JOY (?)

Joy: (n) 1a feeling of happiness 2source of happiness
Thats the definition of joy according to Webster's New Explorer Large Print Dictionary. According to Chinese myth, the image of joy 'Began with the image of a traditional drum, which represented the pleasure of listening to music. In ancient times, people celebrated a bountiful harvest with food and music to honor God and their ancestors.' Now the definition for Webster's Dictionary tells us what joy is--sort of. it says that joy is a source of happiness;but isn't joy and happiness the same thing?No, it isn't, but the distinction between the two is rarely made. Lets see what Webster's says about happiness:
Happy:(adj) 1fortunate 2content, pleased, or joyous.
I'll sum it up for you: When you are happy, nothing is wrong,but when something is wrong, or you are experiencing pain, you are not happy. On the other hand, with joy, you can have joy when you are happy,or when you are going through a trial in your life. The is to put your joy into something thats LASTS. But what lasts? We live in a fallen world, and every day we can see as things fall apart right before our eyes. People die; our friends, families, enemies...we'll all die sometime.A wise man once said: "We live to die, and we die to live eternally." We must put our joy in Christ Jesus alone, otherwise why even have joy?The Bible says, "Be joyful always." I read that one day and realized, " It doesn't just say, "Be joyful." it says, "Be joyful ALWAYS!" . Paul wrote this while he was in prison, and if he can have joy, we can too!!Please, please put your joy in Jesus. Pray, asking for joy, asking for joy forever. Remember that you do not need to be happy, or have a happy life to be joyful, after all, we are only going to be completely happy when we are in heaven.