Joy for You Today

April 23, 2022

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10b

Hey, Family Church!
God wants to bring joy to you right now – wherever you are and whatever is going on.

In this joy scripture, the governor, prophets, and priests spoke God’s words to ancient Israel after the captivity of Babylon and during the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem. At some point during the rebuild, when many exiles had returned to Jerusalem, the people were learning about the Word of God and the Law. And when they heard about what they had been deprived of and what they had ignored, they wept. But then the people were told not to grieve but that the joy of the Lord is their strength.

This context was a serious moment for Israel. I don’t know how serious your moment is now – we all have our issues and seasons. But this truth that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” can be embraced by you and me right now, just as it was in that day of shifting from darkness to light; from rubble to order; from torn-down to repaired walls. God wants to take you from whatever state of harshness you are in, to a new state of completeness and new beginnings. He loves you!

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord! Psalm 144:15b (NKJV)

The joy of the Lord is your strength!
Pastor Jeff Perry

PRAY THIS PRAYER:
God, because You are my Lord, I can be happy! Fill me with Your joy today! You are God over oppression, over fear, sickness, even over the outcomes from my own failings. I look to You today to turn things around. Instead of fear and tears, I choose to rejoice in You! I forgive everybody and I refuse to harbor bitterness or hold a grudge. I love You, Lord! Thank You for strengthening me with Your joy! Amen.

joy, noun
The emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight. The expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety. A state of happiness or felicity: Bliss. A source or cause of delight.

Copyright © 2022 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. “Joy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/joy. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.