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Articles, Studies, & Prophetic Words
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Let there be Joy
Therefore the
redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto
Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall
obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away
Isaiah
51:11 (KJV)
In
the weeks of preparation for Christmas, there is so much talk of
“joy.” So much talk while so many feel anything but joyful.
For many, the
holiday season is one of the most despairing of all times in the
year – only to be topped by the post-holiday blues. A new year
dawns with hope of new beginnings, while the darkness creeps in
to steal the hope that the new year brings.
It’s a sad
reality. However, we must remember that what we see in the
natural is not an occurrence all to itself. It is a reflection
of the spiritual climate.
The enemy seeks to shroud the true meaning of Christmas from the
world, and therefore uses every means at his disposal to do so.
One of the greatest counter measures he has for joy – which is
released and celebrated at Christmas -- is depression. After
the holidays, the depression often turns to despair – another
agent of evil.
Together, depression and despair join forces with restlessness,
hopelessness, grief, regret, cynicism, sorrow and so many other
perpetrators of harm that much of the earth loses sight of the
new beginning that God has just granted to us.
In this battle, which often sets the pace for the year, we can
be pro-active. We do not have to sit by and take what the enemy
throws our way. As followers of Christ, we have an awesome
arsenal of weapons at our command. One of the most powerful and
oft-overlooked is the force of joy. The enemy knows its power;
that’s why he seeks to stop it. Instead of his misery, we need
to unleash the power of joy.
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, but you may not have realized that
the fruit are not just character traits that make us nice
people. They are characteristics of the divine life living
inside of us. They are powerful forces which exude the very
essence of God, whose life-giving Spirit abides with us.
Look at the Bible. When God confronted a problem, what did He
do? Well, I can tell you what He didn’t do. He didn’t do what
we so often do; He didn’t agree with the force opposing Him.
No. What He did was contradict the predicament with His own
solution.
When confronted with chaos, He brought order. When facing
hopelessness, He brought hope, which is the foundation step for
faith. When He was up against the false, He brought the true.
When faced with religion, He brought freedom. Whatever the
problem, He never sunk to the level of the problem. He remained
at His high and lofty position above all other things. He
remembered who He was.
We would do well to do the same. When confronted with
depression, we must release joy. When confronted with
captivity, we must release praise. When confronted with fear,
we must release faith. When confronted
with self-pity, we must do something for someone else that we
would like to have done for us!
I understand. Really I do. It doesn’t feel that easy. “If I
had any joy, I would release it,” you might be saying. That’s
the first thing we have to get straight. Every good and perfect
gift comes from heaven above (James 1:17), and we don’t have the
power of joy on our own.
However, the good news is that even though we don’t have it of
ourselves, we are partakers of the divine Spirit, and as such,
He’s got everything we need for every situation.
We must get past what we do or don’t have in and of ourselves,
because we will come up short every time. What we must do is
realize that what we have is more precious than silver or gold
and that the Greater One who lives within us has exactly what we
need to overcome every obstacle to the fulfillment of His plan
for our lives.
It is not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord!
(Zechariah 4:6)
As an act of faith, intercession and prophetic declaration, I
release now to you the full force of joy. As I have freely
received, I now freely give. You do the same. Confidently take
this joy into every situation, and LET THERE BE JOY!
--- Tracy Schellhorn
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