Joy
“Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.
Then Nehemiah told them, ‘Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8: 9-10 BSB
The Israelites had just completed the rebuilding of Jerusalem, God’s holy city that had been long ago destroyed by their enemies. Their leader, Nehemiah, along with Ezra and the Levitical priests, were reading the Book of Moses to the people. They had so longed to hear the words of the Law of Moses that they asked that it be read to them by their leaders. Then the people began weeping as they listened and understood.
But this was a time of restoration, of celebration, so Nehemiah told them to go and feast. It was a Holy Day and there was no need to grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:9-12 KJV
What makes joy more likely to remain in us, filling us up with His joy? Why, it is the love of God! For centuries the saints have sung about the love of God, how matchless and unfathomable it is to human comprehension. It may be challenging to believe that Father God loves us like He loves Jesus Christ our Lord, but that is just what He said. Joy follows the dark nights of struggle as we wake in victory through Him. There is joy in obedience during darkness, in surrendering to God while we wait for His resolutions.
When we love the Lord, there is no limit to the joy we know in loving Him, abiding in His love, and loving others. It’s not just a great feeling to be joyful, it’s the source of every Christian’s strength. He is our joy, ever-present within us. We all have times when we are battered and beaten down by this life, feeling little strength to get up and go at it the next day. Those are times when we lose connection with His joy, ever-present but not always felt within.
But nothing gets us out of our own times of struggle more quickly than when God turns our focus. He reminds each of us of how He loves us, unconditionally, with no limits. It is not measured out in small doses as some humans do, given only for performance that is pleasing to them Not at all. He lavishes His love upon us, refreshes us, revealing Himself anew to us and renewing our joy. In fact, He sings with joy over us, His very own creation!
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”Zephaniah 3:17 KJV
Is it not amazing to consider that He has joy in us, His very own people? He saved us, He is saving us, and, as He continues to save us, resting in His love, the Lord sings over us with joy unspeakable and full of glory. What love He has for each and every one of us! His joy is not like our joy in having great experiences in our lives. It’s not the momentary flood of happiness at a special event or time of celebration. It is an enduring part of God’s loving nature, available as part of the Kingdom within.
Joy is always there, whether we feel it or lose sight of it. True riches are found in love, not just enjoyable circumstances. God is love and His love is rich with all of the fruit of the spirit, including joy. There are 430 times when joy is mentioned in the Bible, far more than happiness is mentioned. This supports the distinction between the joy of the Lord and our earthly feelings of happiness. Happiness is that momentary, wonderful feeling that comes from external events, including a wonderful time worshiping and communing with the Lord.
Joy is the ever-present substance of God’s nature, always bubbling like a well within, ready to overflow:
“For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5 BSB
When we see the dawning of His victory in us and for us, joy floods our souls. David wrote Psalm 30 when he sought the Lord for deliverance from his enemies and healing from his afflictions. Like the great King David, we go through our dark times, weeping in the night when the light of His countenance seems far from us. Then comes victory in Jesus! Jesus took our chastisements upon Him, so why would Father God still need to eternally punish and separate sinners from Him? They need Him the most!
This presentation of our Father does not show momentary anger, but everlasting torment. The teaching of an angry, vengeful God Who will inflict harsh punishment takes no account that His mercy endureth forever. Yes, His righteous judgment is sure but always redemptive, limited for a season, a time, an age, or through a spiritual dispensation in order to accomplish His refining work. The truth of David’s statement about God only having momentary anger sharply contrasts with an angry, vengeful God who eternally punish unbelievers in hell forever.
God is love and mercy. His nature is not to remain angry with those He loves and He loves the world. It’s just for a moment when it seems as if He has turned His back on us. God directs His discipline to deliver us from our enemies within, to bring us into the joyful light of His morning. His wrath is His passion for having a people in which to fully dwell.
When Jesus was facing the suffering, pain, and shame of the cross, He predicted joy to His disciples.
“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” John 16:22 BSB
How odd this must have sounded in such desperate times. He knew how they would suffer watching His arrest, whipping, pain, derision and shame. Their hopes for the future were crushed as they saw what was happening to their Leader. Such deep suffering and death they witnessed but hallellujah, joy comes in the morning! Can we even imagine the joy of resurrection morning, when Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty and He then appeared? Her joyous report rings through the centuries: “I have seen the Lord”
The honor and blessing of being first to witness the living Christ, risen from the dead, was given to Mary Magdalene. This was Mary, the sister of Marth and Lazarus, whom Jesus loved. She was not Mary the prostitute, but Mary from whom Jesus delivered seven demons. This is the Mary who walked with Jesus, ate with Him, sat at His feet to learn from Him. This Mary desired to give her Lord the proper burial denied to Him by the Roman soldiers.
