Tag Archives: Living from joy

Holy Lust!

We were created by God to seek pleasure and follow our desires. I wrote about this in my post, “Smartphones, addictions, joy, and pleasure,” so I won’t belabor that here, only to say that it’s a stoic delusion to think … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, Grace, Love | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Joy to the world!

We’ve already seen that joy is encountered in relationship, so when the angels announced that a Savior was born in Bethlehem what they were heralding was that Joy Himself had come into their world! It was the announcement that humankind … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, Heaven on earth, Identity, Love | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Joy restores our vision

How we see ourselves has a lot to do with how we see others and how we see God. We were made in God’s image, but making God in our image is a deeply ingrained human habit. Why is this … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, Identity, Love | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

From brokenness to joy

How would you define brokenness? I’m talking about the emotional or relational kind. I thought about this when I read Insanitybytes22’s (“IB”) post, “Rewire Ye Olde Hardware.”  If you haven’t read it already, you should go there and read what … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, Grace, Love | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Joy frees us from our counterfeit self

When we don’t find joy and bliss from our relationships we will look for it in counterfeits and live from fear rather than love. These counterfeits can show up in addictions and looking for love in all the wrong places, … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, Grace, Identity, Love | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Joy must be experienced

Here’s the crazy thing. I’m using words to explain something that’s non-verbal. I’m talking about joy. Our “joy center” or joy receptor, if you will, resides in the right side of our brain (technically, the right orbital prefrontal cortex), which … Continue reading

Posted in Faith, Love | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

The good news that brings great joy

The gospel has been defined as “the good news that brings great joy.” I think it would be good to ask, “What exactly is the good news that brings great joy?” As evangelical Christians we might be tempted to blurt … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, Heaven on earth, Identity, Love | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Why religion won’t bring us joy

I’ve shared before that religion is about us inviting God into our life; following Jesus is about Him inviting us into His life.  I’m using the term “religion” rather narrowly here. I’m talking about ritualistic practices we follow in our attempt … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, Grace, Love, Sonship | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

You give me joy

Here’s a song by Housefires called “Joy” that I thought was appropriate to go with my series of posts on “Living from joy.” En-joy! 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have … Continue reading

Posted in Worship | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Living from Joy

Last time I mentioned that joy is found in relationships. You might wonder why this is so. First, psychologically speaking, as Dr. Wilder points out in the video clip, we bond at a very early age.  It happens in the … Continue reading

Posted in Father Heart of God, Freedom, Love, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments