcorn

“In a culture of death, nothing can satisfy us. The things of our world have become exclusively means… of our self-directed projects of building and securing worth, goodness, and meaning—and thus are no longer meaningful, good, worthy ends in themselves.” - Desiring God

“simultaneously, we are told to ‘rejoice with trembling’ (Psalm 2:11), and to ‘serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing’ (Psalm 100:2). We are to ‘come before His presence with thanksgiving;… [and] shout joyfully to Him with psalms.’ (Psalm 95:2)” - Churches Without Chests

“I believe that humor is a gift given to man by God as an expression of our Maker’s innate creativity. Jokes are what we create when we play with words and ideas until they make us laugh and fill our hearts with the medicine of joy (Prov. 17:22).” - 9 Marks