The Overwhelming Importance of Joy in A Believer’s Life!

26 Jan 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nehemiah 8:10b.          …neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Well it’s Monday, the day after the big snowstorm, and almost everything is closed for the big clean up, but the sun is shining brightly. (smile) And it was indeed a mighty storm, falling steadily from around eight in the morning to six in the evening. And yes, it does take time and energy to clean up the large amounts of snow that fell, but my beef is that they cleaned the main street and the sidewalks in my area, but then banked up the snow in the entrance to the lanes. That prevented my snow maintenance person from getting into my lane to clean my driveway. Now if you block up the entrances to a community of lanes, how are the people who live there expected to get out eh? 

I sent an email to my City Councilor earlier on and got back an automatic reply with all the official excuses for whatever is happening. But soon thereafter I heard some noise outside and when I checked on it, there were some machines finally clearing the entrances to the lanes and actually plowing them too. God be praised! I don’t think my letter made any difference, but most likely many others in the area must have complained because this is the first time they’ve cleaned the lanes themselves so early after a major snowstorm. Let’s hope they do better next time. And that’s my gripe for today! (smile) 

Now, let’s talk about something good, in fact something that’s great for the saved believer; that’s JOY! And like this extract from an article on joy says: ‘Joy doesn’t always look like giggles and smiles. Joy is not necessarily synonymous with happiness.’ That’s for sure! But joy is a deeper sense of comfort and calm in spite of our circumstances, that comes from knowing Jesus. It’s in times like this overwhelming and rather dangerous snowfall that joy rises up and keeps us strong and keeping on. And we all know that seminal scripture on the word from the Book of Nehemiah: ‘neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ (Neh. 8:10b) 

And that’s where true joy comes from; the soul and spirit of our wonderful God! And as Bruh Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:22, one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is indeed JOY! So it’s correct to assume that true joy can only be had through communion and sincere interaction with Almighty God; the source and fountain of the attribute.  And there are many scriptures that talk about joy and it’s association with the Lord, and not surprisingly many of them are found in the psalms. 

So let’s check out a few of them, like this one from Psalm 16, where Bruh David confidently declares of his God: ‘Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.’ (Ps. 16:11) Yes friends, in God’s presence joy is indeed available, and not a li’l bit either, but in a plentiful amount. (smile) Then we have this great assurance from Psalm 126: ‘They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth (to and fro) and weepeth, bearing precious seed (a bag of seed for sowing), shall doubtless come again with rejoicing (shouts of joy), bringing his sheaves with him.’ (Ps. 126:5-6) 

Of course my fellow believers, when we take time and sometimes heartache to sow good seed for God, we will always reap a joyful harvest. Now listen to this reassurance from Isaiah. ‘For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all of the trees of the field shall clap their hands.’ (Is. 55:12)  What joy there is, wherever the Lord’s Word prospers! 

And these words from the prophet Zephaniah only increases that joy. ‘The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest (quiet you) in his LOVE, He will joy over thee with singing.’ (Zeph. 3:17) Now how can you beat that for joy eh, my faithful brethren! And if you complain that all those verses come from the Old Testament, (smile) then listen to this one from Jesus Himself as He talks to the disciples about His ascension to heaven, and consequently to us. 

‘And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.’ (John 16:22) So there’s Jesus’ promise of joy for us all in God’s good time. And if you’re a true Christian, then you have to believe it. (smile) And we’ll end with this interesting verse from Peter, as he talks about the trial of our faith and our belief in Jesus. ‘Whom having not seen, ye LOVE; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.’  (1 Pet. 1:8-9) 

Yes friends, that’s the power of our faith in Jesus, that although we’ve never seen Him in the flesh, like the apostles did, we do know Him in the Spirit and that’s sufficient for us. Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid to help us in these troubled times. Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. 

Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And since we know that divine aid will not be forthcoming until we turn from our evil ways, let’s get together and do that nuh, so that our joy will also be full. Remember, it’s all for our benefit…not God’s! Much LOVE!

…the deepest layer of satisfaction possible…is that of true joy…found only in communion with Christ Jesus…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 June 2021 1 Peter 1:9.

