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.

You Are Who God Made You If You Are Pleasing Him

As believers we are taught the importance of knowing who we are made by God to be as well as to identify and fulfill one’s purpose in Christ. Though this sounds simple, it has become the bane of many a believer because it raises a major issue in their minds of identifying who they are meant to be even giving some an identity crisis. Some of us struggle so hard to know who we should be and have, in the process, lost a lot of time being and doing nothing. This uncertainty has made some of us insecure and unsure as to whether or not we are acting the part God called us to when we indeed are. Knowing who one is, is obviously a burden to many in this present day to the extent that it is now the preoccupation of many and it ought not to be so. Identifying who you are and fulfilling purpose is important; it is liberating and even eliminates competition among believers eliminating the tendency for ugly emotions like envy etc yet we do not struggle to know it.

1 Peter 4: 1b - 2 “For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.”

As one does the will of God, they are who God made them. To be who God made you is to live pleasing God and not a state we strive or struggle to attain. It is who we become just by desiring sincerely to and actually pleasing Him. Fullness of joy, a benefit tied to the extent of one’s submission to God, marks everyone who is being who God made them and is not tied to what one has or does not have. Our struggle must never be to identify and be that person but rather to live the life that God desires for us to live. As we live that God ordained life, we will be who He called us to be at every point in time fulfilling purpose or destiny and being a true blessing. It is living such that God can through you accomplish His purpose on earth; leave it to Him to decided what purpose He desires to accomplish through you. He knows your frame more than you do because He made you; only yield.

2 Timothy 2: 21 “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use for every good work.”

People find it so much easier to label one. Their life is easier if you are stereotyped so they can deal with you according to their understanding. Please don’t make that your issue by taking on their definition of you and trying to remain that person. We are consistently unfolding and you must allow yourself unfold so you can be fit for the Master’s use at every point in time. It is not as important to be labeled as it is to be useful to God. People had the same challenge with Jesus; He could not be put in a box. The only sure thing about Him was that you knew He always did the will of God. He represented God’s desire at all times despite that it often cost Him; His personality was constantly changing; no wonder people marveled at him: yet this is true liberty and not drinking of alcohol or doing unseemly things.

Mathew 14: 8 – 9 “At her mother’s urging, the girl said, ‘I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray! Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders”.

Herod wanted to be that man he had been labeled as, "a man that kept his word at whatever cost" and that, even at the expense of displeasing God. It cost him dearly. The only label we should have is that we are "God pleasers". Man unfolds as his walk with God deepens; you must allow yourself be who you ought to be at all times. Don't, for example, remain quiet when you should speak up because you are referred to as “the quiet one:” you may be God’s mouthpiece at that point in time. You are respected for being honored enough by God to be used of him and not necessarily because of you. It is okay to keep changing as long as it is in alignment with the word of God and the nudging of the Holy Spirit. You don't need to be “super spiritual or spooky” to be who God made you to be; all you need to do is allow yourself be yielded to God. 

It's Christmas! Be Joyful! Regardless.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope you are excited in this season. I don’t mean a peripheral excitement but one that goes deep down. I hope the cause of your excitement is the presence of that river that flows from deep down in your soul. Joy that is born of the fact that Jesus was born; you encountered Him and have revelation knowledge of who He is. This is joy. The bible says it is indescribable. This is not about mere happiness neither is it about mere excitement

1 Peter 1: 8B NKJ - “…..yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory”

According to the dictionary, joy amongst several other things means “to delight in something”. Thank God our delighting is not just in things but is principally in a being that never fails, never changes and lives forever. The one we delight in is the son of God and He is Himself, God. The one in whom all power resides and has come that we may always be joyous.

I don’t know what experiences you may be going through right now; experiences that may be challenging you and trying to steal your joy. I want to encourage you to hold on because there is a morning coming shortly and it shall come with an abundance of Joy with which you will draw out of the wells of salvation.

Isaiah 12: 3 NKJ – “therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”

So many things happen that confirm over and over again that the devil is after our joy. More often than not, the first thing that shows that a man is under the attack of the devil is that He loses His joy. Whilst Jesus came that we may have joy and fullness thereof the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. One thing he tries hard to steal is our joy.

John 10: 10 NKJ – “the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly”

We must do all we can to hold unto our joy. Whatever it takes to ensure that there is joy flowing from inside us we need to do it. Again God has ensured that we do not have to pay a price for this joy. It comes in the anointing. The anointing is able to replace our mourning with oil of joy. The anointing is the oil of joy. It literarily translates us from sorrow to joy even before we see a physical change. Please look every painful experience you may be going through in the face and count them all joy even now.