As a young child, I remember singing a song in Kid’s Church many years ago. The song was “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.”

Suffice it to say, the enemy of my soul has used life issues and life circumstances to try and steal my joy, to rob me of something God has given to me. Something He has promised was mine. Yet, in truth, the enemy can only rob or steal my joy if I allow him to “steal, kill and destroy”(John10:10) because Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life and that more abundantly”.

Isaiah 9:1-7 is a prophetic statement about the coming “Messiah” that we know and believe to be Jesus the Christ.

Isaiah 9:3 “You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; They rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.”

Verse 2 talks of a people who walked in darkness but a light came and brought revelation, truth and joy.

God has multiplied the nation and increased its joy…..the word nation here refers to a nation other than Israel….one that was at the back. One that was not at the forefront of relationship with God but was brought to the forefront by this gift from God. In this prophetic verse this nation (gentiles) will see the light…those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, have a light shined on them.

This prophecy says they rejoice before the Lord like the joy of a harvest successfully brought in from the fields. In many cultures there is great celebration after the harvest is brought in because it means survival for another year or two.

The birth of the Messiah would mean the survival of a people who had no hope, no peace, no joy. A joy as if a great battle was fought and a victory of all victories was won. The battle over sin, the defeat of the enemy of our soul.

This is why we can know and have joy amid all of life’s up and downs. This is why “the joy of the Lord is our strength”. Because of this great gift given by God, we can know Him, walk with Him, talk with Him and live in His abounding fullness of Joy.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift you have given. The gift of love, joy and peace in you.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” ‭‭Philippians 4:4‬‬

There have been many days in my life where I have had to hear something over and over again in order. I have heard it said that the average person must hear something seven times before a person can “remember “a particular thought or concept. I know for myself, hearing something once is probably not going to work.

Not because I am slow or unable to comprehend, mostly because of distractions or lack of focus. It is as if we as a society have lost the ability to hear and perceive.

I think the writer of Philippians was trying to overcome this issue in this scripture.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

‭‭Philippians ‭4:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬

It was almost as if he was saying “listen people, this is important!” While I believe the entire Bible is important, the message in this one verse speaks volumes.

Rejoice in the Lord always! Wow that is powerful. Yes, even when you don’t feel like it or especially when you don’t feel like it. Especially when everything is going wrong. That is when it is most important. That is when rejoicing is most powerful, yes powerful because when you rejoice in the Lord, you are releasing the joy of the Lord that is within you and we know that the “Joy of the Lord is your strength”. When we release that joy from within powerful things happen.

Rejoice in the Lord always! And again I will say rejoice!”

Whatever you are facing, whatever you are going through.

Rejoice in the Lord! Not in your circumstances good or bad but in the Lord!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for this joy that I have. I will rejoice in you. In Jesus name. Amen.