Joy Is a Choice

Could choosing joy really be up to us?

In today's episode, Richelle Alessi invites us to explore the idea that joy is more than a fleeting feeling, it is a daily choice, even when life feels overwhelming or our circumstances fall short. Together, we'll reflect on James 1:2-3, discuss the difference between happiness and true, rooted joy, and learn how our response to trials can be transformed by understanding who God is.

Gather with our community as we pray for the strength to find joy in every situation and encourage one another to start our day with faith and gratitude. Let's choose joy and walk in it, together.

BECOME A FOUNDING "MY MORNING DEVOTIONAL" MEMBER

If you enjoy your 5 minute daily dose of heaven, we would appreciate your support, and we have a fun way for you to partner with the MMD community!

We've launched our "Buy Me a Coffee" membership where you can buy us a latte, OR become a founding member and get monthly bonus video episodes!

 To donate, go to mymorningdevo.co/join! 

Transcript

Speaker: 0:00

You're listening to My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1480. Today's devo is called "Joy Is a Choice." Hey there! We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a 5-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Good morning everybody and happy Friday. I hope that you guys had an amazing week. My name is Rachelle Alessi and I had the honor of being with you. And I know this week's episodes actually went a little longer. I apologize in advance. I know we're a 5-minute devo. I went, I just went longer this, this week. And so I'm sorry, I apologize. I'm aware that that is 5 minutes. So I'm going to try to keep it 5 minutes today. I'm going to try, I promise. But we are— this month we are taking the theme of, of some of our inner inconsistencies and things that just we struggle with. And today I want to talk about joy being a choice. And I've talked about joy a lot because it's not something that comes natural to me. And so it's something that I work on and make sure that I keep top of mind, especially now that I have my family and I have my son and I have another boy on the way that's only 2 months, 2 and a half months away. And I just start to think about how I want to bring the joy in my home, but it's not a natural thing. And so I really try to work at it. And so if you hear me doing a lot of podcasts on joy, now you know why. It's not because I'm good at it. It's because it's an inner struggle and I want to get better. And so today's verse that I want to read is James 1:2-3, and it says, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And we've read this verse before, I think maybe even on this podcast, but isn't it crazy that it says count it all joy? My brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, count it all joy. And it's so hard to count it all joy when you're waiting for something. It's so hard to count it all joy when some— that somebody's really hurt you. It's so hard to count it all joy when you are hurting, where expectations weren't met, where something failed that you really were trying at. It's so hard to count it all joy because you're like, I don't feel happy about this. Like, this is not something that makes me feel happy. This is actually something that makes me feel angry. This is something that makes me feel sad. There's something that makes me feel betrayed. And the least feeling I feel right now is happiness and joy. And that's when the Bible, which is great, that it says count it all joy, and where the Bible talks about the joy of the Lord being our strength, because happiness depends on what happens, but joy is rooted in who God is. Think about that. Happiness might be a reaction to something. I got a gift, I'm happy. I ate what I love, I'm happy. My child behaved today, I'm happy. But joy is rooted in who God is, which means— and when the Bible talks about counting it all joy, it's because at the root of who you are, you know who God is. And no matter what trial, what comes your way, you can have joy because you know who God is. So yes, you're going to count it all joy, all the trials, because you know that is going to produce steadfastness in you because you know that this challenge, as much as it hurts, is going to produce something in me. It's not going to be wasted. And in the middle of that producing and my faith growing, I can have joy because I know who the Lord is, and I can rejoice in him, and I can wake up today and worship him and experience his presence and have the joyful day. Even though I know today is hard because I have to face a hard situation, but I can still be joyful because I know who he is. My response is not going to be determined on how I feel, but my response will be determined by who God is. And if he is all-knowing, almighty, and he loves me, then I can count everything all joy because he is going to deliver me. He is going to be with me and he's going to help me get through this. And so this Friday, I encourage you, count it all joy, even if you don't feel like it. And remember, my happiness might be a response to something. If I do this and I feel happy, but your joy is rooted on who God is, and you know who he is. You've seen the miracles that he's done in your life. You've seen how he's delivered you, how he's answered you before, and he's gonna do it again. But it's like what we talked about yesterday, it's not always in our timing, but the Lord will. And so because of that, we remember what he's done in the past to fuel our future and know that he will do it again. And now we get to count all these trials joy, and we get to have the true joy of the Lord through the hard things and bring that joy to our homes, bring that joy to our, our work or whatever that we are doing. And it's not perfection or you masking something, it's not you saying, I'm not going to let myself feel something and just project happiness, and everybody thinks I'm happy all the time and there's no hard things. Actually, it's more said of a person when people know you're going through a trial, but your attitude, it's so good, and your joy is evident. That's when the true evidence of the Lord shows in your life. So it's not even about you, it's really about you saying, hey, the Lord will be seen in my life. Life, even in this hard moment. Because I have him, I know who he is, and I can operate in his joy and have his strength through his joy. Amen. Let's pray this morning. Dear Father God, thank you for your joy. Thank you for who you are and for, for that being the base of who we are. And because of that, we get to operate in a faith that says this will be better, and it only going to produce something in me, is only going to make me better, so I can be joyful and I can count it all joy, Lord. I don't have to be stuck to what's happening, and I don't even have to be a victim of what's happening, because I know who I serve, and I get to dictate my feelings by who you are, and I don't have to respond the way that the world would want me to respond, because I know who you You are, and so I will count it all joy and be grateful that you are with me and you will deliver me and you will protect me and you will do it again, Lord. And in the meantime, I will just be joyful. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. So there you have it, your 5-minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.