O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Psalms 47:1 (KJV).

REFLECT:
The Blessing of the gift of Joy!! Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit- Galatians 5:22, and therefore, it is expected to be a trait, mindset, and behavior every child of God who has come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior should be expected to possess, exhibit or demonstrate in our daily lives.

Unfortunately, this is not usually the case for a great percentage of us. The reason is that we have allowed ourselves to be deceived and lied to by the secular mindset or thinking that constantly comes at us through media, talk shows, and certain education programs. They constantly tell us that we can only have joy when we achieve certain goals or attained a specific status or live a perceived lifestyle acceptable to all.

Therefore, we have set for ourselves goals and aspirations that must match up with societal standards in certain areas, especially those areas that have to do with wealth, career, education, or societal status, and let us not forget most of the bogus titles attached to the names we bear. Though all these are not bad in themselves, however, they are not to be seen or taken as joy determinants.

This sort of thinking makes the whole idea of Joy very farfetched or at best a seasonal occurrence, which ought not to be. So, what is Joy? Or what is the state of being Joyful? How can we possibly ignite joy in our lives? In a bid to answer these questions, we must realize the following:

First and foremost, Joy is a conscious as well as intentional choice or decision we must make as individuals.

Secondly, Joy is the embodiment of a person, and it is only this person that can give joy and make us understand the true essence of the nature of Joy.

Thirdly, Joy is an act of worship and thanksgiving.

Fourthly, Joy is a life-giving force. Going by these four points, we can deduce and therefore conclude that we cannot obtain joy from earthly, mundane things, but rather Joy can only be obtained by consciously choosing or deciding to align ourselves with something or someone higher or bigger than ourselves and this should be an intentional act.

Now, this someone or person who very well portrays the descriptions above is none other than God Almighty, who is also our Heavenly Father.

The amazing mystery is that God by divine design through His Son Jesus freely offers us this gift of Joy. He is the only one who can give Joy and maintain joy in our lives. This is because Jesus is Joy personified. To buttress this claim, Jesus tells us in John 16:33 to always be cheerful (Joyful), why? Because He has overcome the world. Meaning that He has totally dealt with any and everything anti-joy in our lives.

Furthermore, when we accept Jesus into our lives we also accept and receive the Joy He offers our seal of faith as well as a sign of our worship and adoration to Him, which is exactly what our Bible verse for today tells us. Meaning we allow ourselves to adopt a position or posture of always worshipping God through the Joy, He gives us in Christ Jesus.

Finally, as we decide to do all this, i.e., take deliberate steps to ignite joy by bringing ourselves into the place of God’s Joy or Joyfulness we, in turn, receive life, strength, Grace, and all that Heaven has to offer us. Nehemiah 8:10.

Accepting God’s gift of Joy is the only way we can live life at its best here on the earth and onwards into eternity.

Ebimobo W. Obasi

PLEASE PRAY ALONG:

Worthy to be Praised.

FATHER GOD, you are worthy of all my praise and adoration! Thank you for being my source of joy, strength, and courage. Nothing is impossible for you to accomplish because you reign over the entire universe. Thank you for being my reason to celebrate. Today, I choose to intentionally ignite your joy in me and I worship you for it. In JESUS MIGHTY NAME AMEN.