Don’t let Go Of Your Joy

After a lot of hard work trying to get proper description of joy and happiness so I can bring across accurately the difference between both of them, I decided it’s best to describe them the way I know to. So, please bear with me bible scholars as this may be too simple. They both seem so alike but, joy flows from the spirit of man as it is impacted by the Spirit of God whilst the other is at a very superficial level – flesh. It takes the Spirit of God who is the fountain of joy to light up our spirit man for us to experience joy but it is not so with happiness. Whilst happiness is tied to some good fortune or the other, joy on the other hand is tied to one good fortune – salvation. It remains a mystery how the entrance of Jesus Christ into a life transforms that life filling the life with joy but I guess that must be some of the mystery of Godliness which will forever remain a mystery. Isn’t it strange how when we behold Him continuously, even with a sad countenance, our countenance begins to change as His light shines on us? Hence the Psalmist says there is joy in His presence and guess what! God seems desperate for us to have joy and to be filled with it.

 

Psalm 16: 11 “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, ay your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

 

Isaiah 61: 1 & 3”The Spirit of the Lord Go dis upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to… grant consolation and joy to those who mourn in Zion-to give them… the oil of joy instead of mourning…”

 

Mean as this may sound, this joy the bible talks is the prerogative of believers. It starts with salvation and increases as we behold God (i.e. see Him in His word as we study His word). Remember that seeing Him in His word is the privilege of His children from whom He is not hidden. To those yet to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, He remains unrevealed. God’s word is always a parable or mystery to those yet to believe which is why the bible is just another book to them. Such people are unable to see God in His word and can’t see or touch the benefits therein too. God cares deeply for His pearl and chooses to cast it carefully. This joy is one of those benefits that flow from Him and as such can only be experienced by believers and those to whom God in His omniscience, may choose to give. Joy must therefore be precious and the devil knows this which is why he is always after our joy. He works assiduously to make us loose our joy but cares nothing for our happiness. He even gifts believers’ with things that create excitement making them temporarily happy whilst steadfastly working to ensure they lose their joy which he sometimes does through a process but at other times, straightaway. He knows that possessions can only bring temporary happiness so he sometimes helps to gather them - good things, the pursuit of which will take one’s eyes off God and many have found, albeit late, that with all the possessions, joy is still missing.

 

Psalm 32: 1 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight.”

 

Psalm 97: 11 “Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right.”

 

Psalm 33: 12 “What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.”

 

The devil knows that we are able to thrive in the midst of troubles and shine brighter in the midst of darkness but only as long as we remain connected to The Light. He knows also that the joy we derive from remaining focused on The Light is a major source of strength for us so that if he is able to get us to take our eyes off The light, we lose strength and are unable to draw on the benefits of salvation because it is with joy that we draw from the wells of salvation, so he does all he can to take our focus off the light and lose our joy. The world we live in is really troubled and full of troubles which trouble people making them troubled and the devil knows that. So he sometimes lures us, amplifying these already big issues of life or troubles such that fixing them sometimes becomes our life’s consuming passion. Whatever becomes a consuming passion becomes our principal focus and if we focus on it long enough, we lose sight of The Fountain of our joy; losing our joy and consequently strength and as a result, the capacity to draw from the wells of salvation. Joy has nothing to do with what is happening around us; it is much deeper and springs from within.

 

Romans 14: 17 “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

 

Joy is a major catalyst in spiritual warfare. We need Joy to establish the victory Christ won for us. The enemy knows this so he always takes a swipe at our joy. When he takes a swipe at joy, his aim is not just to depress one or hurt the thing he apparently destroyed only, he is often going for something bigger – our destruction; he only attacks our joy in an attempt to paralyze us. Please hold onto your joy.

Are You Enjoying or Destroying Your Life

Oh! how the devil plays games with us! Isn’t it amazing that whenever people, especially in the part of the world where I live, talk about “enjoying life” which is our way of describing “living a good or fun filled life”, we often are thinking about things we ought not to do (lustful pleasures) especially as believers. Indeed, godly things are no longer thought of as exciting. Even when believers talk about a fun filled life, we often are describing a life filled with lustful pleasures; one that that satisfies man’s every desire and/or whim. The world’s ideal, which is in truth satan’s ideal, has become the standard for “enjoying life”. This is another lie of satan who introduces his way of life very craftily; and very subtly, makes it desirable. Sadly, a number of us have bought this lie. Longing for and pursuit of this life he offers, whilst even still in church, is taking us away from the narrow way that leads to heaven.

