Protect Your JJ
My mission, my assignment, my goal is to let Jesus shine brighter than ever before in and through me and my team this postseason. The only shot I have at succeeding in the quest is to protect the Joy of the Lord in me and my team. My Jesus Joy! My JJ!
Satan knows if he can steal the joy in us, then he has taken our strength. Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the Joy set before Him, Jesus endured the Cross.” If Jesus used Joy to overcome the cross, then why would we try to conquer anything without it! This ultimate joy was the redemption of our sins, allowing us to become children of God.
Nehemiah nailed it when he told his team, “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). He was encouraging them in the battle to find deep, lasting inner strength through a relationship with God, rather than relying on fleeting emotions or circumstances. God’s presence, love, and victory will provide you supernatural endurance and confidence, allowing for joy even during times of struggle!
In John 15:11 Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full”.
Don’t let Satan take your Joy today! Hold on to it through the struggle and pain! It will carry you to Victory in Christ Jesus!
Jesus Joy is not normal! It is different. It is a supernatural gift from God! Find time daily to read the first chapter of Hebrews. It quotes Psalms 45:7. Here is just a taste, “1 The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, the exact expression of God’s true nature—his mirror image! He holds the universe together and expands it by the mighty power of his spoken word. He accomplished for us the complete cleansing of sins, and then took his seat on the highest throne at the right hand of the majestic One. For you have cherished righteousness and detested lawlessness. 9 For this reason, God, your God, has anointed you and poured out the oil of bliss on you more than on any of your friends.”” Hebrews 1:3, 9 TPT
Bliss is defined as “Perfect Happiness” or “Great and Supreme Joy”. God anointed Jesus with a supernatural joy, that same Joy in and through Christ is available to you to rule supreme! In the Greek it reads “Elaion agalliaseōs”: “Oil of gladness” or “joy.” Anointing symbolises commissioning and high honor/joy. In Matthew 18:13, Jesus is the shepherd who “rejoices” at finding one lost and straying sheep.
In Acts 2, Peter points out the gladness of Christ. “This is the very thing David prophesied about him: ‘I continually see the Lord in front of me. He’s at my right hand, and I am never shaken. No wonder my heart is glad and my glory celebrates! My mouth is filled with his praises, and I have hope that my body will live because you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor will you allow your sacred one to experience decay. For you have revealed to me the pathways to life, and seeing your face fills me with euphoria!’” Acts 2:25-28 TPT
This Greek word “euphrosune” occurs only here and in Acts 14:17. It is the spirit of joy, an ecstasy that comes from God. The Aramaic is “You will fill me, O Sweetness, with your presence.” Oozing joy is what it means to be a Christian!
John Piper says, “Jesus Christ is the happiest being in the universe. His gladness is greater than all the angelic gladness of heaven. He mirrors perfectly the infinite, holy, indomitable mirth of his Father…
We are being re-created to reflect the character of Christ, and Christ was joyful.
When his joy is in us, that is when we are the most joyful. Our union to the joyful Vine is vital in order to bear that same fruit in our lives (John 15:4). Not only was Jesus happy, but he was the happiest man who ever lived. Again, Piper says that Jesus “is, and always will be, indestructibly happy.”
We are not talking worldly happy, we are talking a whole nother level of Joy! He is the very incarnation of joy!
Luke 10:20 explains, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”Rejoice that God has a good plan and that you are a part of it, Jesus is saying. In the very next verse, we read: “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.’”
This is godly gladness through and through: the Holy Spirit fills Jesus with such joy at the divine work and will that it can only be properly expressed in praise and thanksgiving to the almighty Father.
This is what should come to mind when we think of the joy promised to us in the fruit of the Spirit. We should want that which is produced by the Spirit and finds its source in the unchangeable and perfect plans of God, not the unstable pleasurable circumstances of life or the fleeting successes of self.
When the source of our joy is the perfect and permanent plan of God, our joy will be permanent, too. This is the only thing that can make sense of the numerous New Testament commands for Christians to be joyful, an instruction that is seemingly easier said than done when you consider how hard life can be. James encourages us in James 1:2 to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds”.
The world which finds its source of joy in circumstances cannot make any sense of this teaching. As Christians we struggle with it, too. How can James possibly expect us to be joyful even when we are going through trials and difficulties? An understanding of what God’s will is during those trials is the only answer. We know that God uses trials to make us more Christ-like, more dependent on him in all things. Trials make us better people, really—“perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (verse 3). For the unbeliever, the fiery trial is nothing other than a precursor to the hellish fires of eternity, and quite understandably would suck the happiness out of the soul. But for the believer, the fiery trial is preparing us for heaven, and therefore does not consume us or our joy.
Nothing can overwhelm a joy that is rooted in God
Kingdoms tend to take on the characteristics of their king. Christ is the King reigning in heaven! As he is the King of joy, so too heaven will be the land of joy. The character of Christ will radiate through his kingdom and benefit and bless all who dwell there: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”. Revelations 21:4
In Deuteronomy 33:29, Moses said the very same to Israel: “Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD?”
‘It is finished!’” Are there any happier words in the universe? What can shake the joy of the one who receives these words in faith?
The Gospel, the Good News, which translates the Koine Greek word “EUANGELION”. In the ancient Greek world, euangelion was a secular term, often with military connotations, used to describe the “good news” of a decisive battle victory brought by a messenger, called an Evangelist!
If a city heard an enemy city was coming to attack and kill, steal, and destroy their city, the city would choose one champion to fight the champion of attacking enemies to avoid loss of lives. They would send the Champion and a force to meet the incoming enemy.
If their champion won, then they would choose the fastest warrior to run back to the city to share the Good News “Gospel” to the city that was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Evangelist. (Romans 10). When he crest the top of the hill approaching the city, if their Champion won the battle and saved them, then The evangelist would shout the Good News saying “It is finished” or “tetelestai”! The enemy has been defeated, so instead of death, we get Life! When Jesus, for the Joy set before Him, overcame the cross. When Jesus shouted out “TETELESTAI”! He was shouting a war cry! What Jesus was saying is found in Colossians 2, Enemy defeated! Your Champion has Won! Life to all who answer my call! Game Over!