(Please check Part 2 of this post: The Joy of the Lord: Comprehensive Lessons From Nehemiah 8:10 – Part 2)

Unpacking the Layers of Truth (Contd)

6.  Unarguably, the joy of obedience gives us added drive, impetus and motivation to do more. But much more importantly, it gives joy and strength also to “them who have nothing prepared”. The Psalms and Proverbs are littered with the many promises of increase, security, preservation, and God’s delight (the goodness of His countenance or favour) that rest on the abode of those who yield themselves as vessels of joy and strength to the needy and the weary. The joy on the face of a man who is helped is priceless; how much more when we are the ones who put it there?

7.  The joy “of the Lord” – this shows that it is not just the joy that comes from the Lord. There is also a joy that cumbers the heart of God to see His children respond with love, simplicity, and a communal brotherly attitude to each other. This gives joy to God’s heart, it is ecstatic to Him. He rejoices to see that His children freely share amongst themselves that which they have been privileged to own and acquire.

This was the very character of the members of the early church, so much that many willingly parted with inheritances and great possessions so that they could provide sustenance for their brethren – that was how knitted they were in heart and mind – in great commitment. This joy that God feels then translates to strength for us. HOW?

‘But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, that it is he who giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day.’ – Deuteronomy 8:18

The good countenance of the Lord upon a man is not just a feel-good emotion. The dexterity of life graces him to profit beyond mere human education. The power to get wealth is a sphere of existence where a man is so full of value that he sees opportunities and blessings in every situation.

He has deep intelligence and insight to come out with value (products or services) that can be exchanged for financial resources irrespective of the context in which he finds himself. This power (or STRENGTH) which the joy in the heart of God grants him produces greater measures of results that can be channelled towards empowering more and more, producing an infinite cycle of blessedness, joy, freewill giving, and thanksgiving.

8.  Because of our peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, we are strengthened and empowered to go through whatever phase of our lives, challenges, demands, sacrifices, etc. Joy helps us to navigate through while keeping the definition of things in proper perspective, and retaining the needed mindset.

Joy makes it easier for the heart and soul to handle well whatever conditions the weather comes up with. It is much easier to go through the peril of the sandstorm with a joyful heart focused on a reality beyond external circumstances, than with a grumpy, tepid, insidious, and lowly disposition of heart.

‘But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now however at length, ye have revived your thinking of me, though surely ye did also think of me, but lacked opportunity. Not that I speak as regards privation, for as to me *I* have learnt in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. In everything and in all things I am initiated both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer privation. I have strength for all things in him that gives me power.’ – Philippians 4:10-13

‘Beloved, take not as strange the fire of persecution which has taken place amongst you for your trial, as if a strange thing was happening to you; but as ye have share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that in the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exultation. If ye are reproached in the name of Christ, blessed are ye; for the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you: on their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.’ – 1 Peter 4:12-14

And the tool that makes this possible is the revelation of God’s love manifestly expressed in our hearts in and through CHRIST – Romans 5:1-5.

Finally, Galatians 6:3-10 is a worthwhile scripture that captures and crowns all the thoughts expressed in this short piece. As faith and patience are scripturally inseparable twins, so much more is joy and confidence.