John 16:24
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Many people don’t realize that God wants them to be joyful. Now that literally means that He wants them to be full of joy. Has it ever occurred to you that God wants you to be full of joy? Well, it should because the Bible says it in many ways and places.
I have a feeling that if I took a poll, I would find an interesting statistic. I believe that the vast majority of people would say that they desire to be filled with joy; but, on the other hand, I believe that there would be a lot less who would say that they are actually experiencing real and abundant joy.
If it is God’s will for us to be full of joy and we want to experience that joy, then I wonder why more of us are not. I believe that part of the problem may be in the fact that many don’t really know what joy really is. For many people, joy is a feeling. Now we all know that feelings come and go and rise and fall according to circumstances. Therefore, if joy is dependent on feelings, then it will be very flighty at best.
The truth of the matter is that joy is not based on situations and circumstances and contrary to popular belief; joy is not just feeling happy all the time. Instead, joy is an act of the will that has its source in what you know. Real joy is a by product then of reading and hearing the Word of God.
God’s word contains power; it has the power needed to encourage your soul and to fill you with the joy of the Lord. The devil knows this and will do all that he can to keep you from receiving that Word. He is the thief that tries to snatch it away from you as soon as it is sown into your heart and life. Be aware of this and don’t let him do it.