God’s Joy
…for the joy of the lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10, ESV
I was sitting in my quiet place with God, just taking notes as He spoke to me. I heard Him say “The joy of the Lord is your strength. Find out what that means.” This of course led me to look up Nehemiah 8:10. Ezra the priest had been reading the book of the law to the people of Israel. After the reading, the people’s hearts were grieved because they had not followed God’s instructions. But Ezra tells the people that this is a day of rejoicing - do not be grieved, we will have strength in God.
As I researched further, I found that the Hebrew word for “strength” was koch which comes from a root meaning, “to be able” or “the power to”. God’s joy gives us the power to be able to do what we could not do in our own strength. This joy is a fruit of the Spirit which comes from God and fills us with His power (Galatians 5:22). We can only keep this power by staying connected to God.
Scripture makes it clear in John 15 that God is the true vine and we are the branches. If we continue to abide in Him, we will be able to walk in His strength. If a branch is removed from the tree, it dies. If we keep God’s commands, we will remain in His love and have His strength. Scripture says, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:10-12).
I found this list of ways to cultivate joy in your life:
1) Renew your mind, Romans 12:2
2) Trust in Christ, Proverbs 3:5-6
3) Fix your eyes on Jesus, Hebrews 12:2
4) Rejoice in the Lord, Philippians 4:4
5) Abide in Christ, John 15:11
To walk in the joy of the Lord, we must obey His commands and stay in His word. God’s joy remains in us when we remain in Him. Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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