Use The Authority To Command Joy In Your Life

All too often, we find ourselves locked into a moment when we are bombarded with all the bad situations we can handle. These moments test our hearts. It is hard to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. Your emotions run away with themselves. In times like this, the hardest decision to make is the one that will lead you forward, but God will give you the strength to pull your heart back into alignment with His if you make the effort to do this one thing: choose joy.

This thought from the Lord has struck me repeatedly: “I’m not waiting on joy to choose me, so I am going to choose joy.” The truth is we must choose joy—joy over sorrow, joy over circumstance, joy over the negative. It is a very simple decision, but one of the hardest you will ever live out experientially.

If you wait for joy to choose you, it may be a long wait. Joy, like every other fruit of the Spirit, is not automatic. Joy is our choice. So God gives us the grace and the empowerment of His Spirit to make a choice that seems foreign in the moment. He does this to bring us back into the place where our spirit is aligned with His Spirit. And if you think the cross was the one moment when Jesus did not have joy, you’re wrong. Jesus was always full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit without measure. The first three fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians pushed Him toward the cross.

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV)

I’d like to submit to you that you were the joy set before Him. The idea that God and man would no longer be separated by a veil pressed Jesus with joy to endure the sacrifice. Love, joy, and peace worked together in the heart of God’s Son to strengthen Him for everything He went through. When Jesus hung upon the cross, he was not laughing and smiling. He was in extreme pain physically, mentally, and spiritually. Yet, in his heart there was gladness and  joy that came from knowing he was in the center of the Father’s will. Jesus drew joy from the Father even while the cross tested him.

Joy is a fruit the Holy Spirit produces in us, but the preparation of the ground belongs to us. Essentially, this means joy is our choice. You can choose to dwell on all the bad, hurtful, or negative things happening to you, or you can choose joy. Jesus shows us the stunning example of choosing joy by saying, “Father forgive them.” He chose to not dwell upon the criticism and rejection of the crowd. Jesus did not focus on his physical pain, but on the joy of completing the Father’s plan. You can do the same. Circumstances do not have the authority to rule our lives. God gives us the choice regarding who or what will be in control of our spirit. Choosing joy is the choice to align your heart with the Holy Spirit even when the chaos of life says “no.”

➡️Be Part of Our Email Family!⬅️

We have this wonderful scripture that points us to the choice we are privileged to make. It is found in Nehemiah.

“Then he said to them, 'Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.'” (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV)

Notice the command of the Lord: “Do not sorrow.” How can the Lord give us a command based on something as fleeting as our circumstances? How can the Lord command you to do something you have no power to fulfill? He would never do that to us, so the only conclusion I’m left with is that I actually have the power to choose joy in the middle of my pain!

The word sorrow means things like hurt, pain, and grief. But it also means to fabricate something or stretch something into shape. In other words, when we choose sorrow instead of joy, we are pulling on hurt, pain, and grief like a garment in our lives. These things don’t fit us well. You and I were made for the joy of the Lord, and it was tailored to fit us perfectly. Please hear me in this: we will experience pain and loss. Even Jesus cried at the news of Lazarus’ passing. But the difference between a spirit-filled believer and someone in the world is that we are not ruled by what has happened to us, and our choice to have the joy of the Lord removes the possibility of grief and pain becoming strongholds in our lives.

It would be wrong for the Lord to give us a command that we are unable to fulfill. So when He says, “Do not sorrow,” it means we are fully able to choose joy over sorrow and grief.

Joy in this scripture means gladness, but not just any gladness. It is the joy that belongs to the Lord Himself. The joy that is our strength is God’s own joy implanted into our spirit by His Holy Spirit. This joy is associated in this verse with the dwelling place of the Lord. It reminds me of another scripture penned by David.

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11 NKJV)

When you face the worst problems and don’t know what to do, you need to run to the presence of the Lord. You and I are not strong enough on our own to go through these moments and seasons of hurt. We need the presence of the Lord, which equips us with strength by giving us joy. We are not alone when we know that God is with us.

The choice of presence is the choice of joy. Joy comes from presence. Joy creates strength. In Nehemiah’s verse, strength means a place of safety, protection, and refuge. So as we choose the presence of the Lord in our moments of fear, pain, and hardship, we are actually choosing something that will restore our joy and fill us with strength.

The book of Habakkuk paints an amazing picture of what it means to have joy in the middle of adversity.

“Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19 NKJV)

The prophet shows us the absolute certainty of our power to choose joy. Even when everything we thought we needed disappears from view, we can choose joy. He says, “I will joy in the God of my salvation.” This is a choice. In other words, I can decide to find joy in the presence of the Lord even though I am in the fire of adversity. God will be my strength, and He will cause me to walk in places I could never walk on my own.

Say this with me: “Yet I will rejoice.” To rejoice is a choice!

I don’t want you to misunderstand me. The choice to have joy is not light or flippant. But when you face problems and trials that are more than you can bear, you must take action. Like our verse said earlier, we must choose to look unto Jesus. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He will create something in us that is impossible under our own power. His joy will saturate our lives and fill us with grace and strength that only comes from the presence of the Lord.

This verse comes to mind from the book of James.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” (James 1:2-3 NKJV)

What does it mean to “count” something as joy? We usually consider the word “count” to mean something like reckon. Some translations use the word consider. But this counting is much more than just an opportunity to consider joy. When you look at the actual Greek meaning, the solution becomes clearer.

In the Greek, to count means: to lead and command with official authority; to lead; to go before; to be a leader; to rule or command; to have authority over; the leader in speech, chief spokesman.

So the word “count” has been described as a military term or a leadership term. Used in this context, we could say, “My brethren, command yourself to have joy when you fall into various trials.” We could also say, “My brethren, lead and have the authority to speak joy over your lives when you fall into various trials.” This would not be a misrepresentation of the text.

Here’s the point:

Joy is at your command because the Lord’s presence is accessible to you. If you don’t have joy, enter His presence and receive it. Then command joy in and over your own life. This is the testing of our faith: what we will do with joy.

Listen, I’m not saying it is easy to command joy in the midst of pain, but I am saying it is possible because you have access to His presence.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5 NKJV)

Friend, we are praying for you! Do not give up!

Blessings,

Larry & Amanda