The Joy of the Lord

Many of us have heard the scripture, "the joy of the Lord is my strength" (Nehemiah 8). We've also heard the scripture, "in His Presence there is fulness of joy" (Psalm 16). These are all wonderful scriptures, and very, very true. However, a lot of times when we're speaking of the Joy of the Lord, we're talking about how that joy will serve us and bless us. This too is applicable, but we want to view the Joy of the Lord from a different perspective. Let's view the Joy of the Lord in terms of what's going to actually give "the Lord" Joy. The Joy of the Lord is just that, HIS JOY. And what we should want to do, as His children, is give the Father as much Joy as we possibly can. What can we do to give Joy to the Father? What can we do to actually make Jesus happy?

One of the things that brings joy to the Lord is Worship and Praise. The Scriptures say, "make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord" (Psalm 100). Everyday, as the people of God, we ought to take time to give God joy by just Worshiping Him. Don't wait till just Sunday morning. Don't wait for the choir and praise team. Give God praise during the week!. Just as you read your Daily Devotional and read your daily scriptures, you need to be giving God daily praise. Be deliberate and intentional about this. Remember what Jesus said, the Father is "seeking" people to worship Him (John 4). Why? Because it gives Him Joy.

Another thing that brings joy to God is humility. This is something that needs to be stressed more in the Body of Christ. God loves Humility. If you want to get on God's "good side", just learn to be Humble. That's why Fasting is so important, because it "humbles the soul" (Psalm 35). The first Beattitude that Jesus describes in Matthew chapter 5 has to do with humility, "blessed are the poor in spirit". Jesus describes Himself as being meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11), which is the essence of humility. There are too many Christians that are filled with pride and arrogance and conceit. This is not the will of God. And more importantly, it's not the character of God. When Jesus came to Jerusalem prior to His Crucifixion, He rode on a donkey as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to accentuate the Humility of His reign. He was born in a manger as a King, to demonstrate the humility of His Mission.

The last thing that gives God joy is the Suffering of His saints. It's rare that I hear sermons about Christians being called to suffer, but it is the Word of God (1Peter 2). Isaiah 53 says that it pleased the Father to bruise His Son. God the Father received joy out of the Crucifixion of His Son. Now, to us, that sounds perverted and twisted. But remember what the Father said, "His Ways are not our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts" (Isaiah 55). Whether we can comprehend it or not, that should not determine whether or not we receive it spiritually. If it's in the Word, then it's Truth!  Our challenge then is to accept it by faith and allow the Holy Spirit to breathe on our hearts so that we may be renewed in the spirit of our mind (Ephesians 4). We've got to stop restricting our spiritual growth to what we can "understand" cognitively. We walk by faith, not by rationale. 

I was talking to a Prophet of God not too long ago and that person had a discussion with God about the inordinate amount of suffering that the Prophet was personally experiencing. The Prophet shared with me that the Father responded to a prayer about the suffering by simply saying, "My Son suffered." But we're not called to suffer just for suffering's sake. We're called to suffer because it represents the joy of the Lord.