What are the benefits of the Joy of the Lord?

Message for the 10th of April 2015

Theme: Understanding the importance of the Joy of the Lord

Topic: What are the benefits of the Joy of the Lord?

Last week, we began this series by looking at what Joy is and we took the time to establish that it is also part of our entitlements in the covenant of grace. In explaining what Joy is, we also saw some of the characteristics of joy that distinguishes it from any other thing like happiness and natural zeal.

Today, we shall be looking at what we stand to benefit if we take advantage of this great grace of the joy of the Lord. Please understand that this great gift of God is meant for our good and part of the mystery keys of the kingdom of God that enables us to exercise dominion on earth until Jesus returns. No matter how much grace God makes available to you, your ability to take advantage of it is limited to your awareness and understanding of it. If for instance; you own money in the bank and are not aware of it, while the money will always be yours, you could remain in abject poverty if you are not aware of its existence and how to cash it. While looking at what joy is last week, we saw how it comes and from that we can gather that it is a gift of God and we can also generate it by staying with God until His word is revealed to us. John 15:11 and Isa.11:1-2.

The benefits of Joy

The word of God reveals the following benefits of joy among others to us:

1.     The joy of the Lord is what makes your service of God acceptable in the kingdom especially when all your service is done joyfully. For instance, for your offerings and tithes to be acceptable to God, you have to give them willingly and cheerfully because God loves a cheerful giver [2Cor.9:7]. In truth, any kind of service you render to God must be joyfully done otherwise it would not be acceptable to God and therefore not be rewarded. This is because in God’s kingdom, only acceptable service is rewarded [Heb.12:28]. When you do not render service to the Lord joyfully, you risk serving your enemies in sorrow; lack, want etc. see Deu.28:47-48.

2.     The joy of the Lord is a fruit of the recreated human spirit that proves your new birth status. With the joy of the Lord in you to the overflow, the enemy of our souls cannot mistake you for one of his own because this joy keeps him and his cohorts off you and yours just like fire keeps off wild beasts and prevents them from harming you. See 1Pet.1:8; Gal.5:22.

3.     The joy of the Lord empowers us to bear fruit because the absence of joy causes barrenness. In Joel 1:12, we are told that everything around us can dry up and wither away if joy is not present in our lives. This is quite serious as there is an unleashing of the spirit of depression on people these days due mainly to lack of fulfilment rooted in their refusal to embrace the great salvation provided for them by the Lord. See Heb.2:2-4. The antidote to a situation like this is first to get saved and then make a choice like the prophet Habakkuk to rejoice in spite of your circumstances. Hab.3:17-19.

When Israel did this in 2Chron.20:1-24, their enemies were smitten before them by God. All they had to do was to cart away the spoils from the war they did not fight.

4.     Helps us to bind the any kind of strong man no matter how long they had afflicted us and our loved ones: Without joy, we cannot render acceptable praise to the Lord. When we render praise that the Lord accepts, we can bind the strongman. Believe me, joyful praise is a sure means of binding the strongman; disarming him and spoiling his house – Luke 11:21-22; Ps.149:1-9.

5.     The joy of the Lord is the strength of the believer in all walks of life. Neh.8:10. Remember that last week; we established that joy is a gift of God and that he delivers this gift to us by the Holy Spirit in His manifestation as the Spirit of might[Isa.11:2]. This explains why the joy of the Lord is our strength. It provides us strength that enables us to deliver on the favour that God brings our way. For example, if you are favoured with a good job and lack the strength to accomplish it, the favor given to you would lose value and you may never have another chance at it again. So the spirit of might which presents in unspeakable joy provides the drive or momentum required to stay on the work until it is completed. This is what Joseph had going for him that made him become prime minister in Egypt and delivered on his job eventually with excellence. See Gen.41:38-44.

6.     Joy facilitates access to revelation: in Isa.12:3, the Holy Spirit reveals to us by the prophet that joy is the bucket with which we draw from the depths if revelation from God. It takes revelation knowledge for one to gain access to the top in life. This is why Apostle Paul who was so distinguished among his peers said in Gal.2:2 that he went up by revelation. See also Deu.29:29 and Prov.20:5. Understanding is only available to us by divine revelation which we receive on the platform of joy.

For want of time, we will stop here today. Next week, we shall continue this series by looking at helpers of our joy. Meanwhile, 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!