What Does Your Joyometer Read?

Part of my husband’s early morning routine is to walk out and greet our 10 year old red heeler named Rusti. Her little nub of a tail shakes so hard, you would think it’s 3 feet long — and in her mind, it probably is. She follows him inside, staying close to his heels, because that’s what heelers do, and she proceeds to greet me with the largest smile a canine can produce. She’s a happy dog. It shows in her face, her body, and her ... “tail”. 

She exhibits joy.

In one of the last sessions with my Tuesday morning Bible study ladies, I posed the question, “On a scale of 1-10, what does your joy-ometer read?” Most said about a 7 or 8, but without a blink of an eye, one of the women said, “Over the top!” And she was right. If there is anyone who exudes joy, it’s Liz. Even with the history of being abandoned as an infant, of having several bouts with cancer and of losing a husband, she bubbles joy. You can see it in her eyes, you can hear it in her voice, you can read it in her writings. Even her body language, the way she uses her hands, the way she worships, shouts, “Joy!”

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It is a product of any one who has God’s Spirit resident within them. It is not something we should have to “conjure up” or force ourselves to be. Joy is a natural outflow of abiding in Him.

Then what’s the problem? 

Bill Johnson says, “How we see God defines how we think and how we live. The way we understand Him is the way we will represent Him.” Could it be that we have an inaccurate view of God? Or maybe that we have forgotten (or maybe never even been told) the truth that God is a joyful God? Who taught us that the Holy Spirit gives to us a spirit of sadness, sour attitude or woe? Heaven forbid. The Spirit does not war against the Father. He is an exact representation. He is the “another” that Jesus said would come. He reveals the Son and the Father beautifully. Among other things, His fruit and His expression is joy.

But I guess we still have a choice to make. We can choose to bow to and emit the chaos of life that surrounds us, or we can commit ourselves to living from the place of joy within and cast the glory of God to a world who needs a fresh revelation of hope. The latter just might be the greatest gift you give to someone today.

So what does your joyometer read? The first place we might want to look is in the mirror. 

Moses came down from Mount Sinai ... 

the Israelites would see the FACE of Moses, 

that it was radiant ...

See Exodus 34:29-35

And as my precious daughter would say, “Don’t pout. It doesn’t look good on you.”

Just an ordinary moment...