[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Why is joy important? Becausethe "joy of the Lord is your strength!" Joy produces strength.

[Jeanette]

this is out of control here
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Calhoun" <eric at pmpmail.com>
To: <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 7:57 PM
Subject: [Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Why is joy important? 
Becausethe "joy of the Lord is your strength!" Joy produces strength.


>
>
> Original Message:
> From: Faith <fdewaay at msn.com>
> To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
> Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] Why is joy important? Because the "joy of the
> Lord is your strength!" Joy produces strength.
> Date:
> Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:27:20 -0600
>
> Joy of the Lord by Tom Brown
>
> One of the most popular passages in the Bible is Nehemiah 8:10: "Do not
> grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
>
> Why is joy important? Because the "joy of the Lord is your strength!" Joy
>
> produces strength. And strength is needed to fight. You are called to
> "fight
> the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12). I sense in my spirit that many
>
> people in the body of Christ are tired of fighting the good fight of
> faith.
> They are struggling to fight because they have lost their joy. Perhaps
> you
> are tired of fighting for your marriage. You are fed up with your spouse.
>
> You think that he doesn't love you any more, so why fight for his love.
> You
> are ready to throw in the towel. Maybe you're sick and tired of being
> sick
> and tired. You have been sick for so long that you don't remember what
> it's
> like to be healthy. At one time, you battled this sickness, but the
> sickness
> seems to be winning. So you think, What's the use, I might as well accept
>
> this sickness and learn to live with it. I'm never going to get well.
> Possibly you once waged war against your financial debts. But things
> haven't
> changed much, and you're beginning to get discouraged. You think that you
>
> are never going to get out from under all your bills. You might be having
>
> trouble with your children. You wonder if they are ever going to
> straighten
> up. You are exhausted from their rebellion. Is God ever going to change
> them? you wonder.
>
> EVERYONE HAS TROUBLES
> I know how you feel. As a pastor, I face many trials every day. I do my
> best
> to be a good pastor. I teach the word of God, counsel the distraught,
> visit
> the sick, etc. Yet there are always people who are never happy with my
> performance. People complain:
> "I don't get fed spiritually." "The pastor didn't visit me in the
> hospital."
> "The pastor was not available to counsel me when I needed him to." "I'm
> not
> going to church because brother X is a hypocrite." "I didn't go to church
>
> because the Dallas Cowboys were playing an early game." "The people at
> church are not friendly." "The church is not open for me to use my gifts."
>
> "Nobody cares about me at church."
>
> After experiencing these and many other trials, I too want to give up. I
> lament over my troubles, What's the use of trying to be a good pastor.
> They
> don't appreciate me. I want to say, "Forget them!" Of course that's my
> flesh
> talking, not my heart. My heart says, "They don't know what they are
> doing.
> They are simply frustrated themselves. They don't mean to hurt me. I'm
> going
> to rejoice." This is what you need to do: Rejoice!
>
> REJOICE ALWAYS
> Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again:
> Rejoice!" How often are you to rejoice? You know the answer,Always! You
> are
> to rejoice always, because "joy" is the easiest fruit to lose. You can't
> live off of the joy you had yesterday. Joy can give you strength only when
>
> you possess it. If you had joy last week, that joy will not give you
> strength today. Joy can only give you strength today, if you have it
> today.
> This is why you must rejoice always.
>
> You might say, "I don't feel like rejoicing." God didn't say, "Rejoice,
> only
> if you feel like it." No! He said, "Rejoice always." Obviously, God knows
>
> that you don't feel like rejoicing always. Yet you need to rejoice always
>
> because if you don't then you lose the strength to fight.
>
> James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face
> trials
> of many kinds."
>
> Pure joy is not happiness. "Happiness" comes from the word "happen."
> Happiness, therefore, is based on what is happening. If something good is
> happening, then you are happy. However, God says that pure joy occurs even
>
