by Pastor Simon

To remain in the flesh is more needful for you and being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith.

Philippians 1:24-25 - NKJV

What have you been going through? The apostle Paul had a remarkable knack for going through awful circumstances and living above them. "Knack" makes it sound like some sort of trick. It wasn't but he did have a secret to it. He knew how to tap into the joy within him. He offered the sacrifices of joy. In his letter to the Christians at Philippi the apostle Paul wrote passionately about joy. This is startling because while he wrote he was actually in captivity. In fact, the threat of death by execution hung over him. Psa.27:6.

As a child of God you have joy as an inner resource from God. The joy of the Lord entered your heart when it was revealed to you that Christ was victorious over death. You have joy in your salvation. You have joy in believing. This is what Paul was writing of when he said to the Philippian Christians that he planned to stick around so joy of faith might become evident in them. Christ's joy remains in you even if happiness momentarily seems to distance itself from you. What's more, joy can be as much at work in your life as it was in Paul's.

How do you ensure joy is active in your life? You praise and give thanks to God from joyful lips and with a joyful posture. You rejoice even before you feel you've anything to rejoice about. This is offering the sacrifice of joy. It will cause joy to start issuing forth from your heart as an overflow from the reservoir of joy within it. This initiates a release of joy that refreshes and revitalises you. It becomes a testimony of the presence of God's kingdom in your life. Joy overflowing from the heart is life changing.

Praise and let joy be released

Copyright © 2009 P.F.(Simon)Measures

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