#470 Finding Joy Part 2a: The Joy of the LORD is your Strength
I received a number of emails as a result of the first meditation on Finding Joy.
One dear Sister wrote: The joy of the Lord is indeed our strength...Love you my sister! (a reference to Nehemiah 8:10)
Another wrote: Just some brief thoughts that your meditation helped me to remember, thank you! (Gal 5:22 KJV) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…"
Oh, let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore, When darts of the tempter are flying,
For Satan still dreads, as he oft did of yore, Our singing much more than our sighing!
The weakest saint may Satan rout, Who meets him with a praiseful shout!
When I was newly consecrated, a sister gave me a blessing card which I always try to keep in mind and still have in my possession…it reads… “Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the Presence of the Lord!!” This always put things in perspective for me, thus I hope it will bless you also!
A third Sister closed her email with the words: in Him the Author of our joy!!!
A Dear Brother wrote: Our joy is in the hope, not in the difficulties, trials that thick confound us. … It is our endeavor to transform our hearts to His realm in every moment, every experience, but it takes a constancy of full commitment to gain such a view, such a change in our way of seeing, of hearing, of feeling, of perceiving what this new life in Christ is, and how different. It is a guided joy, not a manufactured one. It is a joy in the Lord that becomes [who we are] when we let God be the Lord of our hearts. Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
The reference to “the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength” motivated a look into the context of Nehemiah 8:10. After the Babylonian captivity the exiles of Israel returned to their land. After they completed building the Jerusalem wall the people gathered together and heard the reading of the Law. They were grieved, for they saw their inattention to the commandments of the LORD. In response to their grief they were instructed to eat of the feast, to send portions to those who had nothing prepared, “for this day in holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 One aspect of the joy of the LORD is sending portions to those who had nothing prepared—sharing our spiritual blessings with one another, for we are all in need of reviving truth and encouragement.
The Sister’s reference to Nehemiah 8:10 led me to study that chapter. Now I realize that these Brethren fulfilled the picture of that chapter by sending “portions” to me of their spiritual feast, and I am greatly blessed with the joy of the LORD and His strength!
Stay tuned for Part 2b, for more on what the joy of the LORD is in Nehemiah 8, and how that joy strengthens us.
How often our sharing and fellowship gives us His joy and leaves us spiritually stronger!
I received a number of emails as a result of the first meditation on Finding Joy.
One dear Sister wrote: The joy of the Lord is indeed our strength...Love you my sister! (a reference to Nehemiah 8:10)
Another wrote: Just some brief thoughts that your meditation helped me to remember, thank you! (Gal 5:22 KJV) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…"
Oh, let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore, When darts of the tempter are flying,
For Satan still dreads, as he oft did of yore, Our singing much more than our sighing!
The weakest saint may Satan rout, Who meets him with a praiseful shout!
When I was newly consecrated, a sister gave me a blessing card which I always try to keep in mind and still have in my possession…it reads… “Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the Presence of the Lord!!” This always put things in perspective for me, thus I hope it will bless you also!
A third Sister closed her email with the words: in Him the Author of our joy!!!
A Dear Brother wrote: Our joy is in the hope, not in the difficulties, trials that thick confound us. … It is our endeavor to transform our hearts to His realm in every moment, every experience, but it takes a constancy of full commitment to gain such a view, such a change in our way of seeing, of hearing, of feeling, of perceiving what this new life in Christ is, and how different. It is a guided joy, not a manufactured one. It is a joy in the Lord that becomes [who we are] when we let God be the Lord of our hearts. Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
The reference to “the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength” motivated a look into the context of Nehemiah 8:10. After the Babylonian captivity the exiles of Israel returned to their land. After they completed building the Jerusalem wall the people gathered together and heard the reading of the Law. They were grieved, for they saw their inattention to the commandments of the LORD. In response to their grief they were instructed to eat of the feast, to send portions to those who had nothing prepared, “for this day in holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 One aspect of the joy of the LORD is sending portions to those who had nothing prepared—sharing our spiritual blessings with one another, for we are all in need of reviving truth and encouragement.
The Sister’s reference to Nehemiah 8:10 led me to study that chapter. Now I realize that these Brethren fulfilled the picture of that chapter by sending “portions” to me of their spiritual feast, and I am greatly blessed with the joy of the LORD and His strength!
Stay tuned for Part 2b, for more on what the joy of the LORD is in Nehemiah 8, and how that joy strengthens us.
How often our sharing and fellowship gives us His joy and leaves us spiritually stronger!
RSS Feed
