JOY A RESULT OF DELIGHT IN GOD
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: – 1Pe 1:8 KJV
This describes a Christian, we have not seen Jesus physically yet we rejoice at who he is to us, what he has done in us and for us. We have not seen him physically yet we rejoice with JOY UNSPEAKABLE, FULL OF GLORY
As believers one of the things that makes us stand out is where we put our hope and the result of that. The amount of money we have doesn’t define us, the type of clothes we wear don’t define us, the kind of cars we ride do not define us. But one of the thing that defines us properly is where we put our hope and the result thereof.
Another text that describes this joy nature that we have is Gal 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, – Gal 5:22 KJV
This verse describes the kind of Spirit we have received at the new birth. So you see we have joy in our spirit. We are a species of people whose joy is not a result of external factors. No it isn’t, it is a result of the spirit we have received. That’s why the epistles even admonishes us to rejoice in not so good situations.
Take a look at what Apostles James said in James 1:2
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; – James 1:2 KJV
So even in the face of a trial, we can still have joy, we can still joy in God and not blame him for anything happening. We are stable people, we don’t fret no matter the situation, we rejoice because that’s our nature.
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. – Rom 5:11 KJV
We joy in God through Jesus Christ.
Apostle Paul actually tells us to make it a constant thing to do.
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. – Phip 4:4 KJV
The word “rejoice” and joy are from the same word in the greek. Don’t say Paul doesn’t know what I am going through, I believe whatever you might be going through, he went through more and yet he tells us to rejoice.
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. – Rom 14:17 KJV
We have joy regardless of our present situations. The truth still remains however that not many Christians experience this joy that the Bible speaks about. Let’s find out why and the solution.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. – Col 3:1-3 KJV
“Set your affection on” comes from one greek word which is phroneo and it means to interest oneself, to give special attention to something, to regulate your mental disposition.
Now we’ve learnt that Joy is an inherent action, we have joy because we have the Holy Ghost. If this hasn’t been your experience, what you need to do is to interest yourself with the fact that you are full of joy. You change that mental disposition of always being sad, NO, You give yourself special attention to joy. You rejoice at the things the word of God expects us rejoice. For example the bible says in luke
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. – Luke 15:7 KJV
So whenever you see someone gets saved, you rejoice, whenever the word of God is preached, you receive it with joy.
The issue is that many of us are not experiencing joy, because we don’t regulate our thoughts, We don’t practice rejoicing, therefore we ought to rejoice at all times.
Prayer Focus
1: Let’s rejoice at all God has done in and through us.
2: Prayer for the unsaved that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ shines in their heart.
3: Prayer for members of the body of Christ, that God is bringing them out of seemingly impossible situations.
4: Charge yourself up by praying in other tongues.
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