JOY

"An abiding awareness of Christ within you."

This quote was said to me by a friend at the start of a L O N G journey of suffering.  And how true it really is...

Happiness is a feeling.  Feelings can come and go.  Joy is much deeper.  It is rooted in something much bigger than our minds can even comprehend.

Once our trust is placed in Him, then no ounce of suffering can be taken by the joy that Christ gives lovingly to our lives.  Look at the saints.  They express Christ's abundant love and joy until their very last breath and even beyond that in their many miracles.

So my friends, even when life gets tangled, twisted, and full of knots. Joy IS found.

While I thought I understood this when it was first told to me. It wasn't until recently that the Lord revealed that the joy He has created in my heart and my life cannot be robbed from me.  For it is planted deep into my heart and its roots have expanded into my soul affecting every fiber of my being.  To lose my joy would be a loss to my entire self.  

So no matter what your story is.  No matter what circumstance is occurring in your life.  Remember that Christ is within you.  And honestly, once that sentence truly hits you then the mark of Christ's overpowering love on your heart can never be denied.

You see, we are all an important image in the mystical body of Christ.  Every face, past, present and future is essential.  To me, it is an easy comparison to every stitch is essential to creating a blanket.  If one stitch comes undone, then the blanket looses its foundation.  I know that life can be messy.  

Just know that great things can come from the messiness.  Open your heart and trust that you are being guided.  The joy that comes from that is worth fighting for, and fighting through. 

"who for the JOY that was set before him endured the cross" Hebrews 12:2