A thief is only there to steal, kill and destroy.. John 10:10 MSG.
The past couple of weeks have been challenging with the enemy unleashing an attack on my mind. All kinds of arrows shot at my soul aimed at crippling me by sowing seeds of offense and discouragement. ‘Don’t you see you are not appreciated?’.’Nobody cares, even if you kill yourself trying…’ The odds are against you..’ I noticed myself becoming overtly sensitive to every look, comment and actions of people around me. As unbelievable as it sounds a heavy weight was beginning to hover around me. I could feel the weight and somehow I just was not ready to fight it. As if to add insult to injury, I was involved in a car accident and I crashed my beloved vehicle. I was at fault, my licence and Insurance cost will be rising…. Let me spare you the long details…
I was turning down invitations and opportunities to be with people and I just did not realise the effect of what I was going through until my wife said to me ‘you are withdrawing yourself from people and you’re no longer the blessing you used to be’.
It suddenly dawned on me – this is another of the devil’s typical and tactical style of attack against the believer, to shut me in and block the flow of the nature and es
sence of God through me. The enemy wants to rob me of my joy and stop me from being my real self. ‘He wants you to cease being the real you’. I wondered, could this be what is popularly referred to as depression?
I need to share this, if only it will help someone from falling into the same trap of the enemy.
One thing I know for sure the enemy comes after your joy. He bombards you with all kinds of reasons to stifle your joy from bubbling forth from within your spirit, if he is able to succeed, then he has robbed you of your strength. That exuberant flow of joy, that is divine; it is the key to the victorious and triumphant life of the believer.
Joy is different from happiness.
Happiness is largely dependent on circumstances and events around you. You may be happy for a moment if your favourite team wins the football game or you made some extra bucks from some business deals. You may be happy if you got a raise at your place of work or something good happens to you. It is great to be happy and everyone wants to be. However, feelings of happiness are temporary. Let something negative happen the next moment and you quickly forget you were happy just a moment ago. Happiness depends on happenings.
Joy on the other hand is supernatural. It is a fruit if the Spirit. Galatians 5:22. It is part of the evidence that the Spirit of God resides in your human spirit. ‘….Out of his heart shall flows rivers of living waters John7:38’. Joy is part of that divine flow.
‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’ Nehemiah 8:10.
We need to understand how important joy is to the believer. Joy is also a weapon for battle, you need strength to fight. We are admonished to fight the good fight of faith. When the enemy robs you of your joy or the manifestation of it, he weakens you and robs you of the will to fight.
Joy is a key resource in your day to day life. Joy emanates from the core of your spirit, when the darkness of negative circumstances closes in; joy is meant to be the glow that illuminates your being keeping you going.
Isaiah 12:3 says:
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
You need strength to draw water from a well. Joy provides that inner strength needed to draw out your blessings in God. Begin to access your wells of blessing, healing, favour, prosperity and all the other advantages promised in God’s salvation package with joy providing you the strength.
Why did Paul give a candid instruction in Philippians 4:4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
How often did Paul say to Rejoice? Always!
It takes a conscious effort to leave the gates open and allow that flow of exuberance from within. Even in the face of trials and troubles, Paul admonishes us to count it all joy.
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds.. (James 1:2)
We should never allow the enemy rob us of our joy in spite of the situation.
While the devil cannot destroy the source of your joy, he tries to rob you of the manifestation and effect of that fruit in your life. He battles and wages war in your mind to dampen your spirit where joy flows from. A free mind and a right attitude is needed to manifest joy. Joy emanates from the spirit but it needs the cooperation of the mind to come to full manifestation. ‘Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.’ Out of it are the issues of life.
Paul did not only advice us to rejoice always, he tells us the secret: It’s what you allow rest in your mind, what you are focusing on:
Paul admonished that we strain our thoughts through several sieves:
Philippians 4: 8-9
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
For those couple of days I was the target of the enemy, I was not careful of the kinds of thoughts I allowed thrive in my mind. I believed the lies of the enemy and wallowed in self pity and I can assure you that is the shortest route to depression.
God wants us to live in victory and blessings, a life that is exuberant and energetic, a life that is contagious, full of praise and worship. When we focus on God and allow his nature flow through us, others will recognise this life force in us and they will be drawn towards us and the Christ in us – the hope of Glory. Col.1:27.
Rejoice.
Laolu Oyeyemi.