HAPPINESS, JOY AND PEACE!

What is happiness? Feelings of pleasure or contentment that I have when things are going well!  

What is joy? A deep inner gladness and delight that I may have even when things are not going well! 

What is peace? Being calm and quiet, free from struggles in my mind and heart!

The Bible says:  "The joy of the Lord is your strength."—Nehemiah 8:10.
"And the singers sang aloud, with Jezrahiah their overseer. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off."—Nehemiah 12:42-43.

Spurgeon explained it like this in a sermon:    “"The joy of the Lord." It springs from God, and has God for its object. The believer who is in a spiritually healthy state rejoices mainly in God himself; he is happy because there is a God, and because God is in his person and character what he is. All the attributes of God become well-springs of joy to the thoughtful, contemplative believer; for such a man says within his soul, "All these attributes of my God are mine: his power, my protection; his wisdom, my guidance; his faithfulness, my foundation; his grace, my salvation." He is a God who cannot lie, faithful and true to his promise; he is all love, and at the same time infinitely just, supremely holy. Why, the contemplation of God to one who knows that this God is his God for ever and ever, is enough to make the eyes overflow with tears, because of the deep, mysterious, unutterable bliss which fills the heart. There was nothing in the character of Jupiter, or any of the pretended gods of the heathen, to make glad a pure and holy spirit, but there is everything in the character of Jehovah both to purify the heart and to make it thrill with delight. How sweet is it to think over all the Lord has done; how he has revealed himself of old, and especially how he has displayed his glory in the covenant of grace, and in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. How charming is the thought that he has revealed himself to me personally, and made me to see in him my Father, my friend, my helper, my God.”

Read these verses and pray them for your children and grandchildren to have happiness and joy and peace in God:

Ps. 16:11 – In God’s presence is fullness of joy

Ps. 100:1 – Shout with joy to the Lord

Isaiah 56:7 – Be joyful in prayer

Rom. 15:13 – Joy comes from believing and brings hope

Gal. 5:22 – Joy is a fruit of the Spirit

3 John 4 – Joy is to see others walk in truth

Prov. 3:13-18 – Wisdom results in happiness

Phil. 4:4-7 – Be happy in the Lord

John 14:27 – Jesus gives us His peace

Col. 3:15 – Peace should rule the believer’s heart and mind