Joy

This Tidbit is for believers, but is also intended to encourage anyone that allows the Word of God to speak to them and takes His Word to heart.  I hope this Tidbit will be a blessing to everyone who reads it and they will do what it says or put it into practice!!  

Today it seems we live in a different type of world than we are used to and things are changing every day, many of them for the worst.  Many people are committing suicide and many are living with enormous amounts of stress, fear and depression, which has gripped their lives and all but crippled them, seeing very little hope on the horizon.  The economy is teetering on the brink of collapse, jobs are much harder to find and many in our society have believed the lies that have been shouted from every venue possible.  It seems like there are enemies popping up everywhere and it is hard to know who you can trust.  Money schemes are popping up everywhere, the get rich kind, so you can be fleeced out of your money, whether by gambling joints or other schemes.  It seems like teachers and evangelists are even teaching on how to get rich.  We have been lied to about the food we eat and the drinks we consume.  Our schools have teachers that are teaching what should not be taught to our young people, leading them astray.  The news broadcasts are full of violence and terrorist activities but very little encouraging news.  What about bullying in schools, they have become war zones instead of safe places where kids could go without fear, where they learn good practical things for life as they grow up to face the world and the problems they would face.  I could go on and on but I don’t have to, everyone that can read knows these things and much more.

The first part of this Tidbit was very discouraging, but for every believer there is hope, great comfort and encouragement in the Word of God.  First thing I want to say is that we have a God that loves us with an unfailing, unconditional kind of love, not the kind that loves just to take advantage of us or loves us by our performance or the way you look or the way we dress or even our religious performance or our duties we perform.  No, He loved us when we were His enemies, even when we cursed and blasphemed Him and lived like the devil and did the devil’s bidding.  

Every true believer knows that Jesus Christ died for their sins; essentially He died for each one of us individually.  If you are a believer, you have to believe that is true and that He came that we would have life and have it more abundantly.  It is much different from our enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy who puts people in bondage instead of setting them free, which is a big reason the nations are in the state they are in.  Jesus came for a whole different reason, He came to break that bondage in people’s lives and to set them free; where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty and freedom, praise the Lord!  The Lord doesn’t want us to be fearful in these days, no, He wants us to trust in Him and read His Word and stand on the truth and be encouraged.  The Word is so important!  Some of us have heard it so much, it seems we are growing immune to it, so to speak, and are taking on a ‘know it all’ attitude instead of putting it into practice.  Why back in Nehemiah’s day, when the law was read the people repented and were grieved!

Read what was said to the people in Nehemiah 8:10, “Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”

This may not be your problem, but regardless of what your problem is, the JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!!  The enemy is trying to steal your joy and get you so discouraged that you are totally disabled.  King David had bouts of discouragement, even feeling like the Lord forgot about him.

Read Psalms 13:1-6,

”How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;

Enlighten my eyes,

Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Lest my enemy say,

‘I have prevailed against him’;

Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

But I have trusted in Your mercy;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

We can relate to the Psalms because they speak of some of the things we face and the feelings that we feel.  David told God how he felt about all the people that stood against him, but with the Lord, the odds meant nothing.

James says this about our trials, or testing, in James 1:2-4, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

James says we will face trials and that we can profit from them.  We can turn our trials into times of learning and they can be a benefit to us depending on how we look at them.

When you feel down and depressed you might want to think of what the sons of Korah, the Temple musicians and assistants, wrote in Psalms 42:1-11:

“As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night,

While they continually say to me,

‘Where is your God?’

When I remember these things,

I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go with the multitude;

I went with them to the house of God,

With the voice of joy and praise,

With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him

For the help of His countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me;

Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,

And from the heights of Hermon,

From the Hill Mizar.

Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;

All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,

And in the night His song shall be with me—

A prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my Rock,

‘Why have You forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?’

As with a breaking of my bones,

My enemies reproach me,

While they say to me all day long,

‘Where is your God?’

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.”

Counting your blessings could be something that will help, and also praising the Lord will get your mind off your problems.  Sometimes we just need to be patient and wait on the Lord who always works all things out for our good, even if we don’t think so.  Don’t let the enemy destroy your joy or your testimony, trust God to help you be an overcomer.  Something to think about, God bless and have a super day!!