“And all the people followed Solomon into Jerusalem, playing flutes and shouting for joy. The celebration was so joyous and noisy that the earth shook with the sound.” (I Kings 1:40 NLT)
What do you think of when you think of joy? What’s the most joyful occurrence or occasion of your life? Was it your wedding? Your baptism? Your graduation? What about the day you had the least joy? Your divorce? Your cancer diagnosis? The death of someone you loved?
Joy is not an emotion; joy is a gift of God. That’s why, according to Timothy Keller, “The sin under all other sins is a lack of joy in Christ.” Events don’t elicit joy, purpose does. We find our purpose in Jesus, not in accomplishments. We can have positive emotions in enjoyable circumstances and sadness in circumstances we deem unpleasant, but the joy of Jesus isn’t dependent upon circumstances, it’s dependent upon intimacy with the Lord.
Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us: “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” If we follow his train of thought, can we then conclude that lack of joy of the Lord is our weakness? So, the opposite of joy isn’t sadness it’s weakness, most often caused by a lack of purpose.
Did you notice Nehemiah said. “for the joy OF the Lord,” not joy IN the Lord. Being filled with God’s presence in the person of the Holy Spirit is literally the embodiment of joy within us. As believers we don’t have to search for God, we only have to acknowledge His Holy presence within us. To be filled with Jesus is to be filled with joy! But does that mean we’re always laughing and giggling like school children?
As I mentioned above, joy isn’t an emotion we turn on or off, it’s the gift of God’s presence within us and surrounding us regardless of the circumstances of our day or the mood of the moment. Joy is a decision to recognize that even in pain and heartache the foundation of our joy is a Person. Because Jesus doesn’t change neither does the fact of our joy in knowing He is walking with us, sometimes carrying us through the troublesome and difficult seasons of our lives.
To know Jesus is to have joy and to have joy is to recognize that because we belong to Jesus our lives are not our own. Our feelings on any given day cannot and must not dictate who we are or even what we do or don’t do. Prayer is not a luxury we sit aside if we don’t “feel” like it. God’s Word isn’t an option we can ignore because we’ve had a bad day.
Love, joy, peace, patience and the other fruit of the Spirit are necessities that must govern and guide us regardless of other factors pressing in on us. We cannot choose our mood based on emotion but must allow our behavior to be governed by the Spirit within us. He’s our Ruler, not we ourselves!
Often the days we’re at our worst and feel least like being “holy,” are the very days it’s most essential that we open our heart to become the joy of Jesus for someone else. Our selfishness screams for our attention and demands our submission to it’s demands, but as God’s child we must not give in. Allowing joy to reign in our hearts, minds, and lives requires discipline that can only be acquired as we yield to the indwelling Spirit.
Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, so it stands to reason that the discipline we need to be conformed to His likeness will be provided by His presence within us. His joy is our strength, even in our weakness, perhaps, ESPECIALLY in our weakness
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 