Ecclesiastes 2: 1 “I said to myself, ’come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life. But I found that this too was meaningless.”

Ecclesiastes 2: 9 – 11 “So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was so meaningless-like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile.

Interestingly, this quest to “have fun or enjoy life” is unending or insatiable. The more of this worldly ‘fun’ one has, the more of it one desires. There is a ‘god of this world’ behind this drive who doesn’t miss an opportunity to take an ordinarily simple desire and make it his instrument to destroy the believer. The quest for fun can take one on a journey that had never occurred to him/her. The more we long for and get caught up with his thoughts on enjoying life, the worse thoughts he throws at us. No wonder sexual perversion is at its worst and something as nice and simple as the desire to be fashionable is becoming twisted. The boundary for dressing has been pushed beyond reasonable limits so much so that it is now acceptable and highly fashionable to be naked though clothe because the clothing fabric is very sheer and worn without undergarments deliberately putting the wearer’s body fully on display. It is worthy of note that at some point, civilization included wearing clothes that cover us unlike the “cave men” era when they just covered themselves with a few pieces of animal skin. Okay! Okay! I wasn’t there but so history and pictures tell us. Where did we get it wrong? Are God’s ideas really boring or are we deceived?

Romans 14: 17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Titus 2: 12 “And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness and devotion to God.”

John 10: 10b “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

There is no doubt that satan does not like the God way of life, neither does God accept or like His way of life making it a non-option for a believer in Christ. God who made all things cannot be boring so why would He offer us a boring life. God Himself made different types of people, plants, food and in His ways, exemplifies a life full of excitement. Why would He then make our lives dreary and boring? I dare to suggest that satan is ‘messing’ with our minds making his killer ways attractive and he may be succeeding because most of us don’t know about the life God offers us so that we are often at one extreme of life or the other; either totally off the mark or so ‘into God’ that we don’t exist. God wants us to exist but in Him. He wants you to be the person He made you to be but instead of finding the right balance in the word of God wherein our culture is described, we have turned to the world, buying its culture which leaves us confused and/or lost in a culture that makes us ‘misfits’ because it’s not ours. We then become victims suffering deep insecurities and/or low self-esteem; desperate to make appoint to the world, indirectly satan, that we also can “enjoy life.” Whenever we try too hard to prove a point, it is most likely that we lose sight of reason and are lured away from what is proper by this strong desire to prove a point. When we are so consumed by desire, even for a good thing that it takes us over, we run the risk of the desire becoming a tool in the hands of the enemy to destroy or work against us. Our love for God is the only passion that we should be lost in; every other desire is controllable. With every temptation, God makes a way of escape; please find it. We can’t afford to be so consumed by desire to have fun that we find it outside Christ. Our God is fun loving. Moreover, in Christ we exist, enjoying life.

Acts of Apostles 17: 28a “For in Him we live and move and exist.”

Proverbs 10: 23 “Doing wrong is fun for a fool, but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.”

Ecclesiastes 11: 9 “Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give account to God for everything you do.”

Desire Must Be Within Limits… Limits of The Word

As we get older, we learn new things and that is as it should be; it gets worrisome though when somethings happen that make one feel like it’s still a whole lot of learning ahead at a point in one’s life when it may seem wrong to be referred to as “young”. You know when you feel like you amassed so much knowledge from the school called life and there is little left to learn and then some things happen that make you feel like all your knowledge is yet little; but it is not so. So, did you ever hear the phrase “the grass always looks greener on the other side?” Well, it is mostly true though a number of people argue that it isn’t. Reality though, is that it isn’t always greener.  This is my point, greener or not, it isn’t your side. Just as an aside, if you do crossover to that green side, it may not be as green as you thought and even if it is, since it isn’t yours, you may not be so effective at caring for it and as a result, kill it. To lust after things that are not yours is bad. In my own words, lust is desire or longing uncontrolled. We can appreciate things without wanting it for our self. It’s okay for someone other than us to enjoy great goodness.

Ecclesiastes 6: 9 “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things are meaningless-like chasing the wind.”

