Daily Bible study excerpts from my book: “Looking for Contentment in All the Wrong Places”
Knowing where true joy comes from will help us see it in our daily lives and learn to cultivate it.
“The Bible is not about man seeking God (for man is trying to hide from God), but is about God seeking Man. He is waiting in His Word for you to come to Him.”
Casandra Martin
So often we are hiding from his presence instead of seeking to get closer to Him. Only in a close relationship with God will we be able to find the joy that brings peace and contentment to our lives.
Bible Marking in your own Bible:
Psalm 16:8-11
- Put brackets around verse 10 – write in your margin “prophecy”
- Circle the reason word in verse 8 “because” – I shall not be moved, why?
- Circle “therefore” in verse 9 and draw a line to “he is at my right hand”
- Circle the reason word “for” in verse 10 and draw a line from it to “hope” in verse 9
HI-lite:
- :8 “I have set the Lord always before me”, “I shall not be moved”
- :9 “my heart is glad”, “my glory rejoices”, “my flesh also will rest”
Put a box around:
- :11 “You will show me the path of life”
Double-underline those things we have in God and Christ:
- :9 “hope”
- :11 “fullness of joy”, “pleasures forevermore”
Put a heart next to
- :11 “In Your presence” and “at Your right hand”
So, where do we find joy?
We speak often of human life as a journey—a path along which, like pilgrims, we are travelling. Whither does it lead? Apart from Christ and his gospel, the only answer is—to the grave. Our Saviour’s death and resurrection have changed all this; made both life and death something quite other than before. He lived in order to die; died in order to live again; lives again, to make us partakers of his life. Christianity is preparation for life, not death!
Pulpit Commentary ESword Psalm 16:10
Psalm 4:7-8
Circle
- :7 “You”
Where does David say his “gladness” comes from? Hi-Lite
- :7 “You have put gladness in my heart”
Circle the reason word
- :8 “for” – why is that we can lie down in peace?
Underline
- :8 “lie down in peace”, “make me dwell in safety”
Could David have known that joy if he did not have a close relationship with God?
Is it possible to have joy from the Lord, if we don’t know Him?
Joy in the Lord comes from loving Him, knowing Him and trusting in His provision for us. What a tragedy it is that we so often pass up this wonderful opportunity to add true joy into our lives.
God is waiting for you (James 4:8), are you willing to draw near to Him?
One of the many “Let Us” passages is found in Hebrews 10:22
How do we draw near to God?
- Hi-Lite: “Let us draw near”
- Underline “True heart”, “full assurance of faith”
Is there any doubt found in this?
Circle “hearts sprinkled” and “bodies washed”
This means with body and soul, pure heart, pure life, in spirit and truth.
Romans 15:13
- Circle the time word “now”
- Circle the reason word “that”
Paul says that God is a God of what?
- Hi-lite: “may the God of hope fill you”
What does he say that God will fill us with if we believe?
- Underline “joy”, “peace in believing”, “abound in hope”
Are you seeking to know God and draw closer to him?
Who else gives us joy according to the following scriptures?
John 15:11
Who is speaking? What are His words going to do for us?
- Underline “these things I have spoken to you”
- Hi-lite “my joy may remain in you”, and “your joy may be full”
1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
- Underline “followers”, “received the word”
- Circle the reason words “so that”
What did they become by following and receiving the word?
Hi-Lite
- :7 “you became examples to all”
Where did their joy come from?
- Hi-lite “joy of the Holy Spirit”
In the next lesson we will look at how joy can come from Relationships.