Recently I thank God for a joy inexpressible in my heart! Sometime ago when I was feeling tired and discouraged, I asked The Lord to grant me His joy because I know the joy of The Lord is my strength. After that, I kept seeing messages that tell me to rejoice, to celebrate, to sing praises, worship Him and give thanks before I see my manifestation.
Joy is a spirit and it is a force. It is the very power that breaks through the dam and causes your promise to manifest. Praise and worship will lift up your spirits and make you happy in The Lord. When you are happy and joyful, this power attracts all the good things of God. When more good things happen, your spirits get uplifted even more and you become more joyful.
The joy of The Lord is your strength so when you are joyful, you are strong to not only withstand but fight back your enemy. Faith rises up within you causing you to exercise the authority Jesus has given you. You can then tell your enemy to buzz off and stop harassing you. When you do that, you have come to the position God wanted you to take.
Now I see it so clearly. All the attacks in my life previously are all attempts to take my joy away. The enemy cannot afford to let me continue to be happy because joy is a powerful spirit. He knows if I carry on rejoicing, celebrating, praising and worshiping The Lord, I will see my manifestation very soon! Already he cannot stop my appointed time from coming, at most he can only make me miserable, steal my joy before my manifestation comes. But now even this ploy is exposed and his power totally stripped! Praise Jesus for the victory!
I really thank God for He is so good to me. No wonder He kept telling me to fulfill my desires whenever I can and don't postpone my pleasures anymore. Hope deferred makes my heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. He doesn't want my heart to be sick. He knows that when I do the things I like and buy the things I want, that makes me happy. I should also eat choice food and drink sweet drinks. He wants me to maintain this happy and joyful state no matter what. He wants me to feel pampered like a princess for indeed I am His princess.
Something good is coming my way and all I have to do is to keep rejoicing in The Lord! One devotional I read said if only I knew what marvelous things the Lord has done for me, I would be rejoicing with tears of joy now! I should be doing things like watching funny cartoons, humorous shows that can make me laugh. Sing, dance, shout for joy and laugh for more good things are coming my way!
How do you still rejoice when your long-awaited desire and breakthrough is not yet manifested? How do you keep on rejoicing when you see your friends having the blessings that you've been praying for yourself and yet God's promises seem to die stillborn in your life? Do you keep waiting on the Lord? And how?
ReplyDeleteYou have brought up a very good question. I have asked The Lord this question many times as well. I have waited on The Lord to answer my prayer for another child for more than five years. And during these years, many of my friends, some of whom did not even intend to get pregnant either conceived or have given birth. I have gone through this season of waiting hopeful, then disappointed, then hopeful again, then disappointed and confused. I kept wondering why this promise hasn't manifested even though I knew God has promised me another child. I don't understand why the delay. Yes, I have even thought about giving up on the wait. There was a point I even asked if this child was worth the wait, worth the heartaches and pain. Yet through these years, The Lord is faithful and He never stopped encouraging me with His word, telling me to keep believing when I was feeling down. Then it came to a point I realized there is an appointed time for this promised child to come. And even though I don't know why there seems to be a delay, I trust that God has the best timing for me. Besides, along the way, He has given me so many blessings to enjoy like my son Joshua, my family and my ministry work. There are still so many things I can give thanks to God and be joyful about even though the wait has not been easy. My friend, your promises have not died stillborn. They are just waiting for the appointed time to manifest. The key is to continue believing God that in due season, they will all come to pass because He who promised is faithful. In the meanwhile, The Lord wants us to enjoy our lives and rejoice because it would certainly make this waiting process more bearable. And who knows, in just a very little while, suddenly you see all these promises come to pass. It would be such a waste to have given up when you are so close to the finish line. So I did what He told me to, rejoice and celebrate and give thanks in advance for the answered prayer. Remember, God may not always be early but He is never late. And He hasn't forgotten about you.
DeleteHi Avin, thanks for your reply, it made me cry. Yes I did feel, and still feel as if God has forgotten me and put me on the sidelines while He blesses the others. I find myself on an emotional roller coaster, being hopeful one moment, and discouraged the next, and I end up questioning His faithfulness. As I read your blog, I know you are someone who's also on this journey of waiting and yet you seem so certain of the Lord's goodness at all times. And my prayer for myself is really to have His abiding joy in me no matter the circumstances, and not joy that goes up and down with my emotions. Your reply did give me hope again, and I want to stay in this hope. It's sometimes a heartbreaking journey as I see my friends enjoying blessings that I covet after, but at the end of it all I guess I just want to be happy in the Lord.
ReplyDeleteDear Beloved in Christ, I just felt like saying a prayer for you.
ReplyDelete'Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for being a compassionate Father who don't want Your children to suffer. Jesus died of a heart rupture at the Cross so that we do not have to suffer heartaches anymore. It is Your desire to see us happy, healthy and strong. But sometimes when we go through challenges, we tend to feel that You have forgotten us but You have not. You have carved our names on Your palm. Even when we are faithless, You are still faithful for You cannot disown Yourself. Father, I want to lift up this friend to you. I ask of You to delay the manifestation of Your promises no more. I boldly ask of You to open doors and cause the breakthroughs to come forth for this is the year of open doors. As my friend humbles himself or herself and look to You, You show yourself strong on his or her behalf. Thank God that my friend has rebound in hope and has chosen to find joy in You despite of the circumstances. I know that the breakthrough is very very near, and I thank God in advance for this. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.'
Hi Avin, thank you so much for your reply, it really means alot to me and has ministered to me.
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