Anything that lures us away from “living in today” and in our reality is wrong. As long as we keep wanting another’s, we don’t live; we remain unfulfilled at the end of each day, also losing that day’s testimonies. Indeed, that day feels worse because our desire is for something other than what we have. Whilst we dream about tomorrow focused on God who perfects our tomorrows, we must live each day trusting God to perfect all that will make our tomorrow what it should be. Desire is not in itself bad, but it can be dangerous if not contained. It can make one long for what belongs to another so desperately that they will do everything possible to get it; and very unmindful of how it impacts on the owner and/or that it may ultimately impact on them negatively. Desire can indeed, make us thieves. It has led to adultery, fornication, armed robbery, and several other ills including even divorce. Interestingly, after wrecking homes to satisfy longings, many have found that “the grass was not really green” after all. Unfortunately, many believers have become tools in satan’s hands because of this strong desire to own “the greener grass that’s not theirs.” We must limit our desire to only what God allows and then live daily, choosing to enjoy God’s goodness despite even bad experiences we may have had in that day.

James 1: 14 “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”

Proverbs 27: 20 “Just as death and destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.”

The only way to enjoy every day is to know that despite what one sees, reality is the word of God. We must look beyond what pretends to be reality to true reality. Instead of seeing and longing for other people’s “greener pasture”, we must see and long for what God says about us which is written and hidden in Him; heading in the same direction with a deep conviction that we won’t attain without Him. As long as our eyes and/or focus are in the right place, it will be hard to fall into things like envy, jealousy and such evil likes. Unfortunately, we often lose sight of God, replacing Him with what He has given someone else and then letting the desire for it consume us instead of our desire for God. Whilst it is true that God is not seen because He is Spirit, He is revealed in His word. It is sad that we don’t mediate on The Word of God enough to trust Him. We fear to trust The Word but we forget that it is through that same Word that we are saved. If the word of God is powerful enough to birth that change that salvation brings in any man, then the same word must have power to do every other thing He says He will do. Salvation re-creates a man which no one has achieved. This word is more than mere letters; He lives. God has chosen to do all things including creation through Him and only through Him can our desire be controlled.

James 1: 18 “He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true Word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.”

Philippians 2: 13 “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”

Some Lies That Lure Believers – Reject Them

Have you ever heard the phrase - “what will be, will be”? It is a very commonly used phrase and even amongst believers. Around where I live, it is a way of saying whatever happens in one’s life is meant to happen so one should just accept it and move on. In a manner of speaking, it is saying everything that happens was predetermined by God and as a result, should be accepted and allowed to play out completely. Some people argue that it is soothing to believe that God is orchestrating everything especially in very difficult circumstances. Such people argue that it makes it easier to endure such adverse circumstances. Though this belief may help some people feel better, it is one of those statements that shade the truth that should move one forward. It is another trick of the enemy to lure us into accepting everything he throws at us causing us to suffer untold loss which God never ordained. It’s a belief that permits satan’s plan to unfold fully in lives while they watch, deceived that they are helpless to do anything about it since it was destined to happen. We don’t have to take everything life throws us; we are to resist the devil who is really the one doing the throwing but he hides behind “life” whilst working craftily to orchestrate one’s frustration using “life”. Whatever we accept is accepted even if it was not destined by God to happen to us; but if we reject it, we are resisting the devil and he must flee.

 

Ephesians 2: 2 “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world. Obeying the devil-the commander of the powers in the unseen world.”

John 4: 7 “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

At other times, we make bad choices that have consequences which would not have occurred if we had made the right decisions. Even then, the consequences do not have to unfold completely. If we take responsibility for our wrongdoings, turning to our God for mercy, He knows how to and will work good for us out of every such situation. To sit back and do nothing but allow the consequences of a bad decision play out completely is to open one’s self up to whatever life throws at them and this, without any form of succor when we have God who is always willing to help and just waiting for us to call on Him. Making a bad decision does not mean one was destined to make that bad decision like satan would have us to believe; it is another trick to make one give up instead of fighting the ‘good fight of faith’. The only thing destined to happen in the believer’s life is what God had promised would happen. Only the Word of God must be allowed to run our lives; and this is how to live a fulfilled life, which is a life yielded to God through Jesus and shining brightly with His light. Unfortunately, no one can live a fulfilled life and shining, if they do not lose their lives. Only the Son of God gives that life and it is only to the extent that we let go of ours that we can experience the fullness of life that He gives.

John 12: 25 “Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.”

