The power of joy

John chapter 15 captures one of Jesus’s intimate moments with his disciples, as he took them through what it meant to be truly connected to him. He used the life of a vine to emphasise his relationship with the Father and us. In conclusion, he told them that: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11 GNT. In essence, Jesus was saying that a good relationship with the Father will yield joyfulness. The Father is joy, and He wants us to be joyful.

What is joy?

You might be saying to yourself, “I think I have joy, I am happy, I’m alright, and so I don’t need anything from here”. Before you jump to the next exciting thing on your electronic device, let me indulge you for a few minutes as I present the power of joy to you. I believe true joy conveys a deep sense of restfulness and peace in your heart, irrespective of what is happening around you. It flows from a deep-rooted trust in God amid all things. Joy reveals an inherent level of life satisfaction and contentment that makes you grateful to God in all things. A thankful heart expresses joy.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. A joyful person can quickly love, bring peace wherever they are; they are patient with people. Essentially, joyful people freely bear all the other fruits of the Spirit.

What joy is not!

Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is shallow and temporary because it is based on external factors; what you have and who you have. Joy is deep-rooted as it is from within and is independent of external factors.

Joy is not about laughing all the time and smiling everywhere you go. These are helpful characteristics of joyful people, but these are not what joy represents. Joy doesn’t guarantee a trouble-free life.

Why does God want us to be joyful?

“…The joy of the Lord is your strength”, Nehemiah 8:10. How can a seemingly trivial attribute produce strength? We know strength and power are usually associated with hard work, exertion and striving; and so to equate joy to strength is a bit mind-boggling. I found out that this strength is not reliant on our actions but on a heart in total abandon to our heavenly Father who is full of joy.

If joy can make us strong, then it must have some power that we can tap into. To go through life without joy will be a very fruitless venture. A joyless person has no strength, and subsequently, they are unfruitful. When we are joyful, our strength is complete, then we are positioned for fruitfulness. God says, “My strength is expressed in its most utmost when my children are joyful. The full expression of Me is joyfulness”. The book of Revelation tells us that there is a lot of rejoicing in heaven; I can imagine the whole atmosphere vibrating with joy.

Until now, you have not asked [the Father] for anything in My name; but now ask and keep on asking, and you will receive, so that your joy may be full and complete, John 16:24 AMP. Jesus encouraged His disciples to keep asking from the Father, so their joy may be complete. God knows the power of joy and how essential it is to our very existence, and that is why He asks us to chase after it.

How do you attain and sustain it?

Joyfulness begins with a grateful heart. Be thankful for every speck of goodness in your life. It’s so easy to see the bad and miss the good around us. Life on earth is like that, but God wants us to see the good in all and be grateful for it.

Our joy is sustained by continuous praise and in-filling of the Spirit of God. God’s word hidden in our hearts will birth the joy and peace we desire. As we continuously thank Him and praise Him, His joy fills our hearts, and before we know it, life doesn’t shake us anymore and we can be fruitful.

What are some joy stealers?

I hope by now you will agree with me that joy is a good thing, right? We also know that for every good thing, we have the devil and his cohorts working hard to negate it. Some of the common joy stealers are fear, anxiety, stress, loneliness, worry, living in the unknown, etc. . The Father has given His promises to combat all of these joy stealers so that they don’t control you. God has good plans for your future, and so whenever you face any of these joy sealers, you can go into His word and pray His word over your life.

Some Bible verses to combat joy stealers

• So here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you. Psalm 55:22 TPT
• Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT
• For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Jeremiah 29:11 AMPC

What is standing in the way of a joyful life?

We toil endlessly to fill our lives with stuff so we can be happy. We earn money to buy things for ourselves so that we can be satisfied. We chase after fame on social media to gain a sense of accomplishment. The happiness we seek can come from only one source, and He is in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said his joy would make us complete.

King Solomon had it all, riches, wealth, women, but he concluded that everything is meaningless in Ecclesiastes chapter 1. To acquire great wealth and assets and be devoid of joy is a great tragedy. Oh, such a waste! No matter how much wealth we amass, without the joy of the Lord deep-rooted in our spirit, we are going to end up empty and weak. God does not want us to be drawn into a frenzy of wealth acquisition, instead, we can be delighted in the Father so that His joy in us will make us whole.

You may look back on your life and have a trail of negative and horrible things that have gone on in your life or are still going on in your life, and it’s easy to settle into the downside of life, but that’s not what God wants for you. God wants you to be joyful because that is what He is, and when He fills you with His Spirit, you will get the strength to forge ahead. God wants His joy overflowing in your spirit so you can have the strength to be fruitful in everything you do.

My family has been privileged to spend most of the summer holidays together. One thing that happens when you spend any number of days with people you are usually away from is that you get to see their imperfections. For my family, our imperfections were profoundly highlighted and I personally struggled to maintain my joy. An important lesson I got from this was that, it’s easy to be lost in the confusion and frustrations that family life brings and miss out on all the good and positivity that the family represents. God taught me how to focus on the good in my family and as I learnt to thank God for the good, He began to change my perception and my view of my family. I found my strength in Him to be all I need to be for my family. So, I do believe in the power of joy. Joy is a weapon that, if you allow it to infuse into your daily life, your outlook of life will be different. How you view the world around you will be impacted positively. You will be better suited to see and handle situations in a healthy manner.

Joy infusion

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NLT

The switch from joyless to joyful begins with a change of mind. A decision to see the good in all situations because God is good. We find evidence of His goodness in His word. We let life steal our joy because we are oblivious to what God is doing on our behalf. When we are grateful and joyful, it opens more room for God to share in His goodness. The Psalmist said in Psalms 34:5 that, Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. Gaze on God; joy will come as He fills you up with Him and shows you all His goodness.

Paul says in Philippians 4:4, …Rejoice, I say again, rejoice!  Wherever you are, I believe you are up for some joy infusion. Embrace this life of joy and let God infuse you with His joy, so you can live life to the overflow.

Joy challenge

Joy is man’s most effective weapon towards fear and worry. The absence of joy is everything else the enemy wants to throw at us. Focusing on the wrongs around you can deplete you of joy. With an ounce of joy, you will get your strength and energy back, and what seemed overwhelming will change into nothingness. Decide from today not to dwell on past and present negative stuff but instead focus on all the good things that God has done for you.

Go through the next seven days with a heart of joyfulness birthed through gratitude. For every negative experience or situation, find the good in it and focus on it. Philippians 4:8

Prayer

My prayer for you is that you will experience God’s supernatural joy. Joy to the overflow. The Spirit of God will baptise you with His joy. You will live in an abundance of joy. In the face of confusion and frustration, your core will remain, and that the Father’s joy will resound clearly in your spirit. Situations that used to deter you and put you down will no longer trouble you, and you will be at peace because the Father’s joy is deeply grounded in your Spirit. Amen!

May you be filled with the Fullness of God and the Power of His Love!