Joy - In His Image | Crossroads Students

Hi, guys, it's your girl, Brittany, a.k.a. Brit. It's Brittany, and I am back. Welcome to our next part of our series, In His Image. We're talking all about what God says about who we are and the way that we act and especially in the way that we feel. And the feeling on my mind today is joy. Like that's a good feeling to have, right? If you're excited, you're happy, you're enthusiastic. Like who doesn't love a little bit of joy in their life? But have you ever had a moment where you thought your day was going to be like the best day ever and then one thing just kind of ruined the whole vibe? Like literally the other day I woke up. I kind of felt like Disney Princess when they wake up and they're like, oh, like everything's great. Birds are tweeting. The sun is out. I'm like, today is my day. So I walk outside. I'm like, I'm going to head to the gym. You know, I'm in my little gym fit. I'm ready to go. And I'm thinking to myself, as soon as the gym is over, I'm getting my favorite latte. It's a blueberry latte next door. Don't judge me. It's really good. Highly recommend. So I'm in the gym the whole time. I'm pumping iron, just like I'm doing this for the latte. Like the latte is getting me through. And so my gym time is over. And I'm like, all right, time to go next door to get my favorite latte.

I walk over there. I open the door, except it's locked. Sign says we're closed today. And I'm like, this day sucks now. Day's ruined. I don't know what I thought was going to be a good day. This day's the worst. So day was completely ruined. And isn't that just like how we are to be so dramatic to say everything's perfect until one thing is screwed up and the day's just ruined. See, what I was experiencing that day was happiness. Happiness is a blueberry latte. Happiness is the sun being out instead of being rainy. Happiness is a text from your crush saying you look cute today. Happiness is hanging out with a friend and laughing a lot, right? Like happiness is something that is a good thing, but it might not last the whole day. It's probably just for a second. Happiness is not bad. Like Jesus himself experienced a lot of happiness while he was here on earth. We have a whole story in the Bible about Jesus going to a wedding. And in that day, weddings lasted like several days. So he spent lots of time celebrating with his friends. Like happiness is a gift and it's a great thing. But it comes and goes in seasons. And today I want to give you a gift that is something deeper, something bigger and something that lasts even when the happiness starts to fade. And that moment is gone. And that thing is joy. So joy is not the absence of sadness. Joy is the presence of Jesus. So think about that for a second. Have there been times in your life when

things are imperfect, but you still felt a calm or a peace? That would be joy. Jesus experienced that as well. When he was getting towards the end of his life and knew that the end was coming, he spent some time in a garden with his closest friends and said, can you just pray with me? And he invited God into that moment with him. He wasn't asking for perfection. He knew this day was going to be so hard to the point where it says literally he was sweating blood from stress. But he had the calm of knowing that God was present with him and he invited friends into that with him. And that quiet confidence that God's got this is what joy is. Later on, when he was on the cross, he said, God, forgive these people that put me here. They don't know what they do. Like that makes no sense. But that's the thing about joy. It actually doesn't make sense. Like when you see someone who's truly joyful, it's not because their life is perfect and they've got it all together. They're not smiling all the time, but they have this quiet confidence, trusting that God is going to do what he said he will do. So you might be wondering, well, how do I know if I'm experiencing joy or happiness? Well, here's a great way to measure it. In the Bible, there's a passage that talks about where your heart is. Matthew 6, 21 says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Well, what in the world does that mean?

Well, here's a good way to think about it. Have you ever experienced being like truly hangry? I'm not just saying kind of snacky, like hanger. I have. Let me tell you, my close friends know if I'm like, guys, I'm feeling a little hungry. They have about five minutes to help me figure out something to eat or I'm going to crash out. You ever experienced that? OK, you know what I'm talking about, right? Imagine that feeling of being so hangry that you're about to like rage and someone says, here's a little donut to get you by. You best believe I'm eating that donut. But what I really wanted was like a full steak dinner with my friends. Like this is not going to cut it. But you know what? It'll do. So I eat the donut. Right. And a few minutes later, I'm not really satisfied. Right. Like if all I had for dinner was a donut, in about five minutes, I'm going to not only be hungry. Again, but I'm actually shaking because of all the sugar and maybe my stomach hurts now like it's it's somehow worse, right? I think a lot of us are chasing after a little doughnut by ourselves When we could have had a nice steak dinner with all of our closest friends. Here's what I mean by that Sometimes in my life. I've chased after things that were just such temporary happiness things For me a lot of it looked like being liked by people I thought if I can just get people to like me if I can just feel popular then I will be happy and the only problem with that is the second that I got a text that said someone was kind of upset with me about something or if I saw a party that I didn't get invited to or if I started wondering like are we good that happiness was gone Like it came and went with the circumstance

But with joy There is something that lasts So what are you chasing after? Maybe it's like me and you're like, I just want people to like me Maybe something else. Maybe it's excellence and you're like if I can just get all A's then I will be happy Maybe it's status like if I can get this role in my play if I can get this part on my team Like whatever it is, maybe you're like I just need this thing to feel happy The only problem is it just doesn't last. It's like eating a donut where it's nice for a little bit But at the end of the day, I'm still really hungry Joy is inviting God into our life and saying you know what? I Have this confidence and this reassurance that no matter what happens, that's great. And what happens that's not so great I have God telling me that he's got me If you haven't experienced that joy before I'm telling you like you're missing out Like I'm inviting you to this because God has invited you to this and he invented it. The Bible literally says that God Experiences joy. He rejoices when he thinks of you like when he thinks of you He is so all about you that he experiences rejoicing. So joy isn't something that we've created It's not something that you can make happen. It's something God invented and because we were made in his image we get to experience it too and Joy just looks like chasing after who God is instead of chasing after things that make us feel good for a second So if you haven't had that happen before if you're looking around just trying to figure out how can I feel happy? Maybe the better question is how can I trust God with the outcome? Watch how he starts to transform your heart. Watch how he starts to transform your life. I'm telling you joy is something that lasts Even if happiness just lasts for a second. That's what joy is all about and that's what we're inviting you to today