1 John 12: 25 “whoever has the son has life; whoever does not have God’s son does not have life. Conclusion.”

Luke 9: 24 “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up

The devil is so desperate to mess up lives that he goes to great lengths to achieve His purpose. He uses everything; attempting to make life really difficult for everyone. As we know, whatever he is in charge of becomes a tool for destruction in his hands. He is in charge on earth as the prince of the power of the air; a role he uses craftily to accomplish his purpose. He goes around always trying to destroy one person or the other. He even attempts to lure us into granting every whim of our flesh pretending like that is “the good life” when it isn’t. Deceived or defeated people have phrases like “they need to enjoy their lives”, in their attempt to make a case for themselves. Meanwhile, unknown to them, not only are they not ‘enjoying life’, they have opened themselves up as bait to the enemy. Such people unwittingly reject true life and waste their God given opportunities. There is always grace from God to help in times of need and the bible does say the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet so that we are not helpless like we like to make out when we do satan’s bidding. Samson was one such man who unwittingly rejected God choosing to fulfill the desires of His flesh instead and he ended up losing his life. This thing referred to as “life”, around where I live, is not the true life. True life is only given by God and is hidden in His Son; satan does not understand it nor does he understand the way of this life and cannot give it. We can counter that life offered or controlled by satan with true life.   

John 14: 6a “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

John 10: 10 “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose isto give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Spending Time With God – A valuable Exercise

After living the life of a believer in Christ for a while, there is the tendency to carry on with life as usual; like we lived when we were controlled by the devil. Those were the times when we were deceived into thinking we were in control and living our lives the way we wanted when indeed satan was in charge. This could happen to anyone especially long time believers; because after a while, it is easy to fall back to one’s old ways without meaning to especially when one feels like they are doing all they have always done as believers. We assume we are still yielded to and drawing strength from God but are really not. We are instead, again supposedly, ‘doing what we want to do’ living satan in-charge without the intention to do so. We may still ‘talk the talk’ or seem to ‘walk the walk’ even without studying the scripture, because we have studied the bible enough to know a lot but the cord is broken. It might take a while for people to notice that there is a ‘disconnect’ but it will eventually become apparent if we don’t do anything about it. To be yielded to Him requires spending time with Him. To make it look like spending alone with Him is not a must, is another trick of satan to lure us away from God because He knows the end of that route. God made us to rely on Him. There is no doubt that He has to remain actively a part of our lives. He wants to through us, impact the world. How can we establish His government on earth without Him? Jesus Christ the son of God, spent several alone times with God though He was God Himself. We have to keep connecting to keep the relationship and give Him room to operate on earth.

 

John 15: 4 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

We deceive ourselves when we assume that our relationship with God is intact though we are not connecting as we should. If we consistently don’t spend that time alone with Him and away from everyone and everything else, we are slowly severing our relationship with Him. This is that time when we fellowship with Him to the exclusion of everyone and thing; where He becomes the central focus as we fellowship with Him. It is in this period that we actively rub minds with Him (i.e. speak to Him and listen to hear Him speak also) so that He is able to influence our thinking making us more like Him. Becoming more like Him is something that happens in the mind; it is not physical for God is a Spirit: but the more we think like Him, the more we talk like Him and the more we are ‘Him’ on earth. It is also in this time alone with Him that we commit our plans to Him so that He can then direct our steps; correcting our error and chastising us if there is a need to. As they say ‘whoever gets your ear speaks into your life and is a major influence to you: does God have your ear? When to identify His voice as we first start to hear it in during our time alone with Him. It just makes it easier to then identify it in the midst of a lot of voices or noise.

Mathew 6: 6 “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray toy our Father in private.”

2 Corinthians 3: 18 “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like him as we changed into His glorious image.”

We cannot forget that we have an enemy whose work it is to stop us from going forward in life as believers. He will do any and everything to ensure that we fail. He knows the source of our strength and is smart enough to know that anyone cut off from their life supply source will eventually lose strength and die. It would be silly of us to be deceived into thinking he is not smart. He is well aware that we cannot survive without our source of life and strength so he knows that if he succeeds in luring a believer from their source, no matter how solid they are as believers, they are bound to eventually die. Do not fall for that bait of his that tells us that what we often refer to as ‘quiet time’ or ‘alone time’ with God, is obsolete. This age old tradition which is gradually fading away cannot be overemphasized for every believer. We need to draw close to God to receive strength from Him whose strength is in His quickened or living Word who is also His Son. One cannot be compelled to make this time for God; even God will not compel us. It is a decision one makes and we have to be deliberate about it because there are often several other genuine things that compete for this time but we will find that it is easier to live if we make this time. Now more than ever before, we need to draw close to God who will in turn, draw closer to us. He that goes around seeking whom he will destroy, will do anything to keep us from drawing close. He gets his way and completes his assignment when we remain disconnected from God. ‘Quiet or alone time’ may sound too silly, ordinary and irrelevant in these times; but remember that God works through simple things to confound the wise. He releases power in simpilicty.

1 Peter 5: 8 “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

James 4: 7 & 8 “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”