“Don’t let him steal your joy,” I heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart.
Joy, one of God’s beautiful blessings, is a fruit of His Spirit who lives in His followers. The joy of the Lord is not conditional on the world around us and on our life’s circumstances. Jesus’ followers have access to joy 24-7 through the Lord.
But just as the Lord was warning me not to do, we can allow our joy to be stolen. The devil in his mission to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) uses temptations, attacks, deception, lies, etc. to try to wreck our relationship with the Lord, to get our focus off Jesus, to get us off track, to get us out of God’s will, to get us into sin, to get us focused on self not Jesus, to get us bogged down in worry, anxiety, fear, anger, hatred, vengeance, bitterness, hurt, etc., and to essentially steal from us the love, hope, peace, light, grace, mercy, forgiveness, strength, wisdom we are promised in the Lord.
What should we do? Love the Lord with all our hearts, live in obedience to Him, keep our thoughts, mouths, and actions pure for Him, resist the devil, guard our hearts, take all thoughts captive, keep our focus on the Lord and the Bible and return our focus to Him when we have lost our focus, repent when we need to repent, and, above all else, learn to abide in Him.
Abide? Believe in Him, trust in Him, rest in Him, look to Him, pray to Him, seek Him, fellowship with Him, read the Bible and live by it, put our hope in Him, put our confidence in Him, put our expectation in Him, meditate on Him and on the Bible, praise Him, honor Him, rejoice in Him, worship Him, serve Him, glorify Him, commune with Him, cry out to Him, listen to Him, spend time with Him, find peace in Him, find comfort in Him, follow Him, and experience and enjoy JOY in Him. Hallelujah!
Far too often I have allowed the devil to steal my joy. I’m tired of giving up this beautiful blessing that belongs to me in Christ. I resolve to do a much better job of abiding in Christ and enjoying the joy of Christ, AMEN!
How about you?
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 NKJV
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:7-10 NKJV
“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23 NKJV