“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:9-12.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Today I want to talk with you about JOY. In Jesus there is joy. In fact JOY is having Jesus Over You. And My joy is your strength. And I give you My joy in Jesus. For to Us, saving you was our joy. Come rejoice with us and celebrate so great a salvation.
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2.
Fear is useless what is needed is trust and your life will be filled with joy. When you are in Christ, there is nothing to fear, for I have you covered and that is a joyful life of shalom peace. You are beloved, forgiven, blessed, and favored and that is the story of your life in Christ. There is cause for rejoicing here. In my presence is fullness of joy.
What is joy?
Joy is working from My rest. Joy is answered prayer. Joy is an open door that no one can shut.
Joy is love—being loved and giving love, having someone that truly loves you and desires your love, who brings out your gifts and your potential.
Joy is having a home, a place of safety, acceptance, peace and love where you can be at peace and find refreshment and renewal to return to the hustle of the market place.
Joy is confidence that you are in the right place at the right time–that you are right where you are supposed to be.
Joy is seeing your dreams come true.
Joy is being healthy and pain free.
The things I have just given you are not joy, but things that give joy. I will now tell you the root of joy, the source of joy, that produces all that fruit in your life. If you have this, you have the source.
Joy is a deep, intimate relationship of love with Me. Joy is abiding in Me.
I am Love. I am life. I am peace. I am sweetness. I am good. I am healing and health. I am the source of every good thing and every perfect gift. I am light and there is no darkness in Me.
All joy flows from a right relationship with Me. A relationship at your very core. An intimate bond between us joining us together. A marriage of our spirits– a union of love, intimate fellowship, and true knowledge of one another.
It comes from knowing you are righteous before Me with My own righteousness and that there is no barrier between us. It is knowing that I am for you and not against you– that I am your justifier and not your judge. That I am your glory and the lifter of your head. That I am your shield and very great reward.
If you think about it, your joy, a continuous joy in you, is the result of right relationships built on love and acceptance. If you are living in an abusive relationship at home or on your job you have no peace or joy. You live in fear and a constant state of turmoil and upheaval. Your life is a nightmare.
But living in an atmosphere of acceptance, love, encouragement, intimate union, and abundance produces peace and security. From that foundation, love, peace, contentment, trust, and joy grow and flow. And that is being in My Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
And how do you arrive at such a place of grace? How do you get and keep joy in your life? How, like David, are you able to sing that goodness and love pursue you all the days of your life and you dwell in My house forever (for length of days)?
I am your Shepherd, you shall not want.
At the Last Supper My Son revealed many truths about how to live a wonderful life and He shared with you that He had told you these things for one reason: so that His joy could be in you and your joy would be complete. John 15:11. Yes, to give you complete, full joy to overflowing so there is no room for anything else. Filled with a joy that no one can take from you. Bubbling over from the spring of the living water within leaping up to eternal life.
So how did He tell you to get this joy? By living your life in, through and with Him. You must remain, rest and abide in Him to have joy– an intimate union where His life flows into you.
He is the vine and you are the branches. Just as the branch receives its nourishment from the vine, so from your being in Christ, My life flows into you by My Spirit, My Grace.
Grace and truth are found in Jesus. He is the way to intimacy with Me. And the Holy Spirit, which Jesus received from Me and poured out on you, connects you to Me, to the Vine. Such a close union that you draw your life from Me and become a partaker of My very nature. And a natural result of being attached to the vine is that the branch produces fruit. And within the fruit of the Holy Spirit is joy. There is also love and peace.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23.
The fruit of the Spirit brings joy to the one in whom it is being produced and to those who are close to such person.
How do you abide in Jesus? Abide is to dwell, to homestead, to make your primary residence in Him. He tells you how: You will remain in Him if you keep My Word, if My Word remains in you, if you do My Word, if you live My Word, if My Word becomes the highest authority in your life. If My Word becomes the way you see things, think and act. If My Word becomes your word in your heart and in your mouth.
“I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” John 16:23-24.
My Words are spirit and life. Abide in Me means remain in My Word. Let My Ways be your ways. Let My Word be the way you view the circumstances in your life. Know that by My Son’s stripes you have been healed and do not give in to disease or pain. Come with confidence to Me in prayer and ask what you desire without a doubt, for it is already yours when you are in Christ. Walk in love. Walk in the light. Connect and expect.
You can walk in health and prosperity only if your soul is prospering. And it will only be able to prosper in love, which is truth for I am the one that is true and I am love. If you are in fear, you are not living in love, for love casts out fear. If you truly have come to know and believe in the love I have for you, then you will be fearless and have the victory that overcomes the world—which is your faith in My love for you.
And what did My Son give you as the basic steps to follow? Do not let your heart be troubled, do not let them be afraid. Pray without ceasing. Give constant thanks. Believe in Me and My Son. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Seeing My Son you see Me. Keep My Words and I will send you another Counselor, to be with you and in you always. I will not leave you orphans. Keep My Words if you love Me and I will make My abode with you and reveal Myself to you. My Spirit will teach you everything. Do not be afraid. And above all: love. Love one another as I have loved you.
Love heals. Babies that are unloved, unwanted and never held wither away and die. Babies who are wanted, held and loved thrive.
And what is the result of making My Word the authority in your life, your counselor and your guide? You will know the truth of how loved and forgiven you are and that will give you joy unspeakable and filled with glory. If you remain in Me, you can ask what you desire and it will be done for you. Your dreams will come true. I guide you to all truth, I teach you all things, I tell you of the things to come. You become fruitful and the more attached to the vine you are the more abundant will be your fruit. And being fruitful gives you joy.
By abiding in Me, you have love, you have a safe home, you have peace, you work from My rest, you will have the joy of seeing your prayers answered, you are strong in trials in the power of My might and are able to come out victorious, you have counsel of the things to come so you can act with wisdom, you are guided to all truth, and you know Me as I reveal Myself to you more each day that you live in Me by keeping My Word. I pour My love, My life into your heart by the Holy Spirit and I am filled with joy. Come share your Master’s joy!
So you see a right relationship with Me, abiding in My love in an intimate union of our spirits, the most intimate of all unions because it is at the deepest core of your being and is eternal, you have everything that I listed as giving you joy. So go to the source and have it all. A fountain of living water bubbling up within you that will never run dry. My Son came to give you life, life in abundance! You can have it now.
Just come to Me to possess that life. And you come through My Son who gave His life for you but who now lives forever making intercession for you.
I love you. I went to great lengths to save you and have you as My own. Abide in Me. Let Me see your face turned to Me, let Me hear your voice, for you are lovely and your voice to Me is sweet. The formula I gave Joshua and that you find in Psalm 1 still works. Meditate on My Word day and night and you will be like a tree planted with its roots in an underground spring whose leaves stay green and that bears fruit all year. And you will hear My voice and My Words to you are sweet.
Love is patient, love is kind, love does not have an angry mind, worry and fear it drives away, Love gives you joy all the day. Slow to anger, rich in grace, Love does not show an ugly face, malice and strife it drives away, Love gives you joy all the day. Love is trusting, love is sweet, Love does not envy or compete, waiver and doubt it drives away, Love gives you joy all the day. Love is gentle, love is pure, Love does not fade but will endure, sadness and pain it drives away, Love gives you joy all the day!