27 Jun Joy-Lets (Discovering Five Sources of Joy from God’s “Throne Room”) PART: 3

It is amazing what the power of joy will do in your life!

Let’s review our series by first remembering what the Bible tells us:
1. “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24)
Notice the little word “will.” That tells us something very important. It is a choice to
rejoice! One of the greatest truths you can ever learn as a Christian is that you are not a
slave to your feelings! Let feelings in your car, but never let them in the driver’s seat!
Feelings are meant to be felt…but they are not meant to be followed!

2. “Rejoice in the Lord and again, I say rejoice.” (Phil. 4:4)
Notice that our joy is IN THE LORD. Not in our circumstances, not in other people.
Why…because our circumstances change, people change…Jesus doesn’t! (See Heb. 13:8)
Never place the reigns of your emotional well-being in the hands of anything or
anyone…other than Jesus!
Notice that this verse also says, “…again I say rejoice.” There are times when we choose
joy and then have to remind ourselves again to rejoice! Notice also we choose joy by
“saying” it!

3. “Rejoice evermore.” (I Thess. 5:16)
This little verse is power packed with revelation. The Greek word “evermore” literally
means “from this time on” or “from this point on.” I love this little verse because it
reminds us to choose joy from this time on or from this point on. It always updates
itself! Meaning, you could have had an awful last year but from this point on…rejoice!
You could have had an awful last month, but from this point on…rejoice! You could
have had an awful last week, but from this point on…rejoice! You could have had an
awful last day, but from this point on…rejoice!

You see, it always updates itself and will allow you to keep your life constructive.
Remember this: You can’t live your life from “there.” You can only live your life from
“here”!

A few weeks ago I began sharing…“5 Supernatural Sources of Joy”:

1. The Word (John 15:11)
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy
may be full.” The Greek word translated “joy” is “chara,” which means “to be glad or
cheerful.” The Greek word translated “remain” is the word “meno,” which means “to
abide or dwell.” The Greek word translated “full” is “pleros,” which means “to level up
something that is hollow” or “to be crammed full.”
Now this powerful source of joy does not simply come from casually reading the Word.
It comes only through biblical meditation (see Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:3). When we
meditate on the Word it means that we think about it, dwell on it, chew on it and
speak it to ourselves.
Remember this: Meditation leads to revelation. Revelation leads to
manifestation. Remember this also: Look it up. Let it in. Live it out!

This week we continue with…

2. Answered prayer (John 16:23-24)
“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Verily, verily I say to you, whatever you ask
the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name.
Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
In these powerful verses the Greek words translated “verily, verily” are “amen, amen.”
Usually “amen” is responsive. In other words, if I am teaching and you agree with what I
am saying, you may respond with an “Amen!” “Amen” means “truth.” You believe
what I am saying is the truth. However, I have to say it first before you can affirm it is
truth. Jesus is the only Person I know who can say “Amen, amen” or “Truth, truth”
BEFORE He says anything…because He IS the Truth! (See John 14:6)
Here Jesus is telling us that answered prayer is another powerful source of joy! There is
nothing like seeing one of your prayers coming to pass in your life! My son is going on a
mission trip in June. He had diligently been raising funds to go and had $505 remaining
to cover his entire trip. He prayed about it and God told another precious person in
prayer to give John $512. This not only covered the entirety of John’s trip, but it also
was $7 worth of margin! What joy this brought to him as well as to the person who
supported him…knowing it was a specific answer to prayer!
Now please don’t mistake me, our prayers in order to get answered must always be
biblically based and received by faith (see John 15:7, Mark 11:24). Please remember
these two very important things when it comes to prayer:

1) Praying is not just for comfort, but praying is for results!

2) God’s promise is God’s “Yes.”
You see, the Bible tells us “All the promises of God are in Him yes, and amen” (II Cor.
1:20). If God has promised you something in His Word, you don’t have to ask Him if
it is His will. His promise IS His “Yes.” His Word is His will!
However, also notice the word “amen.” As we mentioned before, this word means
“truth” or “so be it.” Therefore, even though God’s promise is God’s ‘yes’…we must
still say “so be it” in our lives or it does us no good!
Frequently I will hear atheists spouting unanswered prayer as proof that God does
not exist. This does not prove God’s lack of existence, any more than my Toyota
breaking down and me not being able to get ahold of the President of Toyota. Either
I don’t have his phone number or I dialed incorrectly (see James 4:1-3)!

Remember this: Prayer is simply talking to God. However, just remember to speak
His language…His language is the Word! (Jer. 1:12)

Next month we’ll continue our series.