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Your joy, your happiness in Me, should be one of the constants in your life. Regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what is going on around you, joy in your heart, joy in your life, is one of the things I’ve promised you.1 It’s one of the fundamentals of knowing Me and being Mine. So when you are lacking that joy, that should be an automatic sign to you that something is off, that something isn’t right.
There are many things that the Enemy tries to use to steal your joy. But My joy is one of your rights as My bride. It’s one of the things you can count on, expect, and that you should claim in the spirit as part of your heritage, part of your reward.
And by “claim it,” I don’t mean running around trying to find joy, or trying to make yourself happy. I mean doing My will with joy and not letting anything crowd out My joy or take it from you. I mean praying for My joy to fill you, and then being on guard against the things that would steal My joy away from you. My joy is your strength, and I want you to have it in great abundance!2
What do I mean by “My joy”? There are many things that contribute to it or are a part of it:
* Peace in your heart is one of them—the stability that comes from knowing I’m in control.
* Expectancy is part of it—expecting that I will fulfill My promises, anticipating what I will do, looking for the signs of My miracle-working power and rejoicing when you see the fulfillment.
* Faith is part of it—faith in My Word, faith in My promises, faith in My love for you, faith in your calling as My disciple, faith in My ability to turn all things for your good because you love Me.
* Hope is part of it—remembering that no matter how bad things might get around you, you’re just a stranger and a pilgrim here, destined for a better place, and the more you have to endure on earth, the sweeter and more rewarding heaven will be when you get there!
* Trust in Me is a part of it—that rest and comfort and security you feel in My arms, when you know that I’m going to take care of you.
* Happiness is a part of it. Sometimes you naturally feel happier than at other times, and life isn’t always smooth or easy, to be sure. But the more you learn to look at things the way I do, the happier you will be!
* Love is a part of it—experiencing My love, noticing My love, feeling secure in My love, and giving My love to others. That is a great part of joy.
* Thankfulness is a part of it. Learning to be grateful for what I bring into your life, and praising Me no matter how hard it gets.
The Enemy tries so many things in an attempt to steal your joy: weariness with the spiritual battle; stress; trying to get you to take the problems on your own shoulders; trying to keep you from seeing the positive; trying to distort the way I want you to see things and instead getting you to let circumstances dictate your happiness.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can choose to retain My joy and not let go of it.
I want you to realize that My joy and peace in your heart should be constants in your life for Me. They should not be dictated by how things look or what is going on around you. There’s no reason for them to be! “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.”3
This is well worth focusing on. It’s well worth having the goal of being more joyful in Me. For in that change, you will find your strength multiplied; you will find your endurance multiplied; you will find your spiritual stamina and resistance fortified; and you will enjoy your life for Me so much more!
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There’s a great difference between working hard and struggling hard, just as there is a difference between being tired, even exhausted, and being weary in spirit. I want you to cast off the burdens, the stress, the weariness and feelings of pressure that bring a lack of inspiration, a lack of vision, a sense of hopelessness and being overwhelmed. It’s time to rid yourself of the frame of mind that “this is what I have to endure to serve Jesus.”
You may have tests and battles, but if you have lost the joy of your salvation, then you have lost sight of Me; you have missed the point of living for Me. When you see your work as the most important thing, it drains you of your joy and zest for living, because while wholehearted work for Me has a purpose, when that work takes priority over Me, then it loses My blessing and becomes hollow, empty, and unsatisfying.
I want to restore to you the joy of your salvation. What is that joy? Can you remember the last time you felt it? Was it a joy at all the wonderful works and endless hours you were going to invest for Me? Was it the thrill of all the burdens and cares of life and striving to feed and care for your family that filled your heart and mind with a happiness that words couldn’t express?
Or was it a deep, abiding sense that you were somehow home? That you had found something more real than anything you’d ever known? Was it a sense of being loved so much that you didn’t care about anything else? That you just wanted to stay with Me forever?
Is it possible to get back to that deep, abiding joy? With all the cares of life pressing on you, can you have that peace that passes the understanding of your mind? Can you find that simplicity that allows you to look past the circumstances of the moment and praise Me with genuine joy? Yes, it is possible.
My joy isn’t contingent on others, or things, or position, or circumstances. You can have it when all is going well or when your worst fears are facing you.
Imagine every care and concern as something you can take and place outside the room, even if just for a moment. Let them all go and imagine yourself seeing Me for the first time. You don’t need to understand all the deep things of the spirit, or all the requirements of discipleship, or what I expect of you. You just know that all around you is complete, unconditional, total acceptance and love.
There’s nothing to prove, nothing to do, nothing to say. You don’t even think about what you are or how you look. There’s no sense of yourself at all. That is My love for you. That is the love that saved you, not because of anything of yourself. That is the joy of salvation.
You do need to work. You do need to face responsibility and tests. The cares of this life are still going to be there. But ultimately you are Mine. My acceptance of you is unconditional, and My love for you can override any fault, any failing, any mistake. My love seeks to lift the burdens you struggle with. My love longs to free you from the bondages you tie yourself to.
But I can only do that as you accept My help. I can’t wrestle you to the ground and insist that you stop and focus on the joy of your salvation. It has to come from your own heart, your own desire, and when you do, it brings the cares and pressures and stress of life back into focus. It restores simple trust and rejects the hurried spirit of the world.
Learning to refocus and regain My joy will help you to work hard, play hard, and enjoy life. There will be tough times, but those times don’t have to overwhelm your heart and mind. Because you only need to return to the understanding of My love for you, and everything else will fall into perspective.
Many are slaves to guilt and punishment, but that is not My way. I came to bring you truth that sets you free, and grace, which is the unconditional gift of God to all who will accept Me.
Originally published July 2006. Updated and republished June 2012.
Read by Amber Larriva. copyright@thefamilyinternational
1 Psalm 16:11; Psalm 144:15; John 15:10–11.
2 Nehemiah 8:10.
3 John 14:27.
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