We are teaching in this month’s broadcasts about how to make Faith Adjustments. We all need to examine our lives to ensure that our faith is effective and accurate. Many times, the hindrances in our faith life are caused by things that need slight adjustments. One significant example is the operation of our joy.
Joy is a partner to faith and will be in manifestation to assist in the flow of faith.
Romans 15:13
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
If our joy level is low, our faith will be hindered. Joy is a supernatural force that is resident in the heart of every believer. But the flow of joy is not automatically turned on and off by God. We are the ones who must yield to joy, activating its flow.
This is where most people miss it. They are waiting to feel something that will cause them to rejoice. Some are waiting for an event, something spectacular that will cause them to shout, dance, lift their hands, and say “Hallelujah!” When feelings prompt us and events occur, these are great opportunities to rejoice. But they are not the most important occasions to employ joy. We must learn to activate joy when the way seems blocked, the outlook appears dismal, and the pressure is on! That is when we really need strength.
God supplied joy to the believer to provide a supernatural means of spiritual strength.
Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
The Bible in Basic English says, “…the joy of the Lord is your strong place.” When difficulty is doing its best to smother us in despair, we can lift our voices with praise to our faithful God. As we do, the heaviness is lifted. The despair disappears, and our confidence in God’s help takes its place.
The Bible says that God inhabits praise:
Psalm 22:3
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
The word inhabitest means “to dwell, abide, make a habitation, to sit, as when kings sit upon a throne.” So, our praises provide an atmosphere worthy of our King’s presence, where He can abide, dwell, and govern the situations going on in our lives. During a battle, our praises need to be at optimum level. Rejoicing is the order of the day every day, especially when we are under pressure!
Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into the innermost dungeons after ministering freedom to a young girl bound by the devil. In the prison, with their feet in stocks and backs bleeding, they chose to pray and sing praises to God. In the atmosphere of rejoicing, the Lord moved to help.
Acts 16:22-26 (AMPC)
22 The crowd [also] joined in the attack upon them, and the rulers tore the clothes off of them and commanded that they be beaten with rods.
23 And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
24 He, having received [so strict a] charge, put them into the inner prison (the dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the [other] prisoners were listening to them,
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.
Songs of sadness won’t help us overcome. We need to practice rejoicing when under attack. Just remember this, we are rejoicing in who God is, where He stands, and what He has done for us. He is the basis of our joy, and He never changes! Therefore, our joy is always turned on and active!
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