Joy & Power

The storm of trouble is going out worldwide. The Lord occasionally will allow the storm to come against his own people just like the scriptures said: judgment will begin in the house of the Lord. The Lord will use the same storm in the world to wake up his people when they are not walking uprightly before him. When we realize this, we must let the word of God help us. I will read these verses about the joy of the Lord which can help believers in the time of trouble.

(Neh.8:10) "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet,and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared:for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry;for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

The joy of the Lord is our strength, just as prayer is the only weapon we have as Christians, and the love of the brethren is our foundation. In the time of trouble, instead of charging God and asking "why, Lord?", we just have to rejoice. No matter what is going on, the troubles, the affliction or the diseases in the land, be confident when you are rebuking the devil.Don't downcast your head before the devil which you are rebuking.

Suppose everybody is coughing, and you are coughing also, and you try to rebuke the devil, then rebuke the devil with confidence.Have confidence in what you are saying to the devil. That is, even though you are beaten down like everyone around you with the same flu or cough, yet, the word has not failed! Therefore rebuke the devil with confidence in the word of God which gave you authority over the devil.We have to grasp the joy of the Lord even in that trouble and when we say "devil, depart!" with confidence, the devil get scared.If you rebuke the devil with a tone as if you are not sure anymore of your authority over him, the devil will say "I got him!"

This is the reason why you must bring up the joy of the Lord into your heart in the face of affliction so that you can still speak the word with confidence.

"The fruits of the Spirit is love, Joy, peace longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,meekness, temperance."

We have to manifest the fruits in our life. Jehoshaphat and Judah could have been sad, when the enemy was coming against them. But when the word of God came to them that"the battle is the Lord's", they shouted and started to rejoice.(2Chr.20:15-19).

(Isa.61:1-3) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."

Remember the Lord Jesus read from this passage in the synagogue as he declared that he came to fulfill it. Therefore one of the things the Lord Jesus brought to mankind is the joy of the Lord. Many times we say people should rejoice when praising the Lord for a victory won. But this joy of the Lord can also be used for fighting the battle. If things are surrounding the saints, calamities or troubles, we must get into that joy of the Lord. As Christians, we always have peace in our heart during evil times. That is the peace that causes us not to worry, trusting the Lord. We must also use the joy of the Lord to confidently speak to the situation.

(Isa.35:10) "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

Also in Isaiah 51:11 the same promise was repeated thus:"Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away."

"I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, thatthou should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man, which shall be made as grass." (Isa.51:12).

"Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."(Isa.12:3)

Remember this is a promise of God. Some people may think this is in the bye-and-bye. Everything God said is not just for the future.We can get into that rest by faith. We can begin to apply it and begin to use the same promise to rebuke the devil who is doing the havoc. Apostle Paul said "Rejoice evermore!"

With our joy we can conquer fear, anxiety and worry. When joy is withdrawn from men, a lot of troubles befall mankind. We must use the joy of the Lord as a weapon against the devil. We can actually torment the tormentor with our joy.We actually torment the devil with our joy when the devil persecutes Christians. This is why the Lord said: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Mat.5:11-12).

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. Knowing this that the trial of your faith worketh patience.But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (James 1:2-4).

From all these verses, we must remember to use the joy of the Lord against the devil in every situation. The devil attacks saints so as to make them doubt what they have been holding. But when we can revive the joy of the Lord in our hearts even in the midst of the trouble, we can rebuke the devil with the same confidence that we still believe in the word of the Lord which gave us the authority over the devil.

This is why faith teaches us that, "don't focus on your circumstance, focus on Jesus!"

The devil wants people to doubt God so that they can give up completely. The devil may say "do you think this God answers prayers?look at what happened over there! you thought that sister was healed?but two months later she died!"

But the devil is a liar! The word of God never fails. The devil may say "but why did it look like it failed over there?" We may not be able to explain it in this life, but God can always explain it in the end. God may one day tell us, "look at what you folks didn't do when you were praying for that sick sister."

For example, there had been occasions when the devil attacked me, and I had been commanding and speaking bible verses sporadically to no success. The Lord may finally calm me down, and then tell me to say one bible verse, and it will be over. Then I would wonder:I have said the same bible verse several times without success. What was the difference? Then I would realize, I have mumbled many bible verses in my anxiety and the devil had been laughing me to scorn. But when the Lord calm me down, that alone will frighten the devil: "why is he calm when I almost kill him?"

The calmness is like the joy of the Lord; so then when the bible verse is said with confidence, the devil willrun off. Relax! Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he will take care of it.

When fretting and fussing with the enemy, it's in our strength and our effort, but when we relax, and cast our burden upon the Lord, then it is in God's strength and God's effort. God is teaching his saints through the storms and the trials till we all come to the fulness of the stature of Christ. God himself will make our enemy our footstool.

Therefore we must learn to relax, rejoice in the face of trials, afflictions or persecutions, and cast our burden upon the Lord. I pray that the Lord will help us to bring forth the joy of the Lord in our hearts always, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

Bro. Julius Adewumi

Gospel Distribution Ministry

USA

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