The Joy of The Lord

As more testimony submissions come in for the book, there is a common thread in some of them that jumps out at me. That is the switch from a person living out of their own strength and determination, to being strengthened by the joy of the Lord! During this blog I want to focus on the HUGE difference between happiness and joy.

Let me first start off by giving you a easy way to decipher the two. Happiness is based on circumstances. Something good happened and it made you happy, but if the circumstances aren't right then happiness fades (and it fades quick)! Joy on the other hand has absolutely NOTHING to do with circumstances. It is given by the Lord and it is an attitude of heart... so whether a person has joy or not is not dependent on circumstances, the only thing it is dependent upon is if they abide in the Lord or not. The reason why joy is so empowering, is because you come to the end of yourself (your striving) when you begin to walk by the Spirit (you become one with the Lord... your body becomes His dwelling place).

People in the world do not have the benefit of the joy of the Lord. Instead they have moments of happiness and often seek things for continuous happiness (they're looking for joy). There moods can change from one moment to the next based on circumstances easily, because they have no stability, no joy to draw from. Sometimes Christians fall in this category too as a result of being ignorant concerning what God has already given. If a Christian is carnal minded then they reap the same things as people in the world. To the degree that you struggle with something, is probably a direct connect to the degree that you know the Word for that particular situation.(when I say know, I don't mean read it... I mean trust and believe to the point that it has taken root). The Bible teaches us not to live according to the principles of this world, but often times Christians have anxiety just like people of the world, they get stressed, they unravel because of daily circumstances, because they lack joy. It is not that there is a lack of joy... God has provided an overflowing source of joy. It's because they're ruled by their emotions (carnal) versus being ruled by the Spirit (Word). When a person trains their mind (through renewal) to be ruled by the Spirit then they reap the fruit of it and joy is most definitely an undeniable fruit of the Spirit. When a person is ruled by their flesh/emotions, then they reap the fruits of that... which is always going to be unstable.

The Lord keeps bringing to remembrance a dream that I had over a year ago. I'm not going to go into the full extent of the dream, but I will share some. In the dream I was sitting in church and 2 people were bickering back and forth over something that was irrelevant and I was kinda observing. I thought to myself, this is ridiculous! Then a seed came down from out of no where directly in front of my face and audibly I heard "This seed is the joy of the Lord" and I ate it. Immediately after I ate it I was in another scene and there were two different choices presented. One being the joy of the Lord and then the scene changed to being at a grocery store and the entire vitamin section was no longer the vitamin section, but it was anti-depressants. People were taking anti-depressants like they were vitamins. I was shocked... very shocked! It was as if it were normal... everyone else went about it like it was normal.This is just a snapshot of the dream that I am giving you, but I am thoroughly convinced that this is the direction things are going in.

I originally thought I was going to do a full study on joy in this blog... but now I want to admonish every believer that isn't experiencing the joy of the Lord, to first see are they living by the principles of the world (which is driven emotionally by circumstances). If a person that is lacking the joy of the Lord cannot admit this, then they are stuck, because they have fierce pride that they probably can't see. Second is to address the fact that they have been living carnally and begin renewing their mind to the Word. It is absolutely TRUE that you reap what you sow. If you sow to the Spirit you absolutely will reap the fruit of the Spirit. If your not reaping the fruit of the spirit then that means your sowing to the wrong place. The fruit of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. Notice it said FRUIT, not fruits with an s! It is a one package deal... you can't say oh I have the gentleness part but I'm still trying to get the patience. If you think that you're deceived. When you sow into the Spirit you reap the fruit of the spirit and they all come together. There is a difference between being "patient" with a little child and the supernatural empowerment of patience that comes from the Holy Spirit that causes you to be patient even when it comes to the most vicious people, or to have an overwhelming love for people that have rejected you, and a joy that can't be shaken by the most detrimental circumstances.

You have been given a seed, and the Lord wants you to eat the seed of joy so that it can take root in your life. It is YOUR CHOICE whether or not you eat the seed of joy. BUT I GUARANTEE you that the Lord has already provided you with an overflowing source of joy. Your own mind can be what is alienating you from it. I pray that the manifold wisdom of God will be opened to you, through renewing your mind!