13 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Peter 1:9.    Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Come on friends and fellow believers, it’s time once again to celebrate the Lord’s Day! Boy, does it ever come around quickly! But we never regret it being Sunday, because there’s no better state to be in than praising and worshipping our great and wonderful God! And there’s no better way to begin than with a song of praise, which today is one of the best known African American spirituals in Christian History – ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot.’ 

But before we get into it, let’s hear from the website Hymnary.org . They say: ‘On any given day, reading any newspaper or watching any daily news show, it is not hard to become despondent about the state of the world. When our friends die of disease, or our children are bullied, we cry out with the psalmist, “How long, O Lord, how long?” And yet (for the believer, there is always a “yet”), we make this cry knowing that we have a God who hears us and responds. We are able to call out the evils of this world for what they are, because we know something better is coming. 

We have hope in our own salvation, and in the renewal of God’s creation. Thus, when we sing this great spiritual, it is important that we do so not in an escapist mentality. While we eagerly await the day we see God face to face, we must trust that until that day comes, God is fulfilling His purpose on the earth through us. We can’t sing this hymn in order to run away from the hardship and the pain. Rather, we sing this hymn as an assurance that hardship and pain is not the end. Amidst all of our trials, we know what is yet to come, both in heaven and in the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, and we wait for that day expectantly.’ 

Great words of comfort and encouragement my faithful brethren!And after listening to several versions, I again considered that of Eric Clapton, a rousing reggae riddim recorded way back in 1975, to be the best one for us to sing, because it’s a song of hope and promise and thus needs to be sung as though one is happy for such hope and promise. (smile)So let’s get into some rocking reggae, with joyful hearts and voices, filled with much hope and strong faith, as well as strong background vocals and a tough bass line, with the chorus jumping us off us. 

‘(Refrain: Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home; swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.) I looked over Jordan, and what did I see, coming for to carry me home? A band of angels coming after me, coming for to carry me home. [Refrain] If you get there before I do, coming for to carry me home; tell all my friends I’m coming too, coming for to carry me home. [Refrain] I’m sometimes up, I’m sometimes down, coming for to carry me home; but still my soul feels heavenly bound, coming for to carry me home. [Refrain]’ 

Oh mih people, that was indeed a rocking version! And you could see that heaven enjoyed it too, because they were all up dancing and singing with us. The Father was tapping His toes and clapping along to the music, while Jesus stood to one side rocking quietly, still shy and not wanting to draw too much attention to Himself. (smile) 

Wow! There’s nothing that heaven likes better than praiseful worship, because music is the food of heaven! Remember all that the four beasts and twenty-four elders do all day and night is to sing the praises of God, (Rev. 4:8-11), so heaven is continually filled with music. And as it did for so many of our enslaved forefathers, ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot should also be an emblem of hope for us. As one commentator says: ‘it welcomes death as the occasion “to carry me home to glory.” 

And we know that the imagery is associated with Elijah’s being taken up to heaven in a flaming chariot, over the river Jordan. The Good Book describes it thus: ‘And it came to pass as they (Elijah and Elisha) still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder (separated the two of them), and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.’ (2 Kin.2:11) And the scholars remind us that ‘Elijah followed Enoch in being taken into heaven without dying (cf. Gen. 5:24).’ 

Now, I believe this scripture from Peter’s first epistle is one that’s very appropriate for this song. Please read with me: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye LOVE; in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.’ (1 Pet. 1:3-9) 

Oh my fellow believers, that’s a crucial explanation of our faith right there. We have a living hope in Christ, who rose from the dead and lives forever more! And I like how this commentary puts it: ‘In spite of the “ups” and “downs” of earthly life (vs. 3), it is comforting for Christians to know with certainty that their final destination is the glory of a new heaven and earth.’ 

Yeh friends, as Jesus said to Thomas: ‘ because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen me, and yet have believed.’ (John 20:29) That’s us my people! We have believed, and thus like Zechariah says, we have become prisoners of hope. (Zech. 9:12) Yes, life on earth can be difficult with all its temptations and tribulations, but because we have Jesus, we have living hope, a certainty that things will turn out right in the end. 

So please praise His holy name and give Him much thanks, for without Him, we’d be nothing, but with Him, we are everything! Much LOVE!

…never forget or give up on the Big Three…Faith, Hope and LOVE…                                                                   

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8