What has made you feel
happy or joyful?
(write on index card; past/present; for you & God; won’t have to share but can if you want; okay if you can’t think of anything)
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Joy
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What are emotions?
“A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling.” - https://www.wordnik.com/words/emotion
“Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition.” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion
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What are joy, happiness, etc.?
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Hebrew Words
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Greek Words
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All Men Seek Happiness
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
- Blaise Pascal in Pascal’s Pensées
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How Do People Try and Find Happiness?
“...it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
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What should we not have joy in?
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What should we not have joy in?
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What should we not have joy in?
By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward. - Hebrews 11:24-26 (WEB)
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What should we not have joy in?
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How can one lose joy?
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“Levels” of Joy
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“Smaller” Joys
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Other Things to Rejoice In
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Joy at Various Israelite Celebrations
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Year of Jubilee
You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field. - Leviticus 25:10-12 (WEB)
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Joy to the World
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Joy to the World vs. Psalm 98 (WEB)
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let Earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing, (x2)
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, (x2)
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found, (x2)
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love, (x2)
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!
Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody.
With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn, make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh.
Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.
Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together.
Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
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Joy in God
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Joy in God
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Joy of the Earth (Nature)
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let Earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing, (x2)
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, (x2)
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
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Joy of the Earth (Nature)
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Fullness of Joy
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Why should we rejoice in God?
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Why should we rejoice in God?
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Why should we rejoice in God?
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Why rejoice in the body of Christ?
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Why rejoice even in the midst of suffering or sorrow?
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Additional effects/benefits of Joy
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Question
Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” - Philippians 4:4 (WEB)
What is the difference between this and toxic positivity?
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There is a Joy Yet to Come
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more. - Isaiah 65:17-19 (WEB)
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We Can’t Lose God’s Promises
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The Joy of God
“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’ Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.” - Luke 15:4-10 (WEB)
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The Joy of God
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The Joy of God
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The Joy of God
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Appendices
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Additional Info. on Getting Joy
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Miscellaneous Verses
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