This year. It’s been a journey — and not like a pretty, ride-off-into-the-sunset kind but more the kind that chewed us up and spit us out. We are all in desperate need of joy — one that’s deeper than a good latte, a beautiful sunset, or even a birthday celebration. We’re in need of the kind of joy that fills our hearts even when it doesn’t make sense to feel joyful. The kind of joy that radiates. The kind that comes from the Lord and is so much deeper, so much more life-giving than the joy of this world.
We need some soul-deep, unshakable, unwavering joy, and we’re pretty sure we’re not alone.
We’re ready to turn away from the world’s counterfeit version of temporary satisfaction and embrace the deep, authentic joy God is offering. So we are thrilled — JOYFUL, if you will — to introduce the second of four Bible studies coming from (in)courage this year . . . Courageous Joy: Delight in God Through Every Season, written by Mary Carver and featuring stories from the (in)courage community!
Isn’t this the perfect topic to follow the year we’ve had??
Courageous joy is both breathtakingly simple and beautifully complex, and it’s what we investigate in this new Bible Study. In Courageous Joy, we’ll dive into the Word of God to learn what He says about joy. We’ll learn to find joy in every circumstance we face and to share it with everyone we encounter. We’ll begin to understand how a person can truly count it all joy, even when the “all” we’ve been given is not the “all” we were hoping for or expecting.
You’re invited to dig deep with us and make 2021 the year we courageously lean into joy!
The Courageous Joy Bible Study is available wherever Bibles are sold, including:
Don’t want to wait to get started? Sign up here and we’ll send you a FREE week from each of the Courageous Bible Studies, including Courageous Joy!
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I am looking forward to delving into this study. I can always use more tools in my toolbox to help me choose joy.
We all need help recognizing joy sometimes. Looks like a good encouraging story.
Joy to me is total trust in the Lord, knowing His way is always the best for me.
Joy for me had always been a child’s laugh, so I’m hoping to learn more and dive deeper into what Joy means and how I can find it more in the day to day, especially on the days when I don’t feel joyful.
Joy goes beyond happiness. The happy starts as a babbling brook, cheerfully bubbling over the rocks in the shallows. Then the feeling continues to grow till joy overflows from the banks and becomes a class four rapid. You feel as if you will burst with the relief of true joy as contentment fIlls your soul.
Joy for me is spending time with the grandkids. Their laugh and their joy is so infectous.
Joy to me is hoping in God: knowing that no matter what happens in my future and no matter what’s happening right now, there’s hope and goodness waiting for me.
Joy is unwavering peace. Joy is knowing that GOD lead are footsteps and he will never leave us. Joy is being grateful in any moment.
Real joy is the absence of fear
“I get it” there’s the smile and eyes open wide as my friend experiences the joy of the living God for the first time! That is JOY (Jesus, Others and You)
Joy for me is listening to my family’s laughter.
Joy is in my children’s cuddles after getting home from “adventure” hikes in the woods, tired and full of the beauty we saw in nature.
Joy is a sigh of relief that my worries are covered by hope of Gods promises. A warm blanket, a big hug, laughing till my sides hurt and knowing I am held by a God who can give real comfort.
Joy looks like my azalea blooming through brown crunchy leaves after a hard south Texas winter freeze. Even when the evidence of damage is still visible, the heart of the plant can’t help but do what it was created to do. We can permit ourselves to feel and show our deep rooted joy, hope and confidence in the midst of hard and sometimes damaging times. In Christ, it is what we are created to do.
Joy looks like a hug and “I love you Nana” from my 2 year old granddaughter.
This would be a great study for our women’s Bible study group! So far, we have not undertaken a formal study – it’s a fairly new group. Although we are a small church, our study group is well-attended by ladies of all ages. Joy is a topic we all need to embrace and could lead to other studies of the Spirit.
Joy looks like eagerness to rise in the morning to spend quiet time with my savior and to relate to my husband what I have read, how I have been encouraged and the contentment it creates.
Joy is in the heart that embraces peace and contentment which I am looking for. I was laid off in March 2020, quarantine due to the virus and heartbreaking that our daughter is having trouble to conceive. I want to bring back the joy that I once had in my life regardless my circumstances.
