In Need Of... }}>~ Joy Like A Fountain ~<{{

Alright.... This is not quite as hard to understand as those elusive peaces and rivers...

Joy like a fountain....

If i think about those times when i'm joyful, i feel like a fountain :o) Sometimes i feel as though laughter is just going to bubble up and out of me... It's a great feeling!

But it's the same as rivers.... Fountains CAN be stopped. They can be plugged or blocked.

And, just like with rivers, we have to make sure we don't let our fountain stop flowing... Let that joy keep coming!

Being joyful doesn't mean you have to be happy all the time... It doesn't mean you should feel like laughing when someone tells you their best friend just died... It doesn't mean you should only think pleasant thoughts.

Psalms 51:10-12 - Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation...

The deepest joy comes from knowing that you have that salvation; that you are a child of God. That's really the most important thing.

All the meaning in my life is based on the fact that God is my heavenly Father and He has accepted me as His own. I may not know where my life is headed, and bad things may happen, but God has control over my life and He has a perfect plan. And when i die, i'm going to heaven. That makes me joyful.
Even when i'm unhappy, i still know that i'm loved and cared for by the Creator of the universe. I know that Jesus died on the cross for me because He loved me that much. It makes me sad that i'm a sinful creature and that His death was necessary... But it makes me glad that i can now come to Him with all my needs and, eventually, be with Him for eternity.

Don't let anyone stop that joy. -- (I'm getting a picture from a cartoon.... There's a dam that's about to burst and the character is putting each finger into a hole and then starts using his toes and then someone starts tickling him and he lets go and the whole dam bursts apart.... *lol*)