Joy and pleasure

And here is a puzzle that I cannot seem to wrap my mind around, but it is true to the core, I can lose happiness and be sad but I have not lost my joy because I know that my joy comes from the Lord.

I can be depressed but I have not lost my joy. Despair flees because of my joy.

I have not lost my joy because I am so confident that He loves me.

And because He is love,
I understand love better.
Because I understand love better,

I can live a more pleasing life to Him.
Living a pleasing life to Him gives me more joy.
More joy gives me more pleasure even when I am sad; and this all stems from my firm foundation in Him.

Without Him I would have no clue what pleasure actually is or how deep that it goes into the fibers of my being. I would never know the true difference between the fickleness of Happy and the permanence of Joy.

Isn't that an astounding thought? Selah.

Here on earth I have an inkling of what it will be like in Heaven and because of that clue, I yearn more for Him and my dissatisfaction comes not from lack of earthly things but from desiring a closer relationship with Him. But, if that relationship gets too intense, I have to draw back because I cannot hold it all, fathom it all.

The closer I get to Him the more I want Him, the more I want Him, the more I love Him. The more I love Him the greater is my desire to please Him.

All of this started from His first loving me. Selah. While I was wicked and filthy, He loved me.

My pleasure is a direct gift from God and is derived from abiding in Him as He abides in me. That is my heart attitude and there is no place for a splinter to come between us.

Then the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying: Amen! Hallelujah!5 A voice came from the throne, saying: Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him, both small and great! 6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying: Hallelujah because our Lord God, the Almighty, has begun to reign! 7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory,because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself. 8 She was permitted to wear fine linen, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.9 Then he said to me, "Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!" He also said to me, "These words of God are true." 17 Both the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Anyone who hears should say, "Come!" And the one who is thirsty should come. Whoever desires should take the living water as a gift. Revelation 19

"For we will sing a song of celebration. We will shout out with praise for the Bridegroom will come, the Glorious One. We will look on His face; we will go to a much better place. So dance with all your might, lift up your hands and clap for joy, for the time’s drawing near when He will appear. And OH! We will stand by His side, a strong, pure, spotless Bride. And we will dance on the streets that are golden, the glorious bride and the great Son of Man. From every tongue and tribe and nation, we’ll join in the song of the Lamb." Living Proof Ministries II CD