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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Mike Mason
Read between
February 23 - May 2, 2019
Joy is a presence. When I’m happy it’s because I do not feel alone. Gone is that gnawing core of anxious ache that makes me think I must face the world alone and handle all my problems without help.
When I’m on personal terms with joy, knowing Him as the One who deeply loves me and is committed to me forever, then I shed my suspicions about happiness disappearing and leaving me desolate.
distrust of self is faith’s prerequisite, not its continuing focus.
The good news of redemption, not the stale news of sin, is the Christian’s focus.
Many of us could benefit from taking ten minutes a day not just to count our blessings, but to count the ways we bless others.
Joy is a trustworthy guide to the truth. Where joy is absent, we’re right to be suspicious, because joy is a characteristic of truth.
The very act of throwing oneself utterly into an activity releases joy.
A life of joy requires giving oneself a hundred percent.
Music, one of the gifts we share with the angels, has the power to bypass rational thought and plunge us into unselfconscious innocence.
For the person committed to joy, so many roads incompatible with joy are no longer open—scorn, impatience, complaining, criticism. When all such easy and habitual options are cut off, a wonderful clarification takes place in the spirit. The dross settles out, leaving room only for the gold of joy.
While our sermons may not be received gladly, compassion opens a channel for joy to be shared.
Joy can remain joyful and still feel sorrow for the whole world.
If I want gentleness, I must give up anger and manipulation.
If I’m not joyful, it may be because I’ve done nothing kind or good today.
An experiment in joy is a resolution to give up all doubts about God. As Jesus said to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27). Negative feelings are rooted in the suspicion, however subtle, that God may be in the wrong, or at least is not truly concerned with our well being, and therefore is not to be trusted. The only solution to this impasse is to let God be right.
More than just giving Him the benefit of the doubt, we must tell Him unreservedly that He’s right and congratulate Him for it. We must choose to worship Him flat out and celebrate His righteousness and justice. By doing whatever it takes to elevate God above ourselves, we tap into the wellspring of joy.
Instead of worrying, I let God be right for not immediately intervening.
Joy doesn’t result from avoiding suffering but from moving into and through it. If there’s a shortcut to happiness, it’s through trials.
blocked for a while, the river of joy keeps on flowing, so that when the blockage is removed all that we missed is suddenly restored in a great outpouring. Knowing this, we can begin in faith to draw upon our storehouse of joy even in distress.
If driving in the country makes me happy, I may need to do more of it. If I love the colors of nature, why not spend more time looking? Do I esteem joy so little that I won’t cross the street to get some?
If we spent the next year simply enjoying who we are and what we have, we’d be much further ahead than by striving for more. What we need most, more than something dramatically new, is a quiet realization of what already is.
To grow a flower, I plant a seed or a bulb. To grow joy, I must plant myself for a while in one place and just sit.
