Weekly Magazine | Happiness or Joy—The Choice That Changes Everything
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Dear Friends,
We live in a world that tells us the secret to a good life is to “be happy.” And so we chase after it—new experiences, better circumstances, quick fixes—only to discover that happiness is slippery. It comes and goes, often leaving us emptier than before.
Joy is different. Joy runs deeper. Joy holds steady when life shakes. It isn’t rooted in what’s happening around us, but in Who is with us—Jesus. Joy is what gives us strength in hardship, peace in grief, and hope in the waiting.
In this week’s issue, we’ll look at what it really means to choose joy over happiness. You’ll discover practical ways to grow joy that lasts, see how joy can quietly companion us through loss, and learn how God can use the “thorns” in our lives to draw us closer to Him.
No matter what you’re facing today, you have a choice—and it’s one that changes everything.
Encouraging You in God’s Truth,
How to Grow Joy That Lasts | Renee Smith
Practical ways to cultivate joy rooted in Jesus—through His presence, His promises, and daily obedience—so it holds steady no matter what life brings.
Unspeakable Joy | Lisa Elliott
A story of finding joy in the back pew—where quiet friendship and God’s presence proved that joy and grief can exist side by side.
The Joy of Thorns | Sandy Mayle
Why God sometimes allows the “thorns” to remain—and how His grace can transform them into unexpected sources of strength and joy.
🩷 For Your Heart
📖 Bible Verse of the Week
🙏 Prayer of the Week
How to Grow Joy That Lasts
Practical Ways to Choose Joy Every Day.
By: Renee Smith
As a seasoned Christian, I have learned on more than one occasion that joy and happiness are distinctly different. Happiness is a feeling largely dictated by circumstances, but joy is rooted in who Jesus is rather than what is happening around us. I have experienced some measure of frustration when joy has failed to permeate my reality. Even in the absence of difficult circumstances, I have often lacked joy.
Knowing that joy was available and that I should be experiencing it as a Christ-follower only made me feel like I misrepresented God’s picture of redemption before a watching world. I was aware that true joy was freely offered to me through Jesus (Rom. 15:13), so why was it not readily present within me?
I thought that accepting Christ as Lord and having a right relationship with God would result in a natural flow of joy, but I failed to clearly understand my part in experiencing it. Strong’s definition of joy in the original Greek is “the awareness of God's grace and favor; it is a matter of leaning into these gifts from God” (a supplemental definition is "grace recognized"). Joy eluded me because I was attempting to change my state of being without properly addressing my state of mind.
God’s Word, paired with increased intentionality on my part, has resulted in a growing measure of joy in my life.
