Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” John 16:19-22.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows. Psalm 45:7.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
You are the triumphant church, not defeated but triumphant. I have given you the victory in Christ Jesus. You have the victory over sin and death. You who believe should be celebrating, not complaining. You who believe should have a joy no one can take from you. If you really believe in the resurrection of My Son and that all My promises are “yes” to you in Him no matter what your past was like, then you cannot help but be filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. Never pray from the defeat side! Always pray from the victory side. There is nothing but joy in Heaven. Heaven’s affairs operate in an atmosphere of joy. The place of victory is a place of joy. If you know you have the victory before you enter the battle, you go in singing, shouting and praising. Just ask Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. 2 Chronicles 20.
If you don’t have joy you really do not have faith for believing and receiving My promises should be giving you joy. Jesus told you, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:11. My Words, if you believe them, give you pure joy for they promise good to you, a future and a hope. In My Word the law is healing, provision, joy, and shalom. If you are believing contrary to these, you are living against My laws, which is lawlessness, which is sin. When the children of Israel cried and complained all night that they would be defeated when I had promised them victory, I called it evil and disobedient. It was sin. Lawlessness. I had promised them the good land flowing with milk and honey and promised to drive out all enemies before them, but instead of rejoicing, they mourned and grieved that that this would not happen because it looked impossible to them. And you know, they never obtained the promise. But for those two, Joshua and Caleb, that believed Me and rejoiced that the land was theirs and that with Me they were well able to take it, they conquered the land and obtained all My promises. I did great things for them and they were glad.
The fight of faith takes you from believing to rejoicing. The Holy Spirit will always be guiding you to joy, even at the most unusual times. Your joy is a demonstration of your faith. Believing, you have joy. Celebration is a demonstration that you are expecting something good is happening right now and something good will come out of where you are. Rejoice in My Word as in finding a great treasure. Take My Word and mix faith with it and the power of joy is released. Celebration is a demonstration of your expectation. If you are expecting great things, you will have great joy. If you are expecting nothing but trouble and toil, you will not rejoice.
The first half of joy is to believe. Once you know the power of the Blood and get a righteousness conscience, oppression will be far from you. As My prophet Isaiah wrote for you who would believe in Christ, “In righteousness you will be established; you will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you.” Isaiah 54:14. I made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for you so that in Him you become righteous with My own righteousness.
Even if you don’t see it in the circumstances of the moment—it may be that you are in the bottom of the pit and don’t feel you could go much lower—if you put on the mantle of praise, the spirit of heaviness will go, and the chains will shake loose. “Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem; loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” Isaiah 52:2. The anointing destroys the yoke and removes the chains and it comes with rejoicing, the oil of joy, and it will set you free from captivity. Consider Paul and Silas beaten and in prison, it certainly looked like defeat, what did they do? Bemoan and complain? Accuse My Word of not working? No. They knew the power of the Word and it made them rejoice! “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.” Acts 16:25-16.
The anointing gives freedom and joy. Jesus proclaimed that I had anointed Him to preach good news, heal and give joy—to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion (you who believe gather together as assemblies of Zion, the mountain of grace), giving them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting (weakness, listlessness, depression), so they will be called oaks of righteousness (established in My righteousness which I give you in Christ), the planting of the LORD (planted in My courts for the Kingdom is within you), that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3. And what is it you must do for all this to happen? My prophet Isaiah goes on to tell you what your response to the good news of your salvation should be, “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation (baptized in Christ, you are clothed in Christ, Galatians 3:27), He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord LORD (Adonai YHWH) will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” Isaiah 61:10-11.
The fight of faith is not just about today, it is for your future. A future filled with good things in the land of the living. Lift up your eyes to where you are seated with Christ at My right hand and rejoice from the victory side.
My apostle Peter wrote for you, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9.
The simplest definition of faith is to act like My Words, My promises, that you find in the Bible, are true. Faith is a force, faith is the victory that overcomes the world, but faith involves action. You act like My Word is true. And believing you rejoice because you know My Word, such as healing, provision, renewal of youth, is true and will come to pass if you declare it and rejoice that it is yours, even before you see it manifest. And once you experience victory after victory, it will be hard to rob you of joy. And you will be strong, for My joy is your strength.
Believe Me, rejoice in your victory, and do not be silent. Say it, pray it, and sing it and dance it. You cannot receive the fullness of blessing without rejoicing. It is called worshipping in Spirit and in truth. For when you know the good things I have planned for you—a life of good deeds I prepared for you in advance in Christ Jesus, a call to partnership with Jesus Christ, a life beyond all you can ask or imagine by the power that works within you, a call to share My eternal glory and reign with Me forever—you cannot but be filled with joy. And what is that power working within you? The power of the Holy Spirit and if you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will be filled with joy, so much joy that people will think you are drunk with new wine. Remember Pentecost?
I love you. I am able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than you can ask or imagine—you cannot dream too big or reach too high for My Kingdom affairs in the earth, you can never go beyond what I have. I give the Spirit without measure to those who believe, speak and act on My Words. You set the measure, and you can never out measure the treasure that is in Me. Reach higher and you do it in faith and faith is joyful. You cannot be sad when you know what is in store for you. When you have the victory and more than you can ask or dream, how can you be sad? It is all yours in Christ Jesus. Why are you sitting in the ashes of defeat when you are really on the throne of victory? I took you out of the dung hill and seated you with royalty. Jesus has made you a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart. Did you miss the good news? Time you heard it, read it, said it, sang it and danced it. I turn your mourning into dancing, but you have to move your feet. I sit on My throne and laugh at My enemies, why don’t you join Me instead of cowering in fear each time Satan sends an accusation your way? Do yourself a favor, release your faith in joyful celebration and let Me show you favor.