So excited to study biblical joy with you ladies! If it is anything like your last study on simplicity, we are in for another transformative experience! Thanks for buoying our hearts with God’s word during these tough times!
Joy is the love of Jesus down in my heart. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Many times I have to choose joy.
We have an estranged daughter who has walked away from the Lord… it took me a few years to understand and experience the JOY that only God can provide in our hard stuff in life. Once we do….he empowers us to love and support others who ask ” how come your so full of Joy?”… Only God can do that…I am…. as I’m sure we all are surrounded by many women who need to find that Joy….i love the idea of having a study to point them to real, authentic JOY of the Lord…
Joy. I love that word. To me, joy is unexpected and pops up in the little things such as. Getting to hug my granddaughters finally after this pandemic. Getting to listen to my oldest granddaughters broken heart when her boyfriend broke up with her. Seeing relief on my widows friends face when we helped her out financially. Giving not only some money but a devotional to a homeless lady and praying for her. Joy is all around us if we open our eyes and allow God to work. After my son passed away I didn’t feel joy could ever come to me again, but I found it through my worship and reading the word. Joy is contagious so share it
Joy is finding purpose in your life that you live everyday and honestly, it’s been hard to come by lately. This is a very timely study!
Joy is a hug from my children every morning.
Not only do I need Courageous Joy but also (Contagious) joy… When we have the joy of the Lord within us, others see it and feel it and it begins to spread. Hallelujah!! Fill us Lord with the only joy that can change our hearts, our lives, and our world.
Courageous joy is the Joy of remembering God’s gift of a redeemed life who walked with us, finished well, and transitioned to Glory. Memories filled with love and encouragement and the Presence of the Spirit.
Looking forward to this study. I enjoyed the Courageous Simplicity Study and hope to do it with my ladies group.
I also enjoyed Courageous Simplicity and would love to do Courageous Joy as well!!
Courageous joy to me, means living joyfully despite external, worldly circumstances. Especially when the world is leading you to believe you should be ashamed to be joyful, or to have faith and hope.
Joy is knowing that no matter what happens, the Lord knows the future and he’s got this! Everyday is a new day…joy comes in the morning. There is always hope. Hope is a name–Jesus. Joy is a name–Jesus.
Joy for me means trusting in spite of what it looks it, feels like or sounds like in circumstances. Joy is CHOOSING to rest in Him.
Joy is a true meaning of Happiness through the eyes of The Lord. I am excited to have and share with others .
To me, joy means waking up each and every day, and consciously making a decision to CHOOSE JOY.
Regardless of my circumstances, which a lot of the time means learning to praise Him in the hallways, until those doors are opened.
Joy means learning to live in the “now” and to continually practice handing my will and my life over to God.
Joy means learning to lean in to the harder times, knowing that my persistence is building faith, and that faith is building character.
Joy means learning to look really at the bright side of life, but also actively looking for those smaller, and seemingly insignificant moments that bring me joy – because, looking back each day, it is an accumulation of those smaller moments, that fills my life and heart with joy.
Joy is to me – watching my children do what they love and the expressions on their face as they do it.
Joy is a lasting sense of peace in the midst of any circumstances.
In Courage,
Joy is a feeling of great pleasure & happiness. It is more than a feeling. It is a way of life or state of being. We can be joyful in praise to God for ALL He’s given us. It is choosing to clothe ourselves in an attitude only attainable through Holy Spirit. It is taking delight in God for each & every little thing He’s given or done for us.
Blessings 🙂
I was given this to try for free & showed it to my mother who is planning on showing it to her church in Florida !
My true joy is knowing who I belong to and where I am headed, no matter what is going on around me. I can trust in God’s promises.
Joy, to me, would be peace and contentment…even if the physical healing never happens on this side of eternity.
Joy is love felt in and all around me!
Seeing Gods fingerprints in the world around me and in everyone’s eyes and faces. (I miss smiling faces and hugs!!!)
Joy means being able to rest knowing God is there. It means being and sharing with others (through ups & downs)
This Bible study is seriously SO good!! I cannot wait for all of us to study God’s Word through it together!
Joy looks like gratitude. Being thankful for the wonderful life we have even though its hard and sometimes scary.
I have really enjoyed Courageous Simplicity! I am sure Courageous Joy will be wonderful as well!
