"Do not grieve, for the joy
of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)
Joy is not happiness! Happiness is temporal. Those of you who have been around me for any
length of time probably know that I am fond of saying, “happiness is highly
over rated!” And it is dependent on your circumstances and the comfort of your
flesh, whereas joy is quite the opposite!
Joy, like faith, is a spiritual force which needs to be
actively stirred up. As Christians the Bible instructs us to “walk by faith and
not by sight” so even if your world appears to be crumbling down we are told
not to focus on our circumstances, but on God’s saving power to deliver us from
our circumstances. It would be best if we remember that the aim of the enemy
(Satan) is to shift our focus from dependence on God and onto our current
situation. When we do this we are not walking by faith, instead we are walking
by sight which essentially causes us to walk in fear.
The “joy of the
Lord” is a place where we can go be guaranteed, that for God, there is
no situation too hard for Him to deliver us from (Jer 32:17), and that
only He has the ability to accomplish it. (Psalm 20:7) When we get to this place we
experience a supernatural peace which stirs up joy within our heart. We are to cast all, not some, of our
burdens upon Him so that He can exercise His full power in our lives! (Psalm
55:22) Some of us are so busy trying to
do God’s work that we are constantly frustrated and tired with life—we are all
guilty of this!
However with “the joy of the Lord” it doesn’t matter the
circumstances, you and I can feel rest, assured that a brighter day
is to come. The knowledge and experience of this can be compared to a person
who walks down a lonely street with a big smile on their face. You may think
that they are deluded, or have just remembered a joke; however this person
knows the secret. They know how to possess this supernatural strength which is
a product of experiencing joy
even though their circumstances contradict this.
Have you experienced “the
joy of the Lord?” If you haven’t, then you need to shift the focus from
your current situation, and back onto God. This joy is not exclusive and is
available to all who have faith, and dare to believe that there is nothing too
hard for God.
Praise the Lord! For
when He takes over the battle, the battle is over!
Can God change your life?
God has made it possible for you to know
Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.
change in your own life.
Discover how you can find peace with God.
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