Joy Versus Happiness

   First things first: I hope that everyone had a Happy Easter and took time to reflect on the magnitude of the sacrifice made on this special day. Chad and I went home for church this morning. We attended FBCJ and it felt so good to be home. As you know Chad and I have been trying to find a church closer to our home but none of them feel like FBCJ to us. If you have ever been church hunting you know it is not easy. After attending FBCJ for over 20 years and having the relationships that Chad and I have there, it just has not been an easy process.
   We started the morning with the 8 a.m. early service followed by Sunday School. Words cannot describe how much we miss our Sunday School class. It felt so good to be back with everyone! We had a wonderful Bible Study from John Piper's Book, Desiring God. There was a lot of good discussion and I think the principle of the study goes right along with Crazy Love (another Book). We discussed how God does desire for us to enjoy pleasures in life and how pleasures are not a bad thing. These are not pleasures in the Worldly sense as these can sometimes be self-centered. God desires for us to be servants for His work and when you do His work, stay in His word and stay in His will than you will experience pleasures like no other. My favorite part of our class is when we discuss joy vs. happiness which we have discussed before. I understand it more each time we talk about it. Don't miss this: I believe that you will experience a secular happiness when you are living outside of God's will for your life. I think Satan is very good at camouflaging "things" in your life to make you believe that you are happy- when really these "things" in your life are a temporary happiness. Believe me - I have been there and I think we all have. Whether is was a guy you knew you shouldn't be dating but you did anyway because you thought he made you happy or something you took part in because it made you temporarily happy. The key word in all of that is temporary. That is the difference with Joy. Joy to me is when I am completely in line with God's plan for my life. With joy comes a peace that you know you are doing and going where He wants you to go and if challenges arise you know in your heart, it is all part of the bigger plan. Just because you are in the center of God's will doesn't mean there will not be challenges and heartaches but it does mean that there is a calming and peace when those times come. This was a fantastic Sunday School lesson with a lot of insight from the class.


Proverbs 3: 5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight."

Great Scripture to tie all of this together. I hope it flows and makes sense to everyone.

     The rest of the day was spent relaxing and resting from the night before. Chad had a go-kart race in Dalton. I always enjoy getting to spend time with Chad, Bradley and Lindsey. However, getting to my parents house at 2am and waking up to get to church by 8am is dedication and exhausting. The rest of the day was spent talking with the family and being completely out of it. I enjoy the time I get with my family more and more each week. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter and enjoying the beautiful weather this week!