Joy... in the Lord

(Hab 3:18) Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my
salvation.

There is joy in the Lord... (ok, who's got the song in their head now?). I was thinking about joy, and the joy in the Lord, and came to realize that you can't just say, I have joy. It doesn't work that way - that's not real joy. Instead, real joy comes when you are walking in the Spirit (another fruit of the Spirit). That is, when you are in a close communion with God, then the result will be Joy. We can "rejoice in the LORD," and "joy in the God of my salvation." But when we are not walking with Him, then we are to turn our laughter into mourning and our Joy to heaviness.

John Piper's most-known teaching is probably what he terms: "Christian Hedonism." That is, God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him - or something like that. The idea is that when we are finding our joy in Him, and in doing what He has for us, then He is most glorified. (On the subject of John Piper, his website: http://www.desiringgod.org/ is having a book sale today where every book is $5. I suppose that's why I wasn't able to connect to the store part of his site a little while ago.)

George Mueller, the great man of prayer, wrote this in his booklet, Soul Nourishment First : "I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit."
That booklet is fantastic, and if you have never read it, I recommend it: http://www.biblebelievers.com/george_muller/g-m_appendix-l.html will get you to it.

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice ye righteous. And shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart!

Joy in the Lord, sorrow outside of Him... what a contrast.