This is the Mary who gave the first joyous report that He lives,, no longer in the tomb of death. Can there be any more joyous news than that He lives, He ever lives to sustain our joy evermore? How often we may remind ourselves that He lives within us forevermore. This is the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. He lives! Jesus told them that no one could ever take their joy from them after they saw Him again in His resurrection.
He is our joy and no one can take Him from us. We have times of sorrow and weeping, enduring through the dark nights of our soul, when dismay, discouragement and despair seems to swallow us up. But joy does come in the dawning of each new day. He promises that joy within, coming from His abiding place in our hearts, will not be taken from us. Joy cannot be taken from us because He can never be taken from within us, in our hearts.
When we can’t find the joy and our strength is waning, we have just momentarily, through times of adversity and pain, lost sight of it. We do become weary in well-doing, though we are exhorted not to do so. We must remind ourselves that, onceinvited in, Jesus Christ does not leave. Happiness is circumstantial, more fleeting than we would wish. It leaves as the many sorrows of this earth overtake us.
But joy, His joy, is everlasting. Jesus’ joy at fulfilling His calling is certain:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 BSB
Yes, Jesus Christ endured the cross but scorned or despised the shame. He knew it was required for Him to rule and reign at the right hand of the Father’s throne. In other words, He did not focus on the suffering or the shame of dying on a cross like the worst criminals of His day. He set His heart on the joy of returning to His place with the Father, considering all those He would bring to Father God. He had joy in completing the salvation of humanity by fulfilling what His Father had called Him to do.
The surrender of Jesus achieving full victory gave Him enduring joy, forever available to us no matter what we are facing. Therefore, we also can endure present suffering and affliction, knowing our times of participation in His suffering eventually bring joy in God’s processing and plan for all. His joy is in us, with the fullness of His joy developing over time. It is witnessed in His saints. Look at photos of seasoned saints who have endured great suffering and grief. You see visible joy in their eyes, the twinkle of the rejoicing of His ever-present, most faithful and enduring spirit within them.
For these saints, the years of affliction and sorrow do not rob them of His joy. His joy has filled these Christians up inside so that it shines forth from their countenance, overflowing in love for God and others. They know the presence of His joy, having passed through many tests and trials where God’s faithfulness is proven to them. They have clung to the words Jesus spoke. They are spirit and they are life!
We do not long for the Baby in the manger. We don’t have to rely on His fleshly presence as in the days of His earthly ministry. Because He lives inside of us, building His kingdom of righteousness, He is ever-present. The kingdom of God is within us, and He brought it! We, like David, can always go to Him. David had many dark times, regardless of the eternal promises given to him by God. We see in the Psalms how he took his troubles to the Lord and celebrated in His presence:
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalms 16:11 ESV
It’s a powerful prayer to ask God to show us the path of life He has for us. This is not merely a nice turn of phrase, it is a specific promise that He will show us how to live. There is His path for our lives, outlined in the scriptures and most specifically understood by His spirit. Therein lies the joy of walking in obedient surrender. God desires His people to be joyful, to enjoy the allotment of His Kingdom He has provided. At His right hand there are everlasting pleasures.
Rather than trying to work joy up, His presence continually fills up His joy within us. Walking in the particular path He has destined for each of us brings this joy. He is revealing it, appearing within to tell us how to walk, where to go, what to say or not to say, what to do or not to do. He is even faithful to tell us when to do nothing, to say nothing. As we draw near to him, particularly in times of adversity, His presence to guide, direct, and reassure us is there, along with His joy.
The most joyful place to walk is in the center of His will. Challenges? Yes. Afflictions? Yes. But:
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19-20 NKJV
God is the only way to experience eternal, everlasting joy! His presence is love and that is the fullness of joy. Many martyrs died a torturous death with joy in the Lord in their hearts. As they died horrendous deaths, they glorified their Lord by forgiving their enemies. Their everlasting joy was found in obedience to God while being tortured in unimaginable ways by those of the religious world who had added things to the simple gospel of Jesus Christ. He was alive in them.
