He models to us that life isn't perfect and that there are going to be days filled with stress and anxiety but he also shows us that joy can be found if you make the right choices and place your dependency on God.
If you've lost your joy - look at this passage and let it guide you back to the place of being filled with God's great joy today:
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11 ESV)
WHAT IS JOY? The Old Testament word for joy speaks of gladness, dancing, leaping or spinning around in pleasure/intense motion. So it’s not just a deep feeling of joy deep down on the inside – it’s going to come out! But some of you would say, “Well, that’s a little bit too radical for me - Leaping? Twirling? That’s not very dignified!” That’s the idea! Who said anything about joy being dignified? Now what is joy? Joy in the New Testament speaks of a celebration.
How can we experience the joy of the Lord in our lives? The three things this Scripture tells us we need to do are: (1) Pick the pathway of life, (2) Pursue the presence of joy, and (3) Participate in rivers of pleasure!
1. PICK THE PATHWAY OF LIFE:
“You make known to me the path of life…” (Psalm 16:11).
What is the pathway of LIFE? Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).
The thing that we need to understand as we’re living life here on Planet Earth is that we have an enemy, the enemy of our souls, who wants to steal, kill and destroy in our lives, but Jesus has come so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. If you read through the Scriptures and do a study on the topic of joy, every time you see it, it is accompanied with adjectives – great joy, exceeding joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory. It’s fullness of joy that God wants us to have! But in order to experience the joy, we must pick the pathway of life. Now what is the pathway of life?
God said, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments…I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life.” (Deut. 30:15-19).
What does it mean to choose life, and pick the pathway of life? It means to choose the Bible, to live our lives according to the Word of God.
Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11).
There are two main ways that the devil tries to steal our joy from us.
The first way the devil tries to steal our joy from us is through sin. When we choose to disobey God and His commandments, we lose our joy.
In Psalm 32:3-4, David said, “When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.”
Because of the unconfessed sin in his life, he lost his joy. But look what happened when he came to his senses in verse 5...
“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.”
After David confesses his sin, his joy returned! “So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!”
The second way the devil tries to steal our joy from us is through unresolved conflict.
The Bible says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:14-15).
When we get hurt or offended by someone, and we choose to hang onto that offence, that unforgiveness is something that can steal our joy. So we need to choose to forgive!
If you have a relationship where there’s unresolved conflict, where you’ve been hanging onto a grudge, let it go. Is it worth losing your joy over? Now conflict is going to happen in our lives. Jesus said that offences will come, and we can’t stop that.
We can’t stop people from hurting us. But once we’re hurt, we can choose what we’re going to do with that hurt. We can either choose to hang onto it, and let a root of bitterness spring up, or we can choose to let it go, and forgive. Choose joy!
2. PURSUE THE PRESENCE OF JOY:
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11 ESV)
The Bible says that fullness of joy is found in God’s presence. That tells me that if I want to experience joy, I need to get into God’s presence. But the question is – how do I get there? The answer is found in another Scripture:
“But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.” (Psalm 22:3).
Do you want to know where God’s presence is? It’s in praise and worship. When we praise and worship God, it brings us into God’s presence.
Isn’t this what Psalm 100:4 says? “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.”
As we worship God, we walk through the doorway into the presence of God, and in His presence, there is fullness of joy. Now why is this joy so important? Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
3. PARTICIPATE IN RIVERS OF PLEASURE!
“At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11b).
God wants you to be satisfied in abundance of blessing and joy today. As we choose the right path and pursue the presence of joy - we will participate in the rivers of pleasure.
"Father, right now I thank you for those reading these words. You see the need for joy and freedom and victory, and those who are going through difficult trials in their lives, and need the joy of the Lord. God, I pray for a breakthrough of joy, that there would not be one sour-puss faced, miserable, depressed, downcast person. Pour out your joy upon those reading this today, in Jesus’ name, amen!"
Lift up your hands right now and say, “I want the joy!” Shout for joy right now! Dance for joy right now! Receive it!
(Thoughts gleaned from a sermon by Pastor Chris Jordan)
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