Lasting Joy

T he word joy, joyful and/or rejoice can be found in the Bible in the Hebrew and Greek words over 550 times. A few favorite verses come immediately to mind.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)
“You make known to me the path of life, In your presence is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11)
“Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30)
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

The Bible is packed with scriptures like these about joy. What exactly is this joy, how do you get it, and what does it mean to rejoice? These are important questions to understand from God’s perspective. In my humble opinion, the best definition of joy I have heard comes from Kay Warren’s book titled “Choose Joy because happiness isn’t enough”. She states that joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of your life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things. This explanation speaks volumes! And her book was a good read.

Joy is not the same as happiness. In the Bible, happiness is likened to being blessed. Jesus gives several scenarios in the Beatitudes, from the sermon on the mount, Jesus explains what takes to be blessed or happy. (Matthew 5) This type of happiness or the state of blessing is not temporal like the things that bring happiness in the world. That kind of happiness is based on one’s circumstances and is subject to change. For example if you go to the salon for a beautiful color and/or style and receive tons of compliments, you feel happy. But when the compliments cease or your hair hair grows out, that happiness is gone…. until you go back, do it again and get exactly what you love…… Hey don’t judge, everyone’s gotta make a buck. LOL

Joy is a fruit

Joy is something entirely different. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. For those who are new to the Christian faith, or for those who do not know anything about this, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within the spirit of man once they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. A measure of the Spirit is given to everyone who believes. Through obedience to God’s Word, that measure of the Spirit increases and produces spiritual fruit in one’s life.

The fruit of the spirit is peace, love, joy, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. (Galatians 5:22)

The fruit of joy is a feeling similar to happiness; like the state of blessing, it too is not temporal. It is not based on one’s circumstances. The Bible says no one can take away your joy. It is a source of strength to endure all things. Joy causes you to praise God in good times and in bad. The enemy of your soul hates this and will come against you to try and take it from you. That devil can only succeed if you let him. But, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the power to overcome.

The other day I was feeling exceedingly joyful. I was joining friends in prayer and fasting over our hopes, dreams and desires. (Fasting is a spiritual discipline that can reap marvelous results of a deep and satisfying prayer life, but it also provokes the enemy.) A client of mine noticed my bright and cheerful countenance and said how wonderful and well I looked. Notice she didn’t say beautiful, as I am accustomed to hearing, as God has blessed me with beautiful hair to assist in my vocation as a hairdresser. But she said I looked “wonderful and well”. I knew this was the joy of the Lord because I had been praying and praising God more than usual on this day of fasting and prayer. God’s word says the Lord inhabits the praises of His people and so He did inhabit mine, and it shown on my face. My countenance expressed the joy of the Lord!

After I broke fast that evening and later sat down to watch television, my thoughts shifted to circumstances regarding a loved one. As I called to check and did not get any response, my thoughts were all about how my perception of “normal” seemed off. It was like the pieces of the puzzle were out of place, so I deduced that something was not good. Immediately my countenance (the look on my face) dropped. I was visibly disturbed. My joy was gone, like vapor, it slipped away.

Sleep that night was restless and I tossed and turned all night in anxious prayer. I woke up to my morning devotion time with the Lord and began to inquire why my joy had slipped away, when God’s word says no one can take it away. I began to write in my journal what I heard the Spirit say inside my heart and mind.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

I said: God I hear your words “rejoice in the Lord” twice. And I hear the word re – joy in those words. My understanding is that I can replenish it as easily as I let it slip away. How wonderful are Your ways O Lord! Rejoicing over something is exciting, like a big WOW when you get something you love. Rejoicing in the Lord is getting excited about God, what He has done, what He can do and then praising Him for it.

Jesus said we are to thank God for what we are asking for, even before we receive it. This is a demonstration of faith. So, you should rejoice and get excited about what God can do even before it’s done. Rejoice in the promise, not the promise of receiving what we asked for, but the promise that the Lord is present and he hears us and will do what is is best. And He promises us joy in the process.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do. You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:8-12)

Impatient and Anxious

While I was still in my prayer and devotion time, I heard the Lord tell me I was impatient in my waiting. Patience is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit and it takes time to develop in a person. Patience takes time… how ironic! Another word for it is long suffering. Well, I don’t like the sound of that! Yikes, long suffering? But, did you know you can have peace and joy in your long suffering, while you’re waiting to receive answers to your prayers?

God tells us to be anxious for nothing! He told me my anxiety is tied to fear, but His perfect love casts out fear. In thinking about that, I realize I have nothing to fear. I can confess my anxiety and make my requests known to him again and again, whatever it takes. The words prayer and supplication are found in some translations. Prayer is earnest prayer accompanied by praise. Supplication is all other requests for the greater good.

So, follow Philippians 4:4-7 like a road map and tell God what’s bothering you. Pray all kinds of prayers with thanksgiving, then in addition to pacifying your anxiety, you are promised something in return. When we bring everything to the Lord, He promises to give us His peace which surpasses all understanding and guards our heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

This is how we (re-joy) rejoice in the Lord. And when you experience this peace and joy, do not forget where you are seated. God’s word tells us we are seated with Him in heavenly places. Our battle is spiritual. I’ve written about this in a few former blogs. The battle is going on in the spiritual realm and we are there in spirit, seated before Christ, in full armor. (See my former blog on the armor of God – Spiritual Attacks) The God of Heaven’s army is fighting for you with a myriad of angels. All you have to do is sit in his presence wearing the invisible armor He gives us to protect us from the fiery darts of the enemy, in the midst of the battle.

Remember the armor of God is all about His Word! The helmet of salvation protects your mind, the breastplate of righteousness guards your heart, the belt of truth is tight around your waist enabling you to discern God’s truth from the lies of the devil. Your feet keep you standing firm in God’s word because they are fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. You have the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Go back to the scripture I shared in Philippians chapter 4 and look at verses 8 and 9. You will see that it gives instruction on how the armor helps you defeat the enemy, get rid of anxiety, and obtain the peace that surpasses all understanding, so we can rejoice in the middle of our trial or spiritual battle.

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)

The Lord revealed to me that when I meditate and stay in the moment in His presence, seated before Him in the heavenly realm, I won’t hear the voice of the enemy trying to steal my joy. He said “you will have peace in My presence, so stay there. This is why my Word says to pray without ceasing and keep rejoicing. When your focus shifts, you step out of My reality and into your own. There is power from on high in My reality, yours is powerless. Where would you rather be? Trust me, I am with you always, therefore REJOICE!”

When you hear the voice of God really speaking to your heart and mind, it is a big WOW, at least for me it is. Now as it turned out, the circumstances I was anxious about were not at all what I had thought. While I still need to remain prayerful about my deepest desire for my loved one, I can clearly see God’s hand at work in both him and me. I simply had forgotten my place before the throne and believed the lies of the devil, allowing him steal my joy. After my devotions and time spent in God’s presence, my joy had returned. About a week later, everything I wrote here was put to the test. What I had feared from the earlier experience actually came to pass. I discovered that once again God is faithful! In spite of it all, this time I did not loose my joy.

I’m sharing this with you, so that you too may have the fullness of joy found in the presence of God. It’s a joy that the enemy can’t steal, it is lasting joy! God is faithful to His promises and all of His promises are Yes and Amen! Thank you for reading my blog. I hope and pray it has blessed you. Please share it with your friends and family who need joy in their life.