Choosing to laugh, be joyful, and take a lighthearted approach to many things in life will do more than make you a pleasant person. Nehemiah 8:10 says “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Think about it: How strong or confident do you feel when you are discouraged, depressed, or “down in the dumps”? You don’t feel strong at all. But when you allow God to fill you with joy, you feel as though you can do anything.
Joy is such an important part of our spiritual life, but Satan is always out to steal it through difficult circumstances or people.
Many times, when Satan comes against us, he is simply trying to steal our joy. He wants us to fear, despair, or have a negative outlook on life because he knows if he can dampen our joy, he can steal our strength. In order to stay strong, we must also stay joyful.
If you have Jesus, you have joy in you. But Satan works really hard to try to block it because the joy of the Lord is our strength. We need to be joyful as we can!
There will be a day when God causes you to forget. God is going to make up for the circumstance in such an amazing way that you’re not going to remember the pain of the past. You’re not going to wake up thinking about who hurt you; you’re going to wake up thinking about how blessed you are. You’re not going to go through the day, feeling discouraged by the loss, with that heaviness.
God is going to turn things around to where all you can think about is how grateful you are. You’re going to have a deep satisfaction, a joy that you can’t explain.
Keep your joy. Life is going to throw us curves. There will be disappointments, things that aren’t fair. That’s when you have to put your foot down and say, “Yet will I rejoice in the Lord.” We should make the decision every morning, “I will be joyful today.” Decide ahead of time that you’re going to enjoy this day. When people dump things on you, keep your lid on. Don’t let that get in you.
When you’re tempted to get upset, frustrated, remind yourself that you have the power to remain calm. Keep it in perspective; this day is a gift. Honor God by living it grateful, happy, and to the fullest.
God wants to restore all that was taken from you. He wants to see your health, your joy and your peace fully restored!
Life is full of inconveniences, delays, people that do wrong. You’re never going to stop these things from happening; the key is how you handle them. The scripture says, “No man can take your joy.” That means you control your joy. Nothing can take it from you; you have to give it away.
Every time you thank God in advance, something is happening. You’re not just being positive, you’re not just having a good attitude—you’re getting filled up. God is pouring strength, peace and joy back into you. Develop this habit of being ever-filled.
God is looking for people who recognize that He is the source of strength and the source of our success. In Him is health, freedom, abundance, ideas and creativity. When you rely on Him, He’ll take you from victory to victory.
