FULLNESS OF JOY AND STRENGTH

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. DO NOT SORROW, for the JOY of the LORD is your STRENGTH – Nehemiah 8:10

Welcome to JULY – our Month of the Fullness of JOY and STRENGTH. This is God’s promise, portion, and command to us this month: “DO NOT SORROW, for the JOY of the LORD is your STRENGTH” (Neh.8:10b). I don’t know about you, but I can speak for myself and my household, that the Lord has kept us alive, well, and flourishing in His Fullness all through the first half of this year of ‘Flourishing in God’s Fullness’!  We began in January with the Fullness of God; in February, Flourishing in His Fullness; in March, we received the Fullness of Mercy, Grace, and Favour; in April, we flowed in the Fullness of the Word, Spirit, and Life;  in May, we encountered the Fullness of Power, Miracles, and Wonders; while in June we enjoyed the Fullness of His Blessings!

What more could we have asked for? Our heavenly Father has been filling our lives with His goodness and our hearts with His Joy. Now, the God of superabundant grace wants us to experience and enjoy the Fullness of Joy and Strength! What was the context of the Nehemiah 8:10 command? A revival was brewing. Ezra and some scribes read God’s Word to His people from dawn until noon, and they responded by weeping in repentance having realized how terribly they had disappointed the Lord. They shed tears of repentance on the Day of Atonement – a day for fasting and repentance (Lev. 23:27-32). Then, Nehemiah, Ezra, and the other leaders encouraged the people not to mourn or weep on this day, but to rejoice and enjoy the feast, saying: “The joy of the Lord is your strength” and so the people rejoiced greatly (Neh. 8:10-12). Our Father-God is speaking similar words into our lives today.

Notice that the Joy of the Lord was available to His people as they gathered before Him in genuine repentance, passionate for righteousness, thirst for holiness, and ready for revival. That was the context in which Nehemiah encouraged the people to rejoice in the God’s Joy and partake in His Strength. His Joy thrives in the atmosphere of holiness, but is far from the arena of sin and iniquity.  

The Joy of the Lord is a supernatural substance; it is a spiritual reality, not a mere emotional feeling. This Joy is irrepressible, unquantifiable, and inexhaustible. This is what Peter describes as “Joy Unspeakable and full of Glory” (1Pet.1:8). The Joy of the LORD is the impetus and surety of STRENGTH. Encountering and experiencing His Joy yields Strength in all its dimensions: spiritual, mental, and physical. In the absence of Joy, strength is wanting. That’s why the devil will prefer that we wallow in sorrow and be steeped in pessimism and depression. The thief comes to steal joy, kill peace, and erode righteousness (Jh.10:10a). But Christ has come to ensure that His Joy abides in us and that our joy is full:  “These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (Jh.15:11). If Satan is able to steal a Christian’s joy, then, it becomes easy to sap his or her strength as well. The Joy of the Lord will strengthen you through tough and trying times, and usher you into Total Triumph!

The Joy of the Lord is your source of strength against condemnation by the adversary. His Joy enables you to receive forgiveness from all sin and iniquity and to stand before God with a conscience free of guilt (Rom.8:1). His Joy shields and strengthens you against the assaults of the accuser (Rev.12:10). However tough your situation or challenging your circumstances might be; whatever the storms or tides you may be wading through, the Lord is assuring you by the authority in His Word: You shall not sorrow! You shall not weep! You shall not wallow in regrets. Rather, you shall rejoice, for the Joy of the LORD is your Strength.