the joy of the Lord

“…the joy of the Lord is our strength…” nehemiah 8:10
“…and she laughs at the time to come…” proverbs 31:25
“consider it pure joy, my brethren, whenever you encounter various trials…” james 1:2
“…in your presence there is fullness of joy…” psalm 16:11

the joy OF the Lord is our strength. not the joy about the Lord. the joy OF the Lord is our strength. i think i have believed that i just needed to have joy about the Lord what He is doing and maybe that is part of it but it is His joy found in His presence. we seek Him and His presence = joy = strength. basic math.

as i listen to teaching on joy and laughter this weekend my heart was totally shaken. nehemiah 8 tells of Ezra reading the law to the people. their immediate response is don’t mourn! go eat, drink and share! he then tells them two more times to not grieve. their automatic response to the gospel was grieving. his response was do not grieve, the joy of the Lord is your strength.

joy is laughter. it is dancing. it is peace. it different for everyone i assume in His presence we find it and it is our strength to laugh at the time to come. it is our strength to laugh at our trials knowing that He is growing endurance and faith.

“i don’t feel like laughing”…good thing it isn’t about feelings. sometimes i don’t feel like the truth is real but it doesn’t make it less real. tonight i experienced a new level of freedom. a new joy in the gift of laughter God has given me. it is my strength. it isn’t faking it. it isn’t masking pain. it is crushing satan and his attempts to steal, kill and destroy!

i’m ready for breakthrough. i am ready to laugh over foreclosures. i am ready to laugh over loss. i am ready to laugh over sickness and watch it be healed and fixed and restored!