Joy

“our hearts overflow with thanks that we who deserve nothing but judgment, death, and Hell are given deliverance, grace, and eternal life. Day after day, God favors us not only with leniency but also with beauties, delights, and privileges we have no right to expect.” - Randy Alcorn

“Some of us are gaunt, frail Christians because we’ve learned, like our world, to cater to the whims of our own fickle hearts rather than direct them and determine to reshape them.” - Desiring God

“If the gospel we preach isn’t about happiness, then it contradicts God’s words in Isaiah 52:7. The gospel offers an exchange of misery-generating sin for happiness-giving righteousness provided by Jesus Himself.” - Randy Alcorn

“Many Christians spiritualize the word joy, contrasting it with happiness and portraying it as independent of emotion or pleasure. Some claim that joy is a fruit of the Spirit and therefore not an emotion.” - Randy Alcorn

“Repeatedly, Solomon encourages us first to find and take joy in these ordinary aspects of life. And second, he urges us to recognize that these are good gifts from God” - Ligonier

“One day it will be said of all those who are his that God was faithful to his every word and true to his every promise.” - Challies

“Ignatius of Antioch…wrote a letter beginning with these words: ‘To the Church which is at Ephesus … deservedly most happy… . Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and His undefiled joy.’” - Randy Alcorn

“…if I find social media that refreshes me, as I sometimes do, I go for it. If it just drains and discourages or irritates me, I need to stay away.” - Randy Alcorn

“…schadenfreude is a sin of the spirit, and freudenfreude is a fruit of the Spirit. Schadenfreude is rooted in envy, one of the darkest of the seven deadly sins.” - James Emery White