Joy. It's such a simple word, yet so hard to attain. Life is too hectic for us to truly experience joy right? We have ten thousand bills due at the end of the month, we have to plan to put our kids through high school let alone college and its outrageous cost. When do we ever have time for joy? What is joy anyway?
Most people tend to group joy with happiness. They believe that having joy simply means to be happy, but that isn't exactly true. Joy is not a feeling, just like love is not simply a feeling. Joy, like love, is a mindset that we must keep under control. When you're married, or simply in a relationship, temptation seems to fly at you more than when you were single and uncommitted. I hear so many young people say, "If only I was married, I wouldn't struggle with this sin or that sin," and all the married people laugh and say, "good luck." I talk to married men all the time about the best and worst parts of marriage, and almost all of them will say that temptation increased greatly when they got married. They must be committed to their spouses and must control the urge to walk into sin. The same goes for joy. Joy is not just a feeling. The same way you may wake up next to your spouse and think, "I just don't feel like loving you today" you will wake up and say, "I just don't feel joyous," but should that stop you from choosing to be joyous? Should a simple feeling, or lack there of, stop you from loving your spouse? Absolutely not! When you say your vows it's "for better or for worse!" It's a "no matter what happens, I will always choose to love you!" That's the attitude we need to take when it comes to joy, and when you really sit down and look at all that God has done for you, how can you have any other attitude but a joyous one?
I hate going to work, just like the majority of Americans, but I go because I have to in order to pay for things that I need and want. I walk in the doors a lot of times, especially through the holiday seasons, thinking, "this is going to be a bad day," but when those thoughts come to mind I find myself singing, which is an odd reaction for me. I sing worship songs, hymns, sometimes even a little Christian rap here and there, and I find myself completely restored. The day isn't as long, the job isn't as tough, and the people aren't as big of jerks as maybe I paint them before I changed my attitude. For me, joy comes through praising Him in song. For you it may come through writing, thinking, praying, playing an instrument, whatever. However you experience joy, you have to take control. You have to wake up in the morning saying, "today I choose to be joyous!" You have to walk into work saying, "today I choose to work joyfully as unto the Lord!" Where ever you go and whatever you do, you are the decision maker in whether or not you live joyfully! And note this, you have been given God's authority to speak to demons, to speak to sickness, to speak to any satanic thought and command it to leave! You are not weak! You are not incompetent as a follower, son/daughter, and heir of God! You are strong, mighty, and capable! In Acts 3, Peter and John did not pray and ask God to heal the man at the gate Beautiful! They spoke boldly and said simply, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you. Stand up and walk!" Do you see a prayer of unbelief? Do you see them asking God to heal this man? No, they understand their authority, and they walk in it! You have that same authority! Use it! Speak to the demons of depression, anxiety, and stress and command them to leave in the name of Jesus! Speak to your finances, your struggles, your hurts, and your pains, and command victory over them in the name of Jesus! It's your decision whether or not you will live joyfully and with confidence and authority! Don't allow the enemy to steal your joy! When all else fails, look to the cross and remember all that Christ did for you! As the Psalmist writes, "weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5b). Choose to live victorious!
No comments:
Post a Comment