Message for the 17th of April 2015
Theme: Understanding the importance of the Joy of the Lord
Topic: Helpers of our joy
Introduction: 2Cor.1:23-24:
“Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.”
Last week we were looking at the benefits of joy in this series and we established that the joy of the Lord is so valuable that each of us should desire to flow in it. In our text here, we saw Paul referring to himself and Timothy as helpers of the Joy of the Church at Corinth. This means there are people and things that can help our joy. Another aspect of the importance of joy we are going to be looking at in this series therefore is the helpers of our joy. What are the things about life that help us to become and remain joyful so that we can continue to experience the benefits that the Joy of the Lord brings? We will look at some of them today to provoke us to research more from the word of God to find more hidden treasures that would help us in our quest for walking in the joy of the Lord.
The following are some of the helpers of our joy:
The word of God: The word of God is the revelation of what God says or imparts to the heart of men by the Holy Spirit. They are either written down like the scriptures [2Tim.3:16, 2Pet.1:19-21] or spoken to us directly in our hearts either audibly – Jn.15:11 or by the inward witness – Romans 8:16. The result of this is that the joy of the Lord is released into our hearts to confirm that it is God who has spoken to us. When Jesus spoke to his disciples in John 15:11 about bearing fruits for the father, he brought this truth out clearly in relation to the connection between the joy of the Lord and bearing fruit in the kingdom of God. He said he spoke these words to them with the intention that His joy might remain in them and that their joy might be full. This makes the word of God a major helper of our joy because it not only gives you joy, it makes you full of joy.
Another helper of our joy is The Holy Spirit: He is not just a helper of our Joy for being God; He is the oil of Joy. In Isaiah 61:3, he is referred to as the oil of joy and has the capacity to destroy everything that causes a person to mourn. In other words, the Holy Spirit has the capacity in his ministry as to oil of joy to eliminate depression from the life of a person and replace it with divine strength. Like we saw last week, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Therefore, the oil of joy comes to strengthen us for the journey of faith and empowers us to take the journey to the end without weakening. In John 16:13, we are told that when the Spirit of truth is come, He shall guide us into all truth. When we are guided into all truth, we are guided into all the revelations of God. Therefore, we are guided into unspeakable joy because the truth revealed to us as we saw in the previous paragraph, causes the joy of the Lord to remain in us and makes us joyful.
Hope: This refers to the expectation of something good to come in the future. When we were looking at the definition of joy, we established that joy is the passion or emotion excited by the expectation of good. The expectation of good is hope. Where hope exists, joy is inevitable. This is why the bible tells us that the feet of those who bring us glad tidings are beautiful [Rm.10:15]. A major instrument that is used to convey hope is glad tidings. When that happens, people become joyful. For instance, in Acts 8:5-8; we are told that when Phillip took the gospel [or glad tidings or good news] to Samaria, the people received Christ and the result was that there was great joy in that City. Thus the preaching of Christ to the Samaritans helped them to come to a place of great joy. So if you want to be an instrument through which God would help people to rejoice, preach Christ to them.
Faith: Another helper of our joy is faith. Faith is acting on the expectation of the good resulting from the promise of God revealed to you. This is why Apostle Paul said in 2Cor.7:4 that they were joyful in all their tribulations. They were acting in faith on the word that the Lord Jesus Christ taught them in Matthew 5:11-12 where is said that they should consider themselves blessed when men shall persecute and revile them and even say all manner of evil things against them for his sake. He further said that they should rejoice and be glad in these circumstances for great is their reward in heaven. Thus every time our faith is tried through persecution, is a time of opportunity to rejoice. When we take advantage of this, it would help our joy.
People: People help our joy in various ways. As we saw in the previous paragraph, they can help our joy by persecuting us if we would maintain the right attitude in trials. On the other hand, they can help our joy by influencing us to be joyful through what they say to us and how they treat us. In John 15:11, the Lord told the disciples some things to cause His joy to remain in them and cause them to be joyful. There are some people who share the revelations of the word of God with you in such a way as to trigger joy in your heart in unimaginable ways. Remember that one of the main instruments God uses to bring us joy is revealed knowledge and he can convey this knowledge through human vessels. This is why Apostle Paul and Timothy referred to themselves as the helpers of the joy of the Church at Corinth. See 2Cor.1:1, 23-24.
We will stop here for today believing God for grace to be given to each of us by God to seek Him for more helpers of our joy from His word. Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.
If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall be saved:
Heavenly Father,
Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen.
Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email: jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.
Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!
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