Joy is named by Paul as one of the top three fruits of the spirit in the great love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. We can seek and obtain all we want of His nature to bear all of His fruit, the signs of living in Him. When our roots go down deep into Him, the fruit of the spirit grows naturally, being attached to the Vine.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 ESV
Paul states there is no law against these qualities, no boundary or limit. Our heavenly Father loves us. Like any father, He enjoys us being joyful. What makes a parent more joyful, themselves, than when their dearly loved and precious children show forth joy? Is there anything more joyful than hearing babies giggle in delight or children laughing as they play? They are showing the sheer joy in being alive!
Wise parents teach their children that true joy comes from those things that are unseen, the godly qualities within, not from possessions or entertainment or experiences. Indeed, we are commanded to be joyful:
“Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Psalms 32:11 BSB
His joy is literally our strength. Without it, we are weak and become despondent, particularly in our trials. We cannot fake it or work hard to have it. We need faith to trust that because He is within us, His joy is always there and will return as we endure until our morning comes. He promises to bring our awareness to it again, to bubble up within as we come out of our dark times—and often, right in the midst of darkness!
The Lord does not say we cannot have joy while there is so much darkness and suffering in the world. Who is more aware of all that than our heavenly Father? We have joy because He knows the end from the beginning, because He is promising that, like David, we will emerge from the night into the bright dawning of a new Day, into the joy of His presence. Joy comes in the morning, when light, His enlightenment, dawns within our hearts once again.
We humans are prone to work at being happy. We go from thing to thing, experience to experience, relationship to relationship, possession to possession, success to success, in search of happiness. Happiness is a good thing, but the wise of heart learn is that it is only fleeting. When growing up with lack and scarcity, some mistakenly think in their hearts, “When I have enough (money, possessions, security, adventures, friends, love, etc), then I will be happy.”
As we mature in the Lord, we learn that this kind of happiness leads some to seek more and more in this life, an endless search for fulfillment with no lasting contentment. There are those who are rich, wealthy in the things of this world, but never joyous. They are ever seeking the next pleasure, the more exciting experience, the greater acquisition of the world’s riches.That’s not what He promises. Here is what He promises:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33 BSB
Joy is not something we need to work at and try hard to develop. Does fruit have to groan and strain to grow on an fruit tree? It grows and matures naturally as long as it is connected to the tree, receiving rain and sun along the way. What we focus upon, grows within us. As we turn our eyes to Him, the fruit of His spiritual character grows within us. Our spiritual Vine has all we need for spiritual maturity that fully displays the joy of the Lord our God.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.” Psalms 1:1-3 BSB
As we delight in His word, His way is shown to us daily. Do you want to prosper in all that you do? Here are the spiritual keys to that. God’s people are not to walk in worldly counsel, follow the path of life that sinners take, nor be a part of the mockers around us. We learn to delight in His law, enjoying His word more than anything else. There is a continual hunger for spiritual things and an appreciation that God builds within us that surely does not come easily to the fleshly man.
Humans have a natural spiritual hunger, often unrecognized as their longing for God. Look all around and you will observe humans feeding their God-hunger with many other things that are temporal and unsatisfying. Of course, only God can satisfy God-hunger, that deep longing within for the love, intimacy and comfort with our Saviour and our heavenly Father. There is no one else Who loves us no matter what, Who has promised through the ages to never forsake us, but restore us to Himself.
“Long ago the LORD said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
This is said to the people of God, Israel, in the Old Testament, with the New Testament confirming that all are drawn to Him to be His people, We have been made into His people who were not a people until Jesus Christ made the way for all to come. This is a most joyful Word from the Father. We set our hearts on His Kingdom, seeking His righteousness, the right way He does things, and His path of life for us, first. He draws us to Himself, granting us the everlasting joy in His Kingdom.
Anything we truly need will be added, and more, multiple blessings, small and great, added unto our lives. We are that tree planted, rooted and grounded in Him, by His streams of spiritual water. This tree yields the fruit of His spirit in every season. No withering leaves for the Tree of Life! Everlasting joy is within, giving us the strength to endure the hard times along the way:
“So the redeemed of the Lord will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.” Isaiah 35: 10 BSB
It is here on this earth that we need sorrow and sighing to flee. Once we are on the other side, that need is no longer present In this Day of the Lord surely upon us, we are returning to spiritual Zion, where dwell the saints being made perfected .
“But, ye came to Mount Zion, and to a city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of messengers, to the company and assembly of the first-born in heaven enrolled, and to God the judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men made perfect.” Hebrews 12:22-23 YLT
These holy saints are waiting for us to join them in coming victories on the earth at His appearing, when he descends with a shout! The fullness of His joy is a promise to be fulfilled in this time. Truly, truly His kingdom is coming to the earth, established in His redeemed saints. The time for the fullness of His joy is now!