His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:21.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
If you ask someone what they want in life, you will find what most people want is to be happy. To have a life filled with joy. And that is primarily what people are seeking in the choices they make and the people they choose as friends.
Are you happy? If not, you will be happy to know that it is your inheritance, and you can have it now.
You have put happiness in my heart, more than when grain and new wine abound. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety. Psalm 4:7-8.
My joy is your strength, your place of protection.
Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10.
My joy is your strength. And the word translated as “strength” was first written in the Hebrew word “maoz (מָעוֹז),” which means a place or means of safety, protection, a stronghold, a fortress. Joy is a protective shield and a strong fortress against grief, depression, sorrow, pain, illness, hopelessness, and confusion.
I will say to the LORD “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. Psalm 91:2-3.
Joy is the wellspring in your soul that can get you through any storm. For Jesus is your shepherd and He leads you to the living waters of the Spirit where I wipe every tear from your eyes.
For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7:17.
He calls you out of darkness to lead you into light. From captivity to freedom. From sadness to fullness of joy.
But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:2-4.
He leads from a life lacking joy to a life full of joy and gladness.
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. John 10:9-11.
A place of rejoicing. The abundance of My house now and forever.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:4-6.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. Psalm 36:7-9.
Jesus told you how His joy comes into your soul to lift it above every storm in life, it is by hearing the Word He is saying to you from Me that calls you out of darkness into My marvelous light, the light of My love.
These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. John 14:11.
It is the Word that raises you out of the tomb of darkness to untie you and let you go free.
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:38-44.
For He knows how to speak My Word of comfort and encouragement to you, just when you need it to rise above the storm that is raging in your mind to rob you of your joy and of your peace.
The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. Isaiah 50:4.
You only come out of depression and fear with joy and you are led into a place of abundance by peace.
“For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12.
Life is wonderful when you are filled with joy, but a depressed spirit dries up the bones. Good news invigorates the bones. A joyful person is an energetic person. A joyful person is an excited person–a person that looks forward to the future. A person who has hope–a confident expectation of good. A person who knows their inheritance in Christ.
Well, if you need joy in order to be strong, and since I command you to rejoice with no exceptions, you know I will tell you how to do this.
You see joy is not automatic, though it may be at times, but a continuous joy is not. It is a choice. It is a lifestyle. It is a mode of thinking and of operating. But first let Me explain the basic foundation of a life filled with and sustained by joy.
Where do you find joy? In My Word I tell you that you find fullness of joy in My Presence, the delights at My right hand forever. You will never know true joy—complete, full joy– until you are aware of My loving, protecting, sweet presence. And the good news is, you can be in My presence twenty-four hours a day seven days a week for all of your life and then through all of eternity. I will NEVER leave you or forsake you. I am with you always.
Joy comes from love. Receiving and giving love. And I am the source of love, and I am Love itself. Anything apart from Me is the absence of love, which is the opposite of love, which is hate. That is why in My Presence you find fullness of joy. It is because there is fullness of love. Love without limits is My Covenant with you. Love is in your past, present, and future when you are in Me for I AM, I was and I am to come.
I am also light. There is no darkness in Me. And I sent Jesus to be your light—He is the Light of the world. No follower of His will ever walk in darkness but will have the light of life. In the night weeping comes, but joy comes in the morning. Light brings joy. Always being in a darkened room is prison.
Draw close to Me and I will draw close to you and surround you with love and light.
Stay in My presence. I am your hiding place and I surround you with joyful songs of victory.
And what is My presence? It is the manifestation of My glory in your life, in your heart. And in the Gospels, you will see that the people gave Me glory whenever healing or provision took place. When they saw the manifestation of My goodness in their midst.
And that is the anointing. I anointed My Son with the Holy Spirit and power and He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil. He transfers you out of the realm of darkness into My marvelous light.
And I anointed Him with the oil of joy above His fellows. And He is your High Priest so His anointing runs down on you—from the head to the body.
The anointing—My love poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit. And love brings everything good with it. And I can give you this gift when you open your heart to My Son as your Lord and Savior and your spirit is born again.
The Israelites saw My glory in a cloud and a pillar of fire that led them through the desert and shielded them from all their enemies and from the dangers of the desert. It was My Presence dwelling with them. And they did not want to take a move without Me there. Then it was not like now though, I dwelt among them but not in them. Now My Spirit can dwell in every born again believer. So you are much closer to Me than they were. We are one in spirit now. And by My Spirit in you, you access the Kingdom within, but it is vast with no limits.
