One of the devotionals that I was reading this week expressed the meaning of the word “ joy ” in a way that I had never heard before. The writing was so powerful that it made me wish I had known to “say it this way” long ago when I preached this very subject. Philippians 3:1 says, “Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!” What most readers don’t understand about this statement is that the Writer (Paul) was currently in prison! Probably not the most pleasant of circumstances to think about rejoicing. Paul transposes between “rejoice” and “joy” about sixteen times throughout this letter. He is stressing a very important concept for believers which is to live purposely in the joy of the Lord. Paul knew, first hand, that it was clearly possible regardless of any circumstance he found himself experiencing. The “Seedbed Daily Text” devotional, written by J.D. Walt had this to say about joy : “We learn something very important about joy here. Joy is not happiness
Clever, Missouri (Christian County)