Finding Real Joy

Have you ever felt like you've forgotten what real joy feels like? When the cold seasons of life stretch on, it can leave your soul feeling like an endless winter!

The world constantly tells us that joy depends on circumstances—success, comfort, and everything going our way. But there’s a deeper truth: authentic joy isn't determined by what's happening around us but by who lives within us. Jesus promised, "I've told you these things so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."  

Real, authentic joy isn't fleeting or circumstantial; it's whole and enduring.

For anyone feeling stuck in a winter season right now, this message offers the hope that spring is coming—not just in nature but in your soul. 

Joy isn't something you have to desperately chase. It's being held out to you. 

Share this message with someone who might need to hear that joy is possible again, because through Jesus, all things become new.

 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is your encouraging five-minute podcast.
Over the next five minutes hereto encourage you, to inspire
you to hopefully lift your day.
If you need more encouragementat the end of it, oh, you can
always listen again.
Yes you can or you can tune into WPER that's Virginia's home
for encouragement, if you needto.

(00:21):
You can download the app andlisten anytime.
Oh, absolutely, wperorg, youcan start there.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Can you feel that the air is shifting, the sun is
shining a little longer and theearth is waking up again?
It's springtime.
You got to love it, yes, andthere is something about spring
that makes it I don't know justfeels joyful, right.
I mean, after months of coldand snow and bare trees and gray
skies, like suddenly lifereturns.

(00:49):
The flowers and trees are inbloom, the birds are singing,
the world just feels new again.
Maybe, just maybe, your soul islonging for that kind of
newness also.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Maybe you've been in a long winter, not just in the
weather, but in your soul also.
Maybe you've been in a longwinter not just in the weather,
but in your soul.
Maybe joy feels distant, likesomething meant for other people
but not for you.
Well, if that's where you aretoday, we want to remind you of
something beautiful Joy is notlost.
And more than that joy is foundin Jesus.
So our friend Denise wentthrough one of the hardest

(01:22):
seasons of her life.
This was last year.
She called it her winter, thewinter season, long season of
loss, discouragement and justgoing through the motions.
One day she said I don't evenremember what real joy feels
like.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
That's so hard.
I know, eric, and I have feltthat way.
Have you ever felt that way?

Speaker 1 (01:41):
So one afternoon she's walking through her
neighborhood, still carrying theweight of everything she'd been
through in that hard winterseason.
And that's when she saw it, Atiny bud pushing up through the
frozen ground.
Love it.
Something about that momentstopped her in her tracks.
It would me too right, Becauseif a flower could push through
winter's harsh cold and bloomagain, then maybe she could too.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
You know, honestly, that's the thing about joy.
It's not always big and loudlike fireworks, right?
Sometimes it starts as awhisper, a small sign of life
pushing through.
It's a reminder that winterdoes not last forever, and
neither does sorrow.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Psalm 30, verse 5, says weeping may last for a
night, but joy comes in themorning.
Spring is proof of that promise.
The world goes through seasonsof cold, of complete barrenness,
but new life always appears.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, and that's what Jesus does in our hearts too,
because the world tells us thatjoy is found in success, right
In these perfect lookingcircumstances and everything
going our way.
But the truth, real joy, isn'tabout what's happening around us
, it's about who is in us, andJesus said in John 15, 11, I've

(03:01):
told you these things so that myjoy may be in you and that your
joy may be complete.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Complete, that's whole, not dependent on other
circumstances or ourcircumstances.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
If your heart has been in a long winter, can we
encourage you?
Spring is coming.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Not just in the world around you, but deep in your
soul.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Because Jesus makes all things new, just like he's
promised us.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
When we look for our joy in him not in what we have,
not in what we've lost, but inhim we find a joy that nothing
in this world can take away.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Absolutely so today.
Take a deep breath, stepoutside, feel the sun on your
skin, look for those little,tiny signs of new life popping
up out of the ground and, mostof all, remind your heart of
this.
Joy isn't something you have tochase.
Joy is something Jesus freelygives.

(03:56):
Let's pray about it.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Jesus, thank you for the gift of joy, for the promise
that no season lasts foreverand that you're always working,
even in the waiting.
For the promise that no seasonlasts forever and that you're
always working even in thewaiting For the one who feels
stuck in winter.
We pray that you breathe newlife into their heart today,
fill them with your joy, thekind that lasts, the kind that's
only found in you, In Jesus'sname amen.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Friend, you are seen, you are loved, and no matter
what season you're in in thismoment joy is coming.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
Thank you for letting us spend a little time with you
today.
If this encouraged you, wouldyou share it with a friend who
might need a reminder that joyis coming Because Jesus is
already holding it out to us.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
And if this encouraged you and you'd like to
hear more, you can alwayslisten to WPER, Virginia's home
for encouragement.
But if you're not in thelistening area, you can download
the WPER app at WPERorg or justtell your smart speaker to play
WPER radio.