Friday, November 23, 2018

Philippians 4:4-5

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

Knowing joy

Joy arises from the presence of knowing love within the heart.

The warmth of joy is not the rush of emotional energy that fills us in a moment of victory or success, nor even when good fortune surprises us in some way. Joy is not dependent upon outward circumstances. It is deeper, rooted in the soul.

It rises when the heart is warmed by the presence of the Love … of God … living within us. This Love is there, always. It is our truest self, as we are made in the image of an immeasurable love.

We live far from this awareness most days, which is why prayer needs to be a daily, hourly, moment-to-moment experience. Turing again and again to speak to the One who is always near, friend-to-friend, moments come when we are filled with the simple joy of being. For we know the One who is Love living within, filling us as water fills a glass to overflowing.

In such moments no one needs to tell us how we are to live, for all cynicism and fear, boredom and low esteem, all greed and guilt and bitterness are washed away.

All that remains is the gentle joy of being alive and knowing the Love who is, the Love who shines for each of us in the face of Christ, the Love who is always near.

Pr. David L. Miller