The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

Dear friends,
I pray that you are well in body, soul, and spirit. In meditating and praying this morning I was reminded of this sentence: The joy of the Lord is my strength. What does this mean to you? I can remember many years ago singing the little chorus whose only lines were this sentence. I had a pastor once who chided the congregation with "If you have the joy of the Lord, you need to tell your face!" It's sad, but true that many of the faces in the church do not radiate the joy of the Lord. Do people want what you've got or are they afraid they'll catch what you've got? If you'll indulge me this morning I would like to share a few thoughts on joy.

The Joy of the Lord is your Strength.

Let's analyze this sentence for a moment. I've found it helpful to diagram it like we used to in fifth and sixth grade. "The" is an article modifying "joy". "Joy" is the subject. It means to rejoice and be glad." "Of the Lord" is a prepositional phrase modifying "joy". It tells whose joy it is. It is the Lord's joy. "Is" is a linking verb and in this case equates "joy" with "strength" which is a predicate nominative. That means the subject, joy, is equivalent to strength. "Your" is a possessive pronoun used as an adjective telling whose strength. So let me simplify it by writing it this way: The Lord's joy equals or is my strength. Strength in the Hebrew means "fortified place". Think about that. His joy is my place of security, safety, and protection.

The psalmist writes ,In thy presence there is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." As I have said on a number of occasions that according to Paul that is our position. It may be that our condition doesn't always line up with our position, but it should increasingly do so. There is fullness of joy in His presence because the Lord is joyful. He is not up in heaven looking down with a fly swatter waiting for you to mess up. You are not a child of wrath; you are in Christ. If you are in Christ and Christ is joyful then how ought we to be?

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

If Jesus' joy remains in you your joy is full. If we walk in sadness then it might be that our joy tank is empty. So how do we get our joy tanks filled? We might ask another question, "How is your love life?" This may be an over simplification, but the key to your joy tank being full is abiding and walking in His love. Some of you can relate to this. Think back to when you fell in love. Were your steps a little lighter, the skies a little brighter and an overflow of joy in your heart. Could it be that what had happened in the Ephesian church in Revelation that they lost their joy. As the old song goes they lost "that loving feeling." They were faithful, they were still doing the stuff, but Jesus said they had left their first love. Had they lost that passion of young love? Were they operating with empty joy tanks?

God has not called us to sadness, but to joy. When the birth of Jesus was announced the angels heralded, "We bring you glad tidings of great joy!" The kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you look up the word wickedness in the Strong's you will find it is a very broad term and one of the definitions is actually prolonged sadness. There may be times when weeping endures for a night, but we are not to live there for extended periods of time.

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies...Deut. 28:47,48a

They were cursed because they did not serve the Lord with joy. In the new covenant we have been delivered from the curse, but we still give the enemy access if we do not appropriate His provision. I know myself that there have been times when I allowed the weight of ministry to bring me low, and it was in those times that I took my eyes off the lover of my soul and focused on the problem. There was a season in my life that I lapsed into the idolatry of worshipping at the altars of disappointment. If our joy tank is empty we lose our protection. There was a season when I was extremely sensitive to my immune system. When I was full of joy in the Holy Spirit, I felt I could have walked through a den of disease, breathed diseased air or drink contaminated water and nothing would jump on me, because the Lord's joy was my fortified place. There were other times when I was angry, frustrated, or depressed that I felt my body's immunity was at the same level my joy tank was and I could feel my susceptibility. The enemy knows when to pounce.

Abide in His love and His joy will remain in us and our joy will be full. The Lord's joy is your place of safety. He loves you, so much.
Blessings,
Herb Dean