The Joy of the Lord
Joy is defined as intense happiness or great delight. If you have joy in your life as a Christian, there should be evidence to back it up. Having joy, gladness, and laughter in your life is not a negative thing. God is not against His children being full of joy and laughter. In fact, one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 is joy. It is okay to have a clean sense of humor. What is your alternative; sadness, heaviness, anger, and depression? Did you know that it takes more muscles in your face to frown than it does to smile? This may come as a surprise for some since I generally write and speak about serious topics, but I love to laugh and have fun; I have a great sense of humor!
It is a proven medical fact that negative emotions release harmful chemicals in your body and can cause sickness, disease, ulcers, etc. It is also proven that positive emotions and laughter release beneficial chemicals in your body and brain that promote health and healing. Joy and laughter is good for your health. Medical science is finally catching up to the Bible! Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.” The Word of God contrasts a merry heart with a broken spirit. When something is broken, there is a disconnection; it is not able to function the way it was designed to function by its Creator. If a Christian does not have a merry heart, there is a short in the system. There are some spiritual wires not connected properly. The word “Gospel” means good news; the Gospel of Jesus Christ should produce joy, cheerfulness, and gladness in our life. How would you react if a millionaire came up to you and said, “I am going to pay off every debt that you have. You will be totally debt free, and everything that I own will be yours also.” How would you react? Would you walk around depressed and hopeless? No, you would be filled with extreme joy! Well, Jesus Christ paid our debt of sin in full by His shed Blood, and gave us the Holy Spirit to live a holy and victorious life. The Word of God says that because of our covenant with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, everything that Jesus has is ours as part of His Body (John 16:13-15); spiritually speaking, we sit with Him in heavenly places, blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). And to top it off, Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” We cannot lose; we cannot be defeated if we will simply love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our heart and put Him at the center of our life. That should produce joy in your life as a Christian and cause you to laugh at your enemies and negative circumstances! There is nothing that Satan, evil spirits, or people can do to you that God cannot turn around for your profit and His Glory!
When depression, hopelessness, and all of its kind are operating in a Christian’s life, there has been a disconnection from the flow of the anointing. The very nature of the anointing is to destroy every yoke of bondage in your life (Isaiah 61:1-3). It is time to trade the ashes for beauty, mourning for the oil of joy, and the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3). According to Acts 10:38, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Jesus was igniting fires of joy and ministering freedom within the bodies, souls, and spirits of people with the Gospel. His mission was to undo and destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). As ambassadors for Jesus Christ, we ought to be lighting fires of joy and setting the captives free everywhere we go with the Gospel! You cannot separate joy from the Kingdom of God (Romans 14:17).
Nehemiah 8:10 refers to the joy of the Lord as our strength. The devil is out to steal your joy as a Christian (John 10:10). If the devil can steal your joy, he knows that it will affect your faith in God’s Word and eventually cause you to spiritually backslide. A joyless Christian is weak, powerless, and faithless. The joy of the Lord is our strength because true faith will manifest itself with joy in the life of the Christian. If you truly believe the promises of God found in the Bible, you can’t help but draw strength and rejoice in them. Do you need the joy of God’s salvation restored in your life today? Connect the spiritual wires properly by repenting of any known sin in your life, and casting your cares upon Him. Don’t ever forget; the joy of the Lord is your strength. Do what it takes to get it, and do what it takes to maintain it in your life.
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