The Joy of the Lord is my strength. We have all heard that familiar declaration which is what Nehemiah said to the children of Judah.
Many times I have heard that same refrain from the pulpit and have myself said it in order to try to be joyful during times when I am anything but joyful. Once again this is simply the opposite of what the Lord’s word says.
It is the Joy of the Lord! It is the Lord Jesus’ joy. His!!
And where is the Lord Jesus?
He is dwelling FULLY INSIDE your heart, sharing heart with you. Jesus dwelling in your heart is paired with faith.
Do you believe Jesus dwells in your heart? If you believe He does, then He does.
And if He does dwell in your heart by faith, then His joy is your strength.
The Joy of the Lord, is the same as the faith of the Son of God.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. KJV
How wonderful to know and believe that my faith, that I try so hard at times to have, is not mine but HIS!! It is the faith OF THE SON that is in me…carrying me and believing inside of me.
It is the joy of the Son of God , that joy that comes from being in the Father and the Father being inside Him, that is His joy. And that joy is inside Jesus, inside your heart! It is not dependant upon you doing right, but upon your declaration of “His faith”.
As I just wrote above concerning the faith of the Son….just begin to declare that it is Jesus who is the believing one inside you, it is Jesus that is the One carrying you, inside of you, it is Jesus who is being carried by Father inside of you, it is His joy bubbling up in rivers of living water, that is inside of you.
We don’t do this to get happy feelings but as an act of warfare and communion. We commune with God in us as we speak forth His praise, and we overcome the pressures put upon us from the enemy who would have us to imagine that we are separate and responsible to be joyous.
I don’t have to pretend. I speak Jesus and He does all the living in me and as me.
