Nehemiah 8:10
AMP: Then [Ezra] told them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.
GNB: Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don’t have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don’t be sad. The joy that the LORD gives you will make you strong.
There was once a young boy who went to spend the week with his grandfather on the farm. While walking around he noticed the chickens, they were scratching and playing around. The little lad said, “They ain’t got it”. Next he saw a colt in the field playing and kicking up its heel’s to which he replied, “He ain’t got it”. After examining all of the animals on his grandfather’s farm and see that none of them had “it”, this boy finally found the old donkey in the barn. When he saw the donkey’s long, frowning face and the way that the donkey just stood there he screamed for his grandfather to come quick. “I found it, I found it” the boy kept yelling. When his grandfather asked what he had found he said, “Pawpaw, I found an animal that has the same kind of religion that you have.”
The attitude we have in church and in our daily lives has an effect on how people perceive us as Christians. If all they see is a long frowning face religion that does nothing what will they think of Christianity? I don’t see Jesus as some long faced; foot sliding, shoulder drooping, and slow talking depressed man. Why would crowed be attracted to that? I see Jesus as an enthusiastic, dynamic man full of joy and charisma. If the crowed were attracted to Jesus while He was here on this earth, then doesn’t it make sense that they would be attracted to a church that lifted Him up today?
Philippians 1:3
The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church at Philippi while chained to a Roman Soldier in a Roman prison. He had every right to be discouraged, angry, and upset about his circumstances. But instead he was filled with joy, because his attitude was based on his relationship with Jesus Christ.
(v. 3) an attitude of joy is an intentional decision followed by a process.
I’m not talking about happiness here, which speaks of, chance that is based on happenings. If my ducks are all in a row, if everything happens for my benefit.
Joy is inner delight derived from an intimate relationship with Christ.
Happiness is circumstantial joy is relational. No matter what the circumstances no matter what life brings my way, if I have this inner delight as a result of my relationship with Christ, joy will flood my soul. It’s the peace that surpasses all understanding. It’s confidence on steroids.
2 Corinthians 8:2
AMP: For in the midst of an ordeal of severe tribulation, their abundance of joy and their depth of poverty [together] have overflowed in wealth of lavish generosity on their part.
The secret was their relationship with God.
1 Chronicles 16:27
AMP: Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary.
GW: Splendor and majesty are in his presence. Strength and joy are where he is.
Psalms 4:7
AMP: You have put more joy and rejoicing in my heart than [they know] when their wheat and new wine have yielded abundantly.
GNB: But the joy that you have given me is more than they will ever have with all their grain and wine.
MSG: More joy in one ordinary day than they get in all their shopping sprees.
Psalms 16:11
AMP: You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
CEV: You have shown me the path to life, and you make me glad by being near to me. Sitting at your right side, I will always be joyful.
(Ephesians 2:6 and Ephesians 1:20 – 22)In Ephesians 2:6 the Bible say that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. In Ephesians 1:20 - 22 the Bible describes the place where Christ is seated. It states that God has raised Him up and sit Him on His right hand far above all principalities, all power, all kingdoms and every name that can be named and that God has placed everything under His feet. If I then realize that that is exactly where I am placed far above every name that can be named, then I understand that by sitting at His right side I will have joy forever more.
Psalms 21:6
AMP: For You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever; You make him exceedingly glad with the joy of Your presence.
BBE: For you have made him a blessing for ever: you have given him joy in the light of your face.
Psalms 43:4
AMP: Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy; yes, with the lyre will I praise You, O God, my God!
GNB: Then I will go to your altar, O God; you are the source of my happiness.
GW: Then let me go to the altar of God, to God my highest joy
Ecclesiastics 5:20
AMP: For he shall not much remember [seriously] the days of his life, because God [Himself] answers and corresponds to the joy of his heart [the tranquility of God is mirrored in him].
BBE: He will not give much thought to the days of his life; because God lets him be taken up with the joy of his heart.
CEV: God will keep you so happy that you won’t have time to worry about each day.
