DAY 10: JOY II (THE JOY OF THE LORD)
30 DAYS DEVOTIONALS WITH PREACHER SAM
THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY
SEPTEMBER 10, 2022.
TOPIC: JOY II (THE JOY OF THE LORD)
BIBLE READING: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-18
VERSE FOR MEDITATION: NEHEMIAH 8:10B NKJV
… Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Apostle Paul shared his experience with the church in Corinth about the challenge he faced in ministry and his reaction towards them. Yesterday, we saw that joy does not respond to what we feel or our emotion, but it responds to the nature of God in you. When writing to the church in Colossae, Apostle Paul said, “… Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27). So the Christ in you, which is God’s nature in you, is what is working for us (a hope) a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17). So the hope of glory is the joy of the Lord at work in us. The psalmist wrote, “Let the saints be joyful in glory…” (Ps. 149:5).
So Apostle Paul’s reaction to the challenges in ministry were as a result of the joy of the Lord. And the joy of the Lord is our strength. That was how he was able to overcome the challenges he faced.
The way God supplies strength to us is through His joy in our spirit. The verse 8 of our Bible reading has a cross-reference in Isaiah 40:31 which says, “But those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength…” So when we wait on the Lord, He fills our heart with joy (cf. Isa. 25:9).
Remember we shared earlier that the hope of glory is the joy of the Lord at work in us. “The glory of young men is their strength…” (Prov. 20:29). “… And the young men shall utterly fall.” (Isa. 40:30). In other words, the world’s happiness fades with time, but the joy of the Lord is forever.
PRAYER:
DEAR GOD, I THANK YOU FOR THE WORD I’VE RECEIVED. PLEASE FILL MY HEART WITH YOUR JOY, AND LET IT OVERFLOW IN ME. AMEN!
DECLARATION:
I WILL NOT BE WEARY; FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH.
JOURNEY THROUGH THE CHRONOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST:
LUKE 8; MATTHEW 8:14-34; MARK 4
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