Joy

"Joy brings smiles on our faces, it brings power, peace and sound mind."

"you have to have the right sort of stone. Peridot for mothers, girasol for lovers, sapphire for sadness, and garnet for joy."

"Joy is a gift given not an emotion earned."

"The joy of the Lord is our strength."

"We are not perfect in ourselves, but in Him we are. In the red circle of this world, there is no hope. However, because you’re living in the purple wedge, there is always His hope, power, and joy."

"Choose joy! Joy is a choice. Joy is a witness. Joy is a therapy. Joy is a habit. If Jesus, who drank so deeply of the world's sorrow, could be filled with so much fun and laughter, then so can I."

"If [you] are [a Christian] … you should feel secure and honored that God loves you so much! That knowledge is a joy and a privilege. No one can ever take that from you because no one can ever take you from God!"

"She did not find these riches (of fulfillment). They were a gift from God."

"True joy blossoms in the garden of inner peace."

"What a joy it is to look at loved ones, flowers, trees, the sky, bird, mountains, babies, and sunsets, to mention a very few things, and know how special they really are. What a joy it is to see the hand of God around you constantly, even in a troubled world."

"Success is likened to a deep pit, you have to jump in to get it, then you'll need a ladder of grace to climb out to enjoy it."

"Like other spiritual fruit, joy must be cultivated."

"The sky is a blue so clean it verges on joy."

"The roadblocks to growth and joy come when we forget the bigness of God & instead make people bigger than He is."

"A joyful person is one who deals daily with their problems, faithfully and obediently counting their trials as joy."

"Just as stars shine brightest in the darkest night, your joy blazes brilliantly through life’s problems when you count them as joy."

"A few years ago I spent Christmas and New Years alone. No family. No friends. No gifts. A little tree with some lights on it. A small Christmas dinner (in a can). Far from home but with a lot of good memories of it. I didn't feel too sad because I knew things would change for the better because I knew I would change them for the better. It was all up to me, not fate, or luck (although understand that those are big players in this game too). If I didn't like where I was at that moment I couldn't feel sorry myself and blame someone else, play the victim. I was the one who put myself there and I knew I was the one that had to change. So I did. See, misery is never very far away from us (it lurks around every dark corner) but neither is joy. You've got to roll with that black horse when it visits, ride that bitch out if you can but you've got to enjoy the hell out of the other too, when it chances to come your way. Above all, you've got to recognize joy when it shows up to dance with you and, sorry, that's not nearly as easy as it sounds. You've got to fight tooth and nail in this life to try and be as happy as you can with the circumstances you've been given. You've got to fight with every inch of your being for that and grit your teeth and stick out your chin while you're doing it too because although without a doubt it's the right fight to be in, it's going to be hard sometimes. So hard that maybe you'll be blind to everything else. Along the way however, always remember one thing: even though there are people out there in the world who will take the heart right out of you...there are those who will put it right back in again (let them). Learn to recognize who they are because that's something really worth knowing. But it's up to you in the end. It's up to you to embrace the wonders in this life and to deny the darkness (and there are plenty of both). Be strong, be brave, be kind, be noble and above all, slay your dragons and keep on moving. Don't stop. And finally, even if happiness forgets you for a little while, never completely forget about it. It's there waiting for the other to pass. Even in your darkest hour don't ever doubt that for a second."

"Few moments are so special that they should be recognized by special expressions."

"A moment of torture feels like an eternity, while an eternity of joy passes in a moment. Perhaps time is naught but an illusion."

"We don’t like death. We’d rather produce seeds another way. But death to ourselves, our agendas, our expectations, our hopes is necessary to find deep joy that comes when we fully relinquish ourselves to the gospel."