He is where the JOY is! He is our source. He is our life.

Where do you turn when it feels like the weight of the world is crashing down on you? When life seems hopeless?

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

He is the vine. He is the source. Nothing that has been made is not from Him (John 1:3).

It is possible to have abundant joy in this life, but it can only be done by abiding in the giver of life. We must be connected to the vine, our source of life, the heartbeat behind every living thing, to experience true joy through all circumstances.

If you think of joy as a spring of water from within us (given to us by the Holy Spirit), it’s overflowing and never ending. Good times, laughter, and smiles will come and go in life, but the overflowing spring of joy that comes from the Lord will never end.

If the Lord is a part of you—a part of your heart and your life—there’s no living without His joy. When you come to the end of your rope… when you go through a difficult time… when you hit rock bottom… one thing still remains. That is the Lord. And where the Lord is, there is always joy to be found.

We can often find ourselves floating through life just trying to make it from one high point to the next—one exciting moment, then some really bummer moments, some dreams met and prayers answered, but then a few failures along the way. This is life. We all feel stuck and lonely, sad, angry, and hopeless at times. But if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves just trying to cruise through the low points until things eventually get better again. But following Jesus means not just trying to “get through” the hard times, but instead, taking hold of joy even in the middle of them (James 1:2-4)!

The truth is that the life the Lord gave us is not about floating or coasting along. Life is about living to the fullest! The key to living life to the fullest, even in the dark and hard times, is to take hold of the source already within us– and that’s the Joy of the Lord.

When we hold onto that joy with a grip that does not falter, we find satisfaction and contentment even in the valleys. When we truly believe this and experience this to be true, we no longer look for fleeting happiness to “make it through.” We’re no longer questioning or wondering how to find fulfillment. We know where our fulfillment comes from. We have a secure foundation. We are rooted in Him. And then we can confidently say, “He is where the Joy is!”

No other thing, no other place, no other person can give us this joy that the Lord invites us to experience.

More on how to cultivate a joy-filled relationship with the Lord in my next post!

For now, what questions do you have for me about what I shared here, or how to live this out? Comment below!

For further study: John 1:1-18