Joy, No Matter What!

Nehemiah 8:10

It is a time to celebrate with a hearty meal and to send presents to those in need, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. You must not be dejected and sad!”

When everything is going great, it's easy to feel happy.

Because happiness is an emotion that's driven by your outside circumstances. But the joy of the Lord is a fruit of the spirit from inside you. And the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Galatians 5:22, Nehemiah 8:10)

Joy is something you can choose to receive by faith. And you can have joy continually, no matter your circumstances. The opposite of joy is unbelief. Unbelief in what? Unbelief in who God says you are. Unbelief in what God has promised to do for you through His 6000 plus biblical promises.

One of the most important revelations we can get from the Word of God is to understand who we are in Christ.

Have you heard this saying?

- This is my Bible.
- I am what it says I am.
- I can do what it says I can do.

If you don't know who you are in Christ, you'll say it this way instead ...

- This is my Bible, I don’t know what it says
- I don’t know who I am
- I don’t know what I can do

If you don’t know (have the Biblical knowledge) of who you are in Christ, along with your power and authority in Christ, Satan will do to you and your family, what he did to Job’s family.

God has given you a new identity.

• Instead of a sinner, you are now called a Christian
• Instead of lost, you are called found
• Instead of enemy, you are called friend
• Instead of unrighteous, you are called righteous
• Instead of sick, you are called healed
• Instead of poor, you are called rich

(2 Cor 5:17, 2 Cor 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24, 2 Cor 8:9, Eph 1:6, Rom 6:2-22)

So how does satan deceive us? He gets us to believe in a false identity based on:

• The way you grew up
• Circumstances
• Thoughts
• Feelings
• Success and failures
• Financial status

This is what has shaped our False Identity. And to boot, the church has spent too much time correcting actions rather than revealing identity.

When you have someone that doesn’t know who they are, everything they do will be an effort to try to make themselves into something — to create their own identity. They will devote every effort to become a person of significance, instead of understanding that they are already significant.

If you put your identity in what you can do instead of who God says you already are, then you’ll be on this perpetual cycle trying to earn approval and gain something that you already have.

When you know who you are and whose you are ... you will be full of joy.

Fear not. Believe only. Get ready.

Gerald