But prayer must be first response not a last resort. An intimate relationship with Christ is impossible without a consistent prayer habit. Prayer is our communication with God, and intimacy is based on communication. There is no such thing as an intimate relationship without communication. As we look to understand the joy that Paul experienced we must first realize that Paul was a man of prayer. Regardless of his circumstances Paul was consistent in his prayer life. For many of us prayer is a last resort only after everything else has failed to us in our time of need. To experience the Joy that God desires for our lives we must learn to be consistent with our spiritual disciplines.
Job 36:11
AMP: If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness and joy.
(v. 12) While stuck in prison he witnessed to the soldiers he was in daily contact with. “Advance the gospel” is a military term used by engineers who would prepare a road for an advancing army by removing obstructions such as rocks and trees. Paul viewed his imprisonment as the removal of barriers to the Gospel in Rome. Could God use the painful circumstances in your life for the advancement of the Gospel? That may seem impossible to you now but I’m sure Paul would have thought the same if someone would have told him we would be reading this letter 2000 years later on the other side of the world in a different language.
Isaiah 66:5
AMP: Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: Your brethren who hate you, who cast you out for My name’s sake, have said, Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy! But it is they who shall be put to shame.
BBE: Give ear to the word of the Lord, you who are in fear at his word: your countrymen, hating you, and driving you out because of my name, have said, Let the Lord’s glory be made clear, so that we may see your joy; but they will be put to shame.
GW: Listen to the word of the LORD, all who tremble at His word. Your relatives, who hate you and exclude you for my name’s sake, say, "Let the LORD show his glory; then we will see your joy." But they will be put to shame.
How to have a great attitude:
Make your life a thank you letter like the book of Philippians. A life that displays gratitude, are you grateful for your relationship with God, for the blessings with God? Do you live with a grateful heart? An attitude of gratitude is a sign of spiritual maturity. If you have a hard time complementing others, thanking others or thanking God you need to take a spiritual inventory.
Make your life a river. Swirling current in river is called an eddie. Everything God gives us, talent, money, time, health should flow. It should flow to God’s children, to God’s church, and it should flow to service. Sometimes we get caught in an eddie and we start going around and around and around, and we find ourselves making no spiritual progress. Then we get a bad attitude, we don’t appreciate God’s blessings, and we think it’s all about us. We forget that God is the source of it all.
Do you have an attitude of outrageous, contagious joy that only comes from God?
I like the story about 3 prospectors who found a rich vein of gold during the gold rush days. They realized what a great discovery they had, & decided, "We’ve a really good thing going here as long as no one else finds out about it." So they each took a vow to keep it secret.
Then they headed for town to file their claims & get the equipment necessary to mine the gold. True to their vows, they didn’t say a word to anybody. They filed their claim, bought the equipment, & headed back to their mine. But when they did, a crowd of people followed them.
And the reason was because the expression on their faces had given them away. Their faces were aglow in anticipation of the wealth that soon would be theirs. People knew that they must have found something very special. So a crowd followed them out of town.
John 15:11
AMP: I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.
John 16:22
AMP: So for the present you are also in sorrow (in distress and depressed); but I will see you again and [then] your hearts will rejoice, and no one can take from you your joy (gladness, delight).
Just before Jesus was crucified. Knew for a time they will not see Him but after His victory nobody will be able to take away their joy.
John 16:24
AMP: Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Now we can have fullness of joy.
Now we need to see and understand and grasp this.
Psalms 30:5
AMP: For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
This is a prophetic statement and is linked to John 16:22. Scripture need to be understood by Scripture. So this verse is also referring to the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is why it say that weeping is for a night but joy comes in the morning. It was in the morning that the disciples found the tomb empty.
Morning speaks about light that has come.
Isaiah 60:1
AMP: ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
Arise…… be radiant…… with glory because if God show His glory the people will see our joy.
Morning has broken. Your light has come. Joy comes in the morning.
Jeremiah 15:16
AMP: Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
BBE: But to me your word is a joy, making my heart glad; for I am named by your name, O Lord God of armies.
1 Peter 1:8
AMP: Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly) joy.
BBE: To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:
KJV: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory
