How to Find Joy

Thursday 18 May
READ: I Sam. 1:1-20
MORE LESSONS: Psa. 119:165

Joy and progress are not products of sight and wishes, but of knowledge and work. Someone once said to my wife, “The year is new but not a happy one”. The fellow was simply reacting to what he saw around, not what he knows about God. Ecc. 11:4 says, He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. You will never be happy looking around at prevailing situations, and satan will never allow you to see the things that will encourage your spirit, rather, he will show you negative things and will even magnify them beyond normal. So if you desire to have joy and gladness, don't look outside for them but erase and uproot them using God’s Word. Newspapers will never give you joy, because they are designed and marketed by bad news and negative events around the world. The only source of joy is God's Word and those who live by it can never be sad.
The point is this, the knowledge of God's Word and and promises is the only reason why a sick man with terminal illness can be happy, regardless of medical report and physical feelings. The same thing applies to the barren, the ones who are delayed, those with unanswered prayers, the burdened etc. Even as a believer, who is hale and healthy, if you desire joy by the things you possess, your joy will be as temporary as those material things. But if you build the source of your joy on what God's Word has promised you, no matter the negative environment, you will live such a happy life that the people around you will wonder what makes you happy. With Jesus on your inside as your anchor, you can smile at the storm and make your boast in the Lord your God. This is a major difference between the believer and the unbeliever. The believer rejoices in hope while the unbeliever has nothing to look up to outside of physical events
.
The joy of the Lord shall be your strength from today. Whatever be your case and regardless of what negative signs you see cheer up, rejoice in hope, just as Hannah did as soon as the prophet had prophesied on her (I Sam. 1:18). She became happy by what was said to her, not her barren situation. She came to the altar weeping and sad, while she was praying the prophet said to her, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him. v17 (NIV). Hannah did not only say Amen, v18 says ...Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. - that is practical faith in the Word and v20 was the result; she was not disappointed, so will God do for you.

Prayer/Action
* Father help me to always find my joy in You no matter what I'm going through, in Jesus’ name.
* Father, let everything that makes me sad and sorrowful turn around to bring me joy, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
The strength of sin and error is hereby broken over me today by the blood of Jesus, in Jesus' mighty name.