In His Presence

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11, NKJV)

Joy is an elusive word in our daily lives, and we seem to have replaced pure joy with the experiences of happiness and laughter.  The moments of happiness that we enjoy are linked to someone or something happening in our lives, once the circumstances change or the individual who made us happy has left, we go back into our empty space. The change in emotions from laughter and smiles to sadness or loneliness is fast.  If we are observant, we will note that many people smile, but the smiles are just for a moment, the smiles which do not reach the eyes, a movement of the lips without being powered by the emotions of the heart.

Recently in prayer, I asked the Lord for joy in my heart as I felt heavily burdened and it was at this time, that the above verse leaped into my spirit with a quickening of revelation.  I pondered on the verse as I felt the Spirit of God was giving me the secret of joy which we seek in things and people.  I understood that joy comes from nothing else but from the presence of God and no wonder we do not find it when we look for it in other places.  I also received the revelation that when one finds that he has no joy, it is important to do a self-check on whether one is in the presence of God.  My sense is that we lose our joy when we are not in the presence of God and this should become a standard of measurement of one’s position in light of God’s presence.  This was enlightening in my spirit man, in a manner that I had never before, seen the wisdom of the verse.

Brethren, emotions are powerful and move us to action, whether positive or negative.  Joy is a positive emotion which strengthens us in our spirits giving us a sprint in our walk regardless of the situation.  While happiness relates to what is happening around us, joy is innate and God-given, real joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit of God as indicated in (Galatians 5:22-23).  This to me says, that there is no joy but that which we find in God, given only by the Holy Spirit.  It is no wonder therefore that we have the popular verse that the joy of the Lord as our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).  When we lose our joy, we lose our spiritual strength and so as believers, we have to be careful to keep our joy, for when we do not have joy, we become weak and struggle in our walk with God.  Our strength as believers is in God, who gives us His joy, and whose presence is marked by His joy in our spirits.  This is a revelation that we need to ponder so that the joy of the Lord is reflected in our relationships and actions.  So long as we are staying in the presence of the Lord, we will have joy and we will have His strength.  Joy is so important in our lives, so that Jesus when speaking to His disciples (John 15:11) spoke of His joy remaining in the believers, giving them complete joy.  With these words, we know that having joy in our lives is the will of our Father.

Paul in (Romans 15:13) prays that God who is the source of hope will fill the believers with joy and peace, so that they abide in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is crucial that we grasp the meaning of joy in our lives and pursue it by being in the presence of God.  Our faith walk is not meant to be by our own efforts but by the strength and power of God. He gives us joy as a seal of His strength in our lives.  We are reminded to live rejoicing (Philippians 4:4), our daily disposition should be one of joy.  This is something I need to practice for it is in joy that I am strong in the Lord - that is the promise of God.  The world will want to steal our power by making our hearts heavy, taking away our joy, but now we know the secret of our strength – the presence of the Lord giving us His joy, that is our strength, Amen.  May we be known as joyous people.

Thoughts:

How joyful are you?

What has taken your joy away?

What do you need to do to regain your joy?

How have you experienced the joy of God giving you His strength?