POT of JOY - Recipe Ingredients Part II

It’s another day of cooking … pardon the pun, I mean getting back to our recipe for joy, the ingredient that He promises to us, for us and freely gives us. Grab your coffee and come on in. We are double-checking our ingredients in this recipe of joy before we play any more theological hopscotch looking for experiences of joy.
So early on in this series -- feels like forever ago – we saw that true joy inspires us to give, to share with others, even if we have little! Oh, isn’t it easier to give or to share when we have plenty? But that’s what differentiates true joy from generosity: giving when you have little versus just when you have plenty. See, when we give from the heart freely, this actually adds to our joy, sort of heightens its flavor. It’s like eating the most delicious meal and adding just a pinch of salt to perfect it. It increases our joy; it does not subtract from it in any way.
We also have learned that joy stirs up compassion for others. That’s a mouthful! When we have the joy of the Lord within us, we are better able to separate those hurtful things from the hurting person. It’s not that we pity them in a prideful way, but we have compassion for their lack of joy, and we can truly pray that the eyes of their heart may be open to the riches of Christ someday. Compassion doesn’t mean we think of ourselves better than others; but recognizes we are nothing without Christ and because we truly walk in that knowledge, knowing He is the source of our joy, and as long as we stay plugged in to Him, we will be connected to joy. Shouldn’t we want that for others? Compassion doesn’t lend itself to meddling in others lives trying to fix them and get them to see the light. No, that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Compassion inspired by true joy steps back and prays that the joy of the Lord will one day be theirs!
Oh to fix my eyes on Jesus that my joy would splash compassion onto the lives I encounter today, tomorrow and every tomorrow after that.

Evinda