Joy looks like noticing the sunny-faced flowers I pass on my walks and saying Thank You!
Joy to me tastes like the Fruit of the Spirit, sounds like the whisper of His voice in the wind and feels like sitting at the feet of Jesus.
For me, joy looks like fixing my eyes on Christ no matter what’s happening in my life and in the world!
Joy to me is finding something to smile about in difficult times and feeling the peace of God.
Joy, for me, is taking the time to really appreciate the blessings I have been given and the beautiful world that has been provided for our use.
Joy is seeing what all God has done for me. I see it in my daughter, my family and friends. Joy is all around us despite all the negative in the world
When I stop and shut out the world for even a moment and hear God’s whisper, that’s when I am at peace and I feel joy.
God’s peace in this life…that’s joy!
When I think of JOY, the acronym for JOY comes to mind – Jesus-Others-Yourself. In order to have joy in my life I must put Jesus first, and Scripture tells us we should put others before ourselves. ( Philippians 2:2-3
Joy to me is seeing the good in the bad or realizing the outcome that you thought you wanted but didn’t receive wasn’t the best after all. It means trusting the Lord and being content in whatever and wherever He has you.
Joy to me is being surrounded by family. We don’t have to be doing anything special, but if we’re together and doing something as a family, I count that as a blessing.
I have a small Bible Fellowship and would very much like to have one packet of your materials. We do zoom with each other. It has been a tuff year and each of us and we have had our struggles. Please consider us in your outreach program. Blessings. Celes Price
Joy looks like strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Joy is giving God thanks for every circumstance. In the hard times He is working on me. In the good times He is rewarding faithfulness, in the ordinary times He is there to remind that even ordinary comes from His love and goodness. God is teaching me to share my faith. I can’t think of a better way than studying Courageous Joy with four friends! I have my copy.
Right now in this season Joy looks like time with grandchildren. It has been a long year and finally getting together just fills my heart:)
My joy is the strength of our Lord sharing my faith with my family specially my beautiful daughter . I would love to be able to share this wonderful felling of joy and love of God is giving me every day . I am excited to start sharing my faith with my cousin and starting a new journey by reading the Bible together . Amen
Joy comes from within. It’s not dependent on circumstances.
Joy to me is being in an Upper Room Experience where the Holy Ghost falls all around and you have no words to explain the annointing everywhere. The only way is to say it is JOY unspeakable and full of GLORY. JOY that fills your soul, Jesus is JOY.
What joy looks like to me is complete peace that only comes from Jesus! He always gives me something to smile about.
Joy for me is waking up in the morning and feeling grateful for a new day to be a wife, mama of two littles, employee, daughter, sister, friend and much more! It is a feeling of confidence that no matter what the day brings, the Lord is carrying the weight I often put on myself and will turn that into gratitude.
My husband was a man of Joy! That was the theme of his celebration of life in October of 2020. I have struggled with being joyful. I just ordered this study and I can’t wait to get it! ❤️
To me it means looking past the pain of my circumstances to see the blessings of God.
I miss joy… live to make the study with friends.
Joy is remembering that God is in control and keeping my focus on Him. When I shift my focus to my troubles, then I am confusing joy with happiness. I can still find Joy in the Lord, even if I am not happy in my circumstances.
Joy looks like a steaming cup of coffee in the morning, the wag of my dog’s tail, the smiles on my students little faces, so happy to be in school, to be together. Joy looks like the worn pages of my Bible, reminding me that I may be frayed at the edges but I have reserves of Strength no storm can steal away. Joy looks like the roll of my snarky teen’s eyes when I am being far too goofy for her liking and the soft furrow of my best friend’s brow when she listens to the woes of my day. Joy looks like home, like Heaven where one day I will see Jesus and run into his arms away from all the things opposite of joy.
Joy to me looks like laughter, seeing people begin to smile again and a chance to finally get to worship in person with my church this weekend!
Joy to me is spending time with my grandchildren. Hearing them laugh and play brings a smile to my face. There is also another joy that I experience. The joy of God’s creation. I love to sit outside and just look at all the beauty he has given us. The flowers, the trees, the sky, clouds, stars and of course all the wildlife are plentiful whereI live.
Love this idea of finding joy in Christ!!!