Let’s Talk About Joy: The Purpose of Joy: To Provide Victory Page 3
Praise brings joy. Joy brings victory. We must be strong in the Lord to gain a victory. Joy will help us in this area. Nehemiah 8:10 (KJV) says, “…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” When we are weak and heavy-laiden, downcast and depressed, we need to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” and begin to praise God. We can see some instructions in Isaiah 52:1-2 (AMP) showing us how to do this: (my additions)
“Awake, awake, Put on your strength (joy) O Zion (the church as a whole and you as an individual); Put on your beautiful garments (praise), O Jerusalem, the holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean (unsaved) will no longer come into you. Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit O Jerusalem; Rid yourself from the chains around your neck.”
Five specific instructions are given to us here that will help to protect us from the enemy and gain victory in our lives.
First, we are to “awake, awake.” Get up. Get out of bed. It doesn’t matter how you feel. It doesn’t matter how sick you are, how much you hurt. Get up! My Momma says that healed people don’t lay in the bed! Faith without works is dead (James 2:26) – so stretch your faith by acting on the promise of healing. Awake! Get up!
Second, we are to “put on your strength,” so we must take action and “put on” our joy. It may not fit well, or feel good at first, but we must look at things unseen. We must make a choice to rejoice! Psalm 118:24 (AMP) says, “This [day in which God has saved me] is the day which the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” If you can’t think of any other reason to be glad today, begin to say this one and I promise you will begin to see God’s eternal joy rise up inside of you. Those words “We will” mean that we desire, we choose. It is up to us – we make a choice to rejoice!
Third, we are told to “put on your beautiful garments.” In Isaiah 61:2-3 (NIV), it says “..to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” This “garment of praise,” like any other garment, must be “put on” by us – it does not magically show up on us. Don’t you feel better when you get dressed up in beautiful clothes? When your heart is troubled and your spirit is heavy, You may not FEEL like praising God, but praising God is the BEST way to get rid of that depression and spirit of heaviness!
The fourth thing we are told to do is to “shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit.” In other words, pull yourself up by your bootstraps – did you notice God’s Word didn’t tell us to pray for God to lift us out of this trouble? It didn’t tell us to call out to someone else to lift us out of the dust either – it says to “shake yourself” – we, again, have to make a choice. We have to step out (or get up) in faith – even though we may not FEEL like it!
The last things we are told to do in Isaiah 52:1-2 is to “Rid yourself from the chains around your neck.” It is not easy to keep from feeling “captive” when we look in the mirror and see chains around our necks; or a bank statement that shows a deficit; or a physician’s report that says we have cancer; or a hopeless situation whatever it may be – but God has already defeated our foe – He has already unlocked the chains on our necks! The enemy has deceived us into thinking that we are his captives, so when we see ourselves in some of the messes that I just mentioned, we tend to feel depressed, defeated. But this verse says to “rid yourself from the chains” – this means we HAVE the ABILITY to take those chains off and to achieve victory in all of these areas of our lives! Remember, you may FEEL captive, and it may even LOOK LIKE you are captive, but we must not be moved by what we SEE and FEEL – we must be moved by God’s Word! We must learn what God’s Word says about us! Then, and ONLY then, will we be able to stand up against the enemy’s tricks, and walk in victory in our lives.
It feels good to be victorious! Psalm 27:6 (AMP) says, “And now will my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; in His tent I will offer sacrifices and shouting of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises to the Lord.” Whoop! Let’s make a CHOICE to REJOICE today, and watch our enemies be scattered!
Troubles will come. That’s inevitable. But we don’t have to lay down in them! 1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV) says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” When we understand that we will have difficulties, but that God has already delivered us, and we ACT on that knowledge, then God gets the glory for our victory! And we get to experience His exceeding joy!!
Today, I challenge you to make a CHOICE to REJOICE!