Jeremy R. Geerdes Posts

In my study of joy over the last year, I readily acknowledge that I have focused primarily on what will bring me joy. What will destroy my joy. What will maximize my joy. It’s been, for the most part, about me. But a couple of times now, I have been confronted with the reality that […]

Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He earned that nickname because of the persecution and hardship which he was compelled to endure in the pursuit of his calling as a prophet. In fact, this persecution grew even to the point that the people – the priests, even – of his own hometown sought to […]

Ecclesiastes is an enigmatic book on many fronts. It’s something of a mystery who wrote the thing: tradition claims it was Solomon, but there is evidence that it was someone else. It’s something of a question how to interpret it: there are more than a few passages within its pages that would seem fatalistic at […]

Jell-O is an interesting thing. Half solid, half liquid, this gelatinous delicacy seems to defy description. You can’t really drink it. And you don’t really eat it, either. Joy is kind of like that, too. I mean, you know it when you experience it, but trying to figure out what it is and how to […]

Proverbs 24:17 is a tough verse for me. After sifting through so many verses talking about when and how to realize joy, this one seems a stark contrast. And it’s for that reason that I think it’s so important. You see, Proverbs 24:17 challenges us, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not […]

Yesterday, I rand in Proverbs 17:21 into the realization that I can take great joy from my kids, but only if I choose to parent them to be wise when they grow up. Today, in the very next verse, I’m struck by another realization. The verse reads, according to the HCSB, “A joyful heart is […]

As a Dad, I get Proverbs 17:21. It drives me crazy when my kids do things that are ill-advised, and it breaks my heart when they do things that they know are wrong. The fact that they are only young children really doesn’t negate this, but at least I have the consolation of knowing that […]

Continuing through the book of Proverbs in search of keys to having real joy, I stumbled just now across a couple more verses that are almost back-to-back in Proverbs 15. They stand in stark contrast to each other and are actually a pretty apt commentary for a great number of people and situations that we […]

I’m having a hard time the last couple of days. Yesterday, I didn’t know what to make of the joy passage I was studying. And today, I’m not sure, either. But I guess that, if there is one thing that I’m good at, it’s being wrong. Just ask my wife. So I’m going to throw […]

Here’s another jewel out of Proverbs, this time chapter 12. Yesterday, I discovered that the righteous’ success brings joy to even secular communities. Today, we learn that those who promote and counsel peace have joy, too. Now, I understand that this doesn’t sound particularly profound. Of course, those who are at peace will have joy, […]