How can I more fully experience joy?

Psalm 22:26The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.

Psalm 40:16May all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!”

Psalm 70:4May all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “God is great!”

Psalm 105:3Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

To more fully experience joy, we should actively pursue God as the top priority of our lives. The more we know God, the Creator of joy, the more we will know joy!

Psalm 28:7The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

Psalm 33:21In him [the Lord] our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

Psalm 34:5, 8Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. . . . Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

Psalm 40:4Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.

Romans 15:13I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 1:25Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you

1 Peter 1:8You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

To more fully experience joy, we need a growing faith and trust in God, which will allow us to experience joy in every situation. Joy overflows from the fullness of our faith and trust in the Lord.

Psalm 19:8The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living.

Psalm 119:1-2, 14, 16, 24Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. . . . I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. . . . I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word. . . . Your laws please me; they give me wise advice.

Psalm 119:55, 92, 111, 162, 165I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord; therefore, I obey your instructions. . . . If your instructions hadn’t sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery. . . . Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight. . . . I rejoice in your word like one who discovers a great treasure. . . . Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.

Jeremiah 15:16When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.

John 17:13“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.”

To more fully experience joy, we should read, study, and follow God’s Word because it will keep us from situations that ruin our joy.

Psalm 32:11So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

Psalm 40:8“I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”

Psalm 97:11Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right.

Proverbs 10:28The hopes of the godly result in happiness, but the expectations of the wicked come to nothing.

Proverbs 13:9The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Proverbs 29:18When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

Luke 10:21At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”

John 13:17“Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

John 15:10-11“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

Romans 14:17The Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

1 Thessalonians 1:6So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.

To more fully experience joy, we must live in obedience to God through the power of his Holy Spirit.

2 Chronicles 29:30King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the psalms written by David and by Asaph the seer. So they offered joyous praise and bowed down in worship.

Psalm 1:1Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.

Isaiah 56:7I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

Acts 2:46They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.

2 Timothy 1:4I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

2 John 1:12I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

To more fully experience joy, we spend quality time with other believers. God often encourages us through fellowship with one another.