Being JoyFul in HOPE!

-

      When I was reading about ‘Love' ,today in the morning,in Romans 12, I came across verse 12 and got stuck there;
“Be joyful in hope ,patient in affliction , faithful in prayer.”
This verse tell us to do three things that will help us attain or increase our peace.I tried studying the ‘Be joyful in hope’ part in detail. 
      Now ‘Hope’ is defined as a feeling of expectation that something will happen and it is usually associated with a positive expectation. Nobody hopes for a bad or negative thing to happen, atleast to themselves!
So this verse just simply means to be joyful in that expectation that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel; a Hope that no matter what your circumstances and situations are screaming and telling you today…you have a bright tomorrow!! 
We have faith in God and that faith leads us to a confidence and reliance i.e. a trust in God which produces hope and which in turn gives us an assurance for a bright tomorrow! 
Verses like: ‘We live by faith and not by sight’-2 corinthians 5:7 or ‘Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’- Hebrews 11:1, help us with our hope in God. We see people around us doing evil  and prospering and those who stand for the right and the truth being punished  but we endure it (God helps us with endurance) in the hope of a Happy ending for us,i.e. eternity with God for us and hell for the evil and evil doers!
         And the bible tells us to ‘be joyful ‘in that hope. The emotion ‘Joy’ is different from the emotion ‘Happy’. Happiness is a state of mind while Joy is the state of the heart.
Happiness is associated with you getting something like a success or some material objects or an earthly experience. It is temporary and is based on outward circumstances i.e you can be happy about good food, good company or a good activity whereas Joy is a much stronger,deeper and lasting emotion .It is based on inward circumstances i.e. it is directly proportional to our inward peace and contentment which means we have the power to control our joy.  
Something doesn’t go our way and we are unhappy and upset about it but yet we can choose to stay calm,be at peace and have joy in our heart.
Being joyful is a fruit of the Spirit , so if you have the Spirit in you, you already have the ‘Joy’ fruit , you just have to exercise it on purpose!
Let us concentrate on Being JoyFul in HOPE!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To my Dad.........

-
                 Seeing your empty chair ,me turning around but not finding you sipping coffee in your lungi or not seeing you listen to songs and sermons on youtube, you not reading your Physics books..this all seems very unreal to me! I cannot  accept  this reality where you are no more, Where i can’t  see you or hear you or talk to you or hug you  everyday.  Its almost a month since I have heard you call me Blessy!             Turning 31 today, without you,your physical presence,without you placing your hand on my head and praying @12 midnight,like every year ...... And thinking that it's going to be like this from now on is breaking me!             Over the past 10 yrs,i have many dates  fixed in my head, 11th May 2009, when I was suddenly diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, 25th May  ...
Read more

It's The Attitude!!

-
           Today in the morning while listening to Dr. Charles Stanley share from the passage of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-31),  He commented on how quick we all usually are to study   about the younger brother who left home and went away to a far-away country with his portion and lived in Sin. But we tend to overlook the older brother who didn’t leave home, who was with the father the whole time; who faithfully served his father. And yet this very older brother, was filled with unforgiveness,   bitterness, jealousy, self-righteousness, was disrespectful as soon as he felt he was betrayed or wronged. His attitude steered towards bitterness at the drop of an unpleasant circumstance. (luke 15:28-30)   That’s very true!             We usually sit and study and analyze the younger lost son’s actions and maybe, sometimes , compare ourselves with him. But what if we are like the ot...
Read more

Our Ultimate Goal!!

-
               2 Corinthians 4:15-18  15  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16  Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed    Day by day.   17  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.   18  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,  Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal  This is one of my go-to verses when I am feeling low and exhausted or anxious or stressful or worthless or hopeless because it instantly makes me feel just the opposite of all those words. Though The Bible as a whole, has the ability to change you, your feelings, your emotions and give you peace because it is filled with hope and promi...
Read more