Joy of the Lord

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10

Have you ever felt a sense of joy from witnessing the work of the Lord? Maybe you felt joy at the Harvest Celebration when we saw how God blessed our church through the Abundance Offering. Maybe you felt joy when God worked through us to help the people suffering in Haiti by being able to assemble and send three-hundred relief kits. Maybe you have felt joy when you saw God working through you to bring someone closer to Christ. Some might say we shouldn’t feel joy in these situations because it might lead us to pride. However, they would be wrong. God wants us to experience this joy because it is the joy of the Lord.

Nehemiah encouraged the Israelites to be overjoyed about what God had done. God had done great things through the Israelites; they had just returned from exile, they had finished building Jerusalem’s wall, and they had helped the poor. Nehemiah encouraged them to celebrate and live in the joy of the Lord!

We shouldn’t feel guilty about feeling joy for what God has done through us. Instead we should embrace it and share it. It is the joy of the Lord that encourages us, motivates us and sends us forth into the world to be used by God to work for his kingdom. It is the joy of the Lord that gives us our strength to live for him!

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your joy and the strength and encouragement that it gives me to live my life for you. Forgive me when I suppress this joy. Allow that joy to fill every part of my life and being. Amen.

Faith Tip: What have you witnessed God doing in your life, church, community, or world? Allow that experience to fill you with the joy of the Lord and let that joy give you strength to live you life for him.

Written by Pastor Aaron Anderson