The first main aspect of God is Life. God is not just living, nor does God give life, but God is Life. Where God is, there Life is.
When you are sick you are only partly alive. When you are tired or depressed or discouraged, you are only partly alive. Few people express God in an adequate way because they lack the sense of life.
Joy is one of the highest expressions of God as Life. Actually it is a mixture of Life and Love, and the Bible says “the sons of God shout for joy.” When we realize our divine sonship, we must experience joy. Joy always has an expansive effect, just as fear has a contracting effect. When a person says, “I can” you notice an expansive and forward movement, but when he says, “I can’t” there is a retraction. You could not imagine a person saying, “Yes, I can,’ with a shrinking gesture, or “No, I can’t,” in an optimistic or forthright way. The body always expresses the thoughts; the thought of Life heals and inspires, whereas thoughts of fear and death contract and destroy.
Realizing divine Life heals the sick. Animals usually respond quickly, and plants very quickly indeed, because they do not have that strong sense of personal egotism that most human beings do. They never make up their minds that they cannot get well or that “sickness is sent for a good purpose.” Neither do they give way to discouragement because they have not been healed faster.
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge, and joy! (Ecclesiastes 2:26).
When we recall joyful events in our lives, we may think of our weddings, our children’s birth, Christmas, the championship game or other big events in our lives. Yet, that same joy is available to us each moment of every day. When is the last time we were joyful for our first waking breath of the day. Without it we would perish in mere minutes. How about even smaller things like the smell of fresh coffee, the smile on the face of our spouse or child, or any child?
Joy is one of God’s most precious gifts to us. It affirms and quickens the most precious gift from God, life itself. Yes, it is easy to slip into a state that takes joy and life itself for granted. The rush of days, the hurt, sadness and disappointment that is a part of every life conspire to drain joy from us and make life a burden. Sometimes it takes a a near-miss or a tragic event in our lives to reawaken joy and life in us. It does not have to be that way. That is not God’s will. In fact, God would have us rejoice and be glad each day.
So today, let us fill our lungs and our hearts with the life affirming breath of God’s love. Rejoice in the smell of the coffee (or popcorn), the smiles of loved ones or anyone. Feel the joy of cool morning air on the face, the beauty of light dancing on the frost and the millions of small blessings that are life. And, say today, “I can” and will be glad and joyful this day and every day. May God grant you this miracle in your garden and in every garden you visit. Bless you for bringing your joy to this garden today.
In gratitude and joy,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
Hanging out with young children really helps with joy. Their freedom and unfettered sense of fun rubs off. Hang around them long enough, often enough and you become like one of them. Novel thought! And…joy becomes much more easily expressed. Love the post brother Z!
It is always a blessing to get such positive feedback. Thank you for taking time to lift up this child:-)