> in the midst of trials--even when the car breaks down, or when the kids
> get
> sick, or when the boss cuts your hours, or when your spouse is in a bad
> mood, etc. Why is James telling us to count it pure joy whenever we face
> trials? Because joy gives you strength to fight your trials, and if you'll
>
> fight the trials, you will overcome. James continues, "Perseverance must
> finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking
> anything" (v. 4). You see, James has in mind "victory over trials", not
> "acceptance of his trials."
>
> So by rejoicing, you overcome your trials.
>
> YET I WILL REJOICE
> I love the verse in Habakkuk 3:17:
> "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
> though the olive crops fails and the fields produce no food, though there
> are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls..." (Sounds like this
> fellow has problems.)
>
> Look at the next verse: "Yet...Yet...Yet...Yet...Yet."
>
> Notice, he is not going to surrender to his problems. He is going to do
> something about his problems. He says, "Yet I will REJOICE IN THE LORD, I
> will be JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR" (v. 18).  He is going to REJOICE because,
>
> "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a
> deer, he enables me to go on the heights" (v. 19).
>
> You see, Habakkuk had no intention of staying defeated. He may look
> defeated, but he is not going to stay defeated. The difference between the
>
> person who is defeated and the person who is victorious is their
> attitude.
> An attitude of gratitude will put you over in life. This is the kind of
> attitude that this prophet had. Even though nothing good was happening in
> his life--no fruit, no crops, no sheep, no cattle--yet he rejoiced.
> Regardless of the circumstances, you can rejoice!
>
> In our modern world, Habakkuk might have said it this way:
> "Though there is no food in the refrigerator, and there is no money in
> the
> account, though the sickness gets worse, and the pain persist, though my
> children are on drugs, and my spouse does not appreciate me, yet I will
> rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
>
> WELLS OF SALVATION
> Let's look at one last verse of scripture: "`Surely God is my salvation;
> I
> will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my
> song; he has become my salvation.' WITH JOY YOU WILL DRAW WATER FROM THE
> WELLS OF SALVATION" (Isaiah 12:2-3).
>
> Did you know that there are "wells" (plural) of salvation? When you got
> saved, you inherited many wells. Each well contains a unique blessing:
> One well has a sign on it that reads: HEALING. Another well says:
> PROSPERITY. Still another well says: SOUND MIND. As you look around at all
>
> the wells, you notice another one with a emblem saying: FAMILY
> RESTORATION.
>
> The more you look at the wells you inherited, the more your heart
> rejoices.
> Notice that this scripture says that with joy you will draw from the
> wells
> of salvation. You need muscles--strength--to draw water from wells.
> Without
> strength you can't draw from the wells. This is why Isaiah says, "With
> joy
> you will draw water from the wells of salvation." It takes joy to draw
> from
> the wells of healing, prosperity, soundness of mind and family
> restoration.
> Without joy, you can't draw water from these wonderful wells. Joy keeps
> you
> strong and enables you to draw from the wells of salvation. You may be
> facing sickness. Yet God has provided the well of "healing." But only
> through joy can you draw from this well. So rejoice despite your sickness.
>
> You may be experiencing poverty. But through joy you can draw from the
> well
> named "prosperity." You may be tormented with fear, worry and depression.
>
> However, you can draw the water called "sound mind" through joy!
>
> Don't get down. Don't get discouraged. The devil may be able to attack
> you
> (after all, he is the god of this age) but he has no power to steal your
> joy. Joy is a spiritual force inside your human spirit. Satan can touch
> your
> body, finances and family as the book of Job teaches, but he can't touch
> your spirit. Your spirit is off limits to the devil. And since he can't
> touch your spirit, he can't rob you of your joy.
> Satan can not steal your joy since it is spiritual. If you lost your joy
> it
> is because you gave it away. However, if you will keep your joy, Satan
> has
> to release your blessings.
>
>
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


> _______________________________________________
> Faith-talk mailing list
> Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Faith-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/nettiecosp%40yahoo.com
>