"Happy the people who know you, Lord, who walk in the radiance of your face. In your name they sing, joyfully all the day; at your victory they raise the festal shout."
Psalm 89:16-17
Given the Good News that we believe as Christians, we should really be happy all the time! Brennan Manning quotes Robert Hotchkins from the University of Chicago who states, "Christians ought to be celebrating constantly." (The Ragamuffin Gospel) The difference between happiness and joy is that happiness seems to come from the outside while joy resides within. We can be happy in situations, when things fall into place and go our way. But we can hang onto our inner joy even when things seem to be falling apart around us. The joy we have within comes from our relationship with God...the home-within-our-hearts where Jesus lives. We may have a happy day or a miserable day, but with Jesus with us our response to either is to sing joyfully and raise the festal shout! That may seem ridiculously hard to do on a bad day, I realize! But we are Easter people who know the Lord. We know that our salvation has been won for us and that we are loved immeasurably. That should surely put a smile on our faces, no matter how the day goes! Love, heidi
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