The Crown of Joy

Last week I sat down to prepare a message on the topic of joy. It is one of my most favorite subjects because of its powerful influence in my daily life. I spent so many years trapped in a seemingly never-ending cycle of sin, not realizing that what I was really seeking was this elusive concept called joy. The world doesn't have the ability to produce joy. It can give an alternate substitute called pleasure, but that is nothing compared to real joy. Happiness is not joy either because happiness depends on happenings. It is a circumstantial feeling based on my lot in life at any given time. If things are all going well then I am happy, but if things are not going well then I am unhappy. That's no way for a Christian to go through life.

Fortunately for us we don't have to go through life hoping for favorable circumstances all the time because the truth is that's not going to happen. Living that way can cause a tremendous drain on our souls. I'm not going to live a roller-coaster ride of a life anymore, and I hope you aren't either. Nehemiah 8:10 in our Bibles tells us that "the joy of the Lord is our strength." This implies to me that joy is given to us for spiritual warfare. Yeah, that's right, spiritual warfare. In case you didn't know it you are in the middle of a war in the heavenlies being played out on the earth for the souls of men. And once you become a Christian your soul is no longer in play, but your joy is. If Satan can no longer take you down with him then he will come after your joy because he knows it is contagious and you will attract many others to Christ with it.

You may have noticed that I titled this message "The Crown of Joy." I got that title from the Lord while in meditation over His word. I asked the Lord what joy looked like and this was my very next thought, "The joy of the Lord is like a crown on the head for all to see." I said to myself "How interesting," and then the Lord opened up my understanding of its meaning. If I were to walk into a room crowded full of people wearing a crown, it would immediately draw the attention of everyone around me. They would be pointing at me, whispering to each other, and snickering my way because of the absolute foreignness of the crown on my head. I would obviously stand out in a room full of crownless people. Some of them would be wandering how I got the crown, some of them would really like it and want one of their own, and some of them would be down right jealous. No matter what their reaction the purpose of the crown would be fulfilled, to get them noticing. The same is true about the joy of the Lord in our lives. It is our strength, but is also a magnet to get the attention of others who don't know the Lord, or His joy. Once they see that we have something they don't even in the midst of such a dark and sick world they will thirst for answers. They will have questions, they will come asking, and then we will have an open door to share with them the love of our lives, Jesus.

Tune in next week for the continuation of this message. We will talk about how we get joy, and how we keep it. God bless you all, and don't forget to take with you the crown of joy this week.