Where Joy Comes From
 |
| Photo by Ben White on Unsplash |
In the past alarm clocks and Charley horses were a recipe for a get out of bed on the wrong side kind of day. Today I thought well, I'm up so I'm going to spend it with the Lord. So I proceeded to take a hot bath and listen to the The Healing Refuge one of 8 online Christian radio stations started by a long time friends Mark and Lori Kenney. I put the links at the bottom of this post.
The station was playing a instrumental and spoken word piece that was something about joy. I just kept listening and thinking over the verses and something in me clicked and it was like Holy Spirit connected the dots for me and I suddenly had a key regarding joy that I had previously missed.
I have prayed for a lot of folks through the years that the joy of the Lord would be their strength. It is really easy to tell someone to let the Joy of the Lord be your strength but I missed the part of where the joy came. Obviously the Lord but how does it come?
Let's take a look at this verse in greater context because it is just a tiny portion of a much larger story.
Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah is a cupbearer to the king of Persia. His brother comes with news of the remnant who returned to Jerusalem after the exile to Babylon ends. The news is the people are in destress because the city wall have been burned and destroyed. Nehemiah goes to work that day after praying a really amazing prayer in chapter one. The king notices that he is sad and asks why. Ordinarily this sadness would probably have lost him his job if not his life. God's grace and mercy abound in this situation and the king gives Nehemiah time off and permission to go plus the funds to rebuild the walls.
This verse about joy comes late in the story. It might be good to look at the timing of things. Some times the answers to our prayers take time. In this case it has taken two generations since Israel was exiled to Babylon.
What is important to note is that after 70 years of exile in Babylon Cryrus issues a decree that the Jews are free to return to their home. It's another 8 years before Zerubbabel leads the first group of folks who set up the altar and begin work on rebuilding the temple. It's another 80 years till Ezra leads another group back and works on rebuilding life there and improving the spiritual health of the people. Then 13 years after that Nehemiah a cup bearer to the king of Persia is given permission and funding to go and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. At the time of the celebration in Nehemiah 8:10 they have faced lots of opposition in the process to the point that it's says half of the people stood guard while the other half work. Everyone who worked wore a sword at their side. By the way it took a total of 52 days to rebuild the wall in this manner.
The people are assembled and the priests read the word and instructed the people. The reading of the word caused many to weep and mourn because of how far off the mark they had been from God's design and standard. Finally they are told to stop they crying and mourning and to honor the Lord by celebrating that we now have the Word and know how to honor him and how they are to live.
Their joy is found in hearing the Word and the Word has caused them to repent and begin live differently. The joy comes from meditation on the Word and realizing the places we need to repent and live differently. The strength we need is found in being not just hearers but doers of the Word.
1 Chronicles 16:27
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
Jesus is the Word made flesh and he has sent us His Spirit to lead us into all truth.
You want joy and strength in your life it is found in your relationship with Jesus and in knowing and doing what His Word instructs and living by His example.
Psalm 1 reminds us that we are blessed when we spend time meditating on the Word of God. When we delight in the Word. Meditation in this case is not the emptying of ones self but rather filling ones thoughts with the Word of God and chewing on it like a cow chews on its cud. Thinking on it over and over and allowing the Holy Spirit to show you things that you might have previously missed. The strength we need for our lives comes from the joy that is found in knowing how to apply the Word to our life. Truly that is something to celebrate. God has the strategies you need for what ever problem you may be facing. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you and teach you from the Word. Don't just skim through it and grab a refrigerator verse to stand on take the time to dig deeper to discover what it means and allow the Word or the promise you are standing on to transform you. Activate that Word in your life by taking steps of faith to do what it says. In this case if you need strength or joy then spend time in the Word and in developing your relationship with Jesus, the Word made flesh.
Later in the day several people commented on the joy that I had. I shared this story with several people and thought I would share it with you as well. What could have been a bad day turned into a joy filled day because I made choices to spend time in the Word and in worship and prayers and God filled me up with joy gave me a key to joy and strength to be able to share with you. It was a really bad Charley Horse because my leg is still sore now a day later. Which is yet another reminder that God's solutions sometime take time to work out. In the mean time I am choosing joy which can be found in chewing on His Word.
Prayer: Father we need your joy and your strength found in knowing your Word. Thank you for your revelation that strength and joy are found in your Word and in the living Word, your son, Jesus. Thank you that we have your written word but we are also able to personally know you the author of the book. Give us the grace to not just hear your Word but to do your Word. Thank you that we are able to have an intimate relationship with you because of Jesus, your Word made flesh. Thank you Jesus that you have sent your Holy Spirit to lead us into your truth and to empower us to do your Word. Transform us today as we chew on your Word and allow it to transform our life more and more into you image.
Here's the link to the Healing Stream online radio station I mentioned in this post.
Apple link https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/healing-stream-radio/id1207883294?mt=8
Andriod link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.missionlogin.healingmedia
Now that you have a better understanding where we find joy. Enjoy this Rend Collective
video. We have to make a decision to spend time in the Word, to spend time in prayer,
to choose to worship rather than to worry or complain.
Comments
Post a Comment