News you won't see in controlled mainstream media.

--JOY!

"Joy bursts in on our lives when we go about doing the good at hand and not trying to manipulate things and times to achieve joy."
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"Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is."

--(Both above quotes: C. S. Lewis)

"This is the land of sin and death and tears...but up yonder is unceasing joy!"

--D. L. Moody

--JOY!
--SHARING~~

The Los Angeles Times (12/15/96) reported that David Suna and John Tu sold 80 percent of their company, Kingston Technology Corp., the world's largest manufacturer of computer memory products, for $1.5 billion dollars.

The two men decided to share their windfall with their employees. The average bounus payment their workers received was just over $75,000. Suna summarized their decision: "To share our success with everybody is the most joy we can have."

--Scot Snyder

--JOY /- HAPPINESS ~~

--'In our age, as in every age, people are longing for happiness, not realizing that what they are looking for is holiness.'

--Jerry L. Walls
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-'The World and the Cross do not get along too well together, and comfort and holiness do not share the same room.'

--Carlo Carretto
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'The comedy film 'Cool Runnings' is about the first Jamaican bobsled team to go to the Olympics. John Candy plays a former American gold medalist who becomes a coach to the Jamaican team. The players grow to like the American coach and affectionately dub him "Sled-god."

Later in the story, the coach's dark history comes out. In an Olympics following his gold medal performance, he broke the rules by weighting the U.S. sled, bringing disgrace on himself and his team.

One of the Jamaican bobsledders could not understand why anyone who had already won a gold medal would cheat. Finally he nervously asked the coach to explain.

"I had to win," he said. "I learned something. If you are not happy without a gold medal, you won't be happy with it."

--Randall Bergsma

--LIFE IN CHRIST~~
--John 6:25-40

"'I am the bread of life, He who comes to me will never go hungry...I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.'"
--John 6:35, 8:12

-Pastor George--a dear, humble, man of God--came to Okinawa as a retired minister of a huge church in California. We became friends and through his ministry, the church grew. While truck-loads of Marines wearing combat boots, camouflaged pants and white T-shits filled the front rows of the church, Pastor George shared his love of Jesus and the Gospel. Everyone left knowing he'd been in the Lord's presence.~~
--Anchor

--The Fruit of the Holy Spirit – What is joy?

-Question: "The Fruit of the Holy Spirit – What is joy?"

-Answer: Literally, the "fruit of the Spirit" is what happens when the Holy Spirit indwells a believer. The "fruit" is the product of the Holy Spirit's cultivation of character in a heart. Galatians 5:22-23 describes what that fruit looks like; the second characteristic listed is joy.

The Greek word for joy is 'chara'. Joy is the natural reaction to the work of God, whether promised or fulfilled. Joy expresses God's kingdom—His influence on earth (Romans 14:17). The Spirit’s production of joy can manifest in several different ways:

The joy of deliverance: When God sets someone free, rejoicing is in order.

1 Samuel 2:1: Hannah was filled with joy at her deliverance from her enemies.

Acts 12:14: The servant girl was so overjoyed that God had rescued Peter from prison that she forgot to let Peter in the house.

- The joy of salvation: Our greatest reason to be joyful is that God wants to save us and spend eternity with us. Nothing is better than this.

Luke 15:7: All heaven is joyful when a person accepts God's provision of salvation.

Acts 8:8: The people of Samaria were joyful as they heard the gospel and saw God's power in healing the sick.

Acts 13:52; 15:3: Jewish believers rejoiced when they heard of the work of the Holy Spirit in saving Gentiles.

- The joy of spiritual maturity: As the Holy Spirit works in us to bear more fruit, we become confident in God's promises and rejoice in our walk with Him and with other believers.

John 15:11: The fullness of joy comes to those who continue in the love of Christ and obey Him.

2 Corinthians 1:24; 2:3; 7:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 3:9: Paul knew joy as the churches gave evidence of the Holy Spirit working among them.

Philippians 2:2: Groups of believers who unite in demonstrating the mind, love, and purpose of Christ bring joy to others.

Hebrews 10:34; 12:2; James 1:2-4: Believers, following the example of Jesus, endure persecution because of the promise of future joy.

- The joy of God's presence: The Holy Spirit draws us to God, in whose presence we can know true joy. Without the Holy Spirit, no one would seek God.

Psalm 16:11: “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Matthew 2:10; Luke 1:14: Mary and the shepherds were joyful because Immanuel had been born.

Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:41: The women who went to Jesus' tomb and the disciples were overjoyed that He rose from the dead.

The Greek 'chara' is closely related to charis, which means “grace” or “a gift.” Chara is the normal response to charis—we have joy because of God's grace. The next step in the progression is to allow our joy to become an action as we express it, although sometimes joy can be so great it is inexpressible (1 Peter 1:8).

Possessing joy is a choice. We choose whether to value God's presence, promises, and work in our lives. When we yield to the Spirit, He opens our eyes to God's grace around us and fills us with joy (Romans 15:13). Joy is not to be found in a fallen world; it is only fellowship with God that can make our joy complete (1 John 1:4).

Read more: <http://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-joy.html#ixzz36FDJMfXr>

--HOW A STORY MADE A DIFFERANCE~~

--Dial a Quote

--"Faith is like electricity; you can't see it, but you can see the light. This is Janet. Please leave your name and number."
That's my current voice-mail greeting. For four years I've been sharing inspirational quotes from 'The Up Side' my favorite section in GUIDEPOSTS. I rerecord my greeting every few weeks. My frineds leave happy messages in response.

I got hooked on GUIDEPOSTS as a child, when my father was YMCA camp director and gave copies of the magazine to his counselors. Now I'm the one spreading positivity--one caller at a time!

--From: GUIDEPOSTS/JH
[I think I just got a new way to leave a voice mail message. encourging and receive a cheerful message in return.]