This is it…the simple truth that I will lean on and rest in today…

“…In Your presence is fullness of joy…”

It’s as simple and yet as complex as this…

Jesus, fully God yet fully man, stepped onto earth and lived a sinless life.  He walked the path to calvary and paid for my life and yours with His own perfect one.  

He paid it ALL.

He wanted me to have FULLNESS OF JOY.

Out of his pain, suffering and death was born my eternal joy.

Joy in His Presence.

I choose to put my faith in His finished work on the cross…and I exchange my filthy rags for His spotless robe and His perfect record…

And He deposits His Spirit in me and “the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  (Galatians 5:22).

It is His Spirit eternally producing the fruit of joy in me.  He is the source of all joy.  The Creator of it…the supplier of it.  

And “…He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  

So His Presence is always with me…and “…In (His) presence is fullness of joy…”

Fullness:  completely filled; containing all that can be held; filled to utmost capacity

complete; entire; maximum

abundant; well-supplied

(I got the definition here…Dictionary.com)

This joy is not dependent on circumstances. 

Circumstances change, God does not.

“For I the LORD do not change…”  Malachi 3:6

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  James 1:17

And there is no one and nothing and nowhere else that can fill us with joy aside from Him.

We try so hard to find other sources…in people, in things, in drinks, in food…we believe the lie that earthly happiness equals eternal joy…

“…My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”  Jeremiah 2:13 

…and yet nothing else fills us.  We keep going back for more, but until we seek the source, the fountain of living waters, we will never be completely filled; we will never contain all that can be held; we will never be filled to the utmost capacity.

With His joy, no matter what happens…

It will be ok and my joy will remain secure because I have this hope as an anchor of my soul, a hope both sure and steadfast (Heb 6:19)…and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.  (Romans 5:5)

The Anchor of my soul…the One I anchor my

Hope

Joy

Trust

Life

in is Jesus.

Because He loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20), I can have Unshakable Joy.

My eternity is secure in Christ Jesus, the Source of my joy.

My source of joy is not my marriage, my kids, my stuff, my “likes” or my bank account.

These are temporal things.  

My source of joy is in Jesus.  He is the Unchanging One.  Circumstances will change but it will not change my Unchangeable God.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13

Father, help me to rest in this simple truth…that In Your presence is fullness of joy.  There is nowhere else I can go that will fill me entirely, completely, wholly, like You do.  You are my source of Life, and You alone are my source of joy.  Jesus, thank You for sacrificing Your life so I could be in Your Presence continually.  Let Your joy shine through me and light up the dark places on this earth.  Let Your joy testify to the glory of Your Name.  In Your beautiful and joyful Name, Amen.

Blessings!

~Nicole

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  Colossians 3:16