And how can you have this joy? True joy requires three factors: faith, hope and love. Faith, hope and love produce JOY! In order to have joy you need to know that you have a good future filled with what you hope for. You need to know you are loved and accepted. You need to know Me and that My promises are for you and are sure in Christ Jesus. And you need to be expecting Me to fill your life with good things. And the good news is that I have promised you that I will and these benefits are already yours in Christ Jesus. Psalm 103:3-5. I have bestowed everything you need for life and godliness and blessed you in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.
There is cause for rejoicing here when you know what is yours already in Christ Jesus. Come with confidence to My throne and receive mercy and grace just when you need them. With Jesus as your Shepherd there is NOTHING you shall lack. The righteous want for no good thing, and you qualify as righteous in Him.
And when you have faith, hope and love, your life will become a tabernacle of praise where I dwell. And you will be joyful in My house of prayer and you see whatever you ask for coming to pass, for if you ask anything in accordance with My Word I hear you and when I hear you, you know that what you have asked for is yours. My Son told you that if you remain in My Word and it remains in you, that you can ask what you want and it will be done for you. I delight in doing good to you and to others in answer to your prayers.
Complete joy comes from keeping My Word, for My Words are sweeter than honey dripping from the comb and they give wisdom to the simple, and keeping My Word leads you to losing your selfishness in loving and serving others. Through dying to yourself so that you are no longer trapped in thinking only of yourself and your emotions and what you can get for yourself out of life. It is living on a higher plane where you find yourself by losing your selfish pride, offense, fear, and bitterness. Perfect love casts out all fear.
And why do I tell you that I have told you My Words? So that you can share My joy and your own joy will be complete. John 15:11. This is the whole reason for the Bible– for your joy in knowing how truly precious you are to Me and how I love you beyond what you can ask or imagine. In My Word you come to know who you really are— My beloved—My own special people whom I planned from all eternity as My family.
Happy the one who understands and keeps My Words. They have the Light of Life. Their joy is not shaken by circumstances for they know a higher law by faith.
And the final determination of whether you stay in joy is yours. To stay in joy is a choice. To rejoice requires you to control your thoughts and words, to put down fear and doubt. Expect the best and deal with the rest by faith.
Rejoice because you have the greater one in you. Whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven and whatever you bind is bound. Matthew 18:18. Bind and shut down the devil in Jesus’ Name whenever he gets active and do not let it move you out of your joy.
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22. So the more you live and walk in the Spirit, the more joy you will have in you. That is why My servant Paul under the inspiration of My Spirit writes that you should sing and pray in the Spirit. Ephesians 5:29; Colossians 3:16. It is the reason he tells you that you should all pray in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:5. This builds up your spirit so that more fruit will be produced in you. 1 Corinthians 14:4. The anointing destroys yokes and removes burdens.
Whenever you find yourself slipping into anxiety, fear, depression or hopelessness, you must get back in joy, for it is your strength. My Kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So first you must get in My presence as quickly as possible and you do this by thanksgiving, praise and worship, try singing in the spirit and giving a joyful shout! And once you are in My presence there is fullness of joy that you can reach out and take. Then you must speak My Word to encourage yourself. Prophesy good things over your life by quoting My Word about you. Build yourself up in faith by speaking and hearing what good plans I have prepared for you to walk in. Jeremiah 33:3; Ephesians 2:10. And rebuke and bind the depression, the fear, the pain.
But I will tell you the true secret of how to be joyful. Be thankful. When you feel darkness, depression, fear or anxiety manifesting in your soul, turn away and begin to thank Me for the privilege of being alive, of touching holy things such as My Word and the Bread of Life in the Communion meal, thank Me that you know of Jesus—the one the prophets foretold and longed to know, thank Me for the sky, the sun, and the trees, thank Me for the food you have to eat, thank Me for loving you and sending My Son to take all your sins upon Himself so that there is no condemnation for you and you can live free of guilt and shame, and you can find many other things to be thankful for once you begin to enter the gates of My Kingdom that way.
And as you do this My glory will manifest more and more, and you will be aware of My presence. For where My Spirit is there is freedom. And as you contemplate the My glory, you are transformed into My image with ever-increasing glory. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. And I am filled with joy.
Come share your Master’s joy, good and faithful servant.
But I no longer call you a servant, now you who are in Christ Jesus, I call you My child, My beloved and My friend.
And I tell My secrets to My friends.
I love you. Rejoice!