There are 5 questions here, all related to JOY. I'll try to answer them briefly and point you to a few online articles that may help you study this topic further.
1. What is joy? Joy is the feeling of deep satisfaction and happiness.
2. What is joy in the Bible? Pastor John Piper wrote a great article about this. Read it HERE (You have to scroll to the middle to where he answers the question, "What is Christian joy?"). In summary, he says Christian joy is...
- Not an act of will-power, but a spontaneous, emotional response of the heart.
- Not superficial and flimsy, but deep and firm.
- Not natural, but spiritual.
What makes Christian joy different than other forms of joy, the author argues, is that it INCREASES in the midst of pain and suffering. This is because our satisfaction and happiness comes from God. It comes from knowing that God loves us. Even though we are sinners and do not deserve his love, God sent his Son to die for us (Col. 1:23). This is the SOURCE of our joy! As a result, we do not need to find our joy in our success, wealth, reputation, relationships, etc. In other words, when these earthy things are lost, we can still be joyful!
Additionally, Christian joy is different than other forms of joy because it comes from the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). When the Spirit lives inside us, it produces a supernatural joy that is indestructible, and impervious from circumstances (Luke 6:20-26).
3. How many types of joy are there? By definition, joy is an emotion of deep satisfaction. And thus there is only one kind of joy. However, there are many different things from which we can obtain joy. For instance, you can obtain joy from shopping. Likewise, you can obtain joy from being popular. Yet the Bible tell us that any joy that is rooted in worldly things (i.e. NOT God) will not last (Matthew 13:20-21).
4. Does joy equal to love? Joy is not the same as love, but they are part of one another. Christian joy, after all, is the satisfaction of loving Jesus and believing him. In other words, joy is a consequence of loving someone.
5. Is joy what makes Christian to be positive all the time? Yes and no. Christians should be positive about the circumstances no matter how good or bad they are. This is because our satisfaction (i.e. our joy) lies in God, not in ourselves or the things that happen to us.
However, this does not mean Christians should not grieve, mourn or be sad. We should be very sad when trouble comes into our lives. There are times of grieving in the Christian life.
Yet, at the end of the day, we should be joyful as we do have hope. What is hope after all? It is the confident expectation of good things to come (Hebrews 6:11). In Christ, we have hope. As a result of hope, we can love God and have joy.
Hope this helps answer your thoughtful question.
[Answered by Pastor HM, who is joyful in Christ]
