UNLOCKING YOUR POTENTIAL 17 KEY 16: Ever Increasing Joy

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Isa 61:1-3

Isaiah spoke about the ministry of Jesus. When Jesus comes into you, joy has come into your life. Why do you need joy? It is because you need strength in your life. If there is no joy, there is no strength.

I am not talking about happiness. For example, they ask you to drink beer and be happy. For those who drink them, they enjoy drinking and they are happy; therefore they go back to drinking every evening. But that is momentary happiness. Once the effect of alcohol is gone, the sadness will come again.

When you see a drunkard, he seems joyful. When a real drunkard is drunk, he is sober. The man will sit down, think deeply and laugh happily. He is generous, he is bold; he can even attempt to stop a moving trailer, he is carefree. Those are perversions. They are the perversions of real joy.

It looks like joy but it is not joy. That is what the world system can produce, but I am talking about a joy that can kill all unhappiness around you forever. It is called the joy of the Lord.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted…..

Luke 4:18

The Spirit of the Lord and the anointing has remained the same in all ages. Anointing of the lord is available and is on you as it was on Jesus. Somebody may ask what the meaning of 'anointed me' is. If rain falls and the land is wet, the rain is the Holy Spirit and the wetness is the anointing. You cannot separate wetness from the rain; so also you cannot separate the anointing from the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is God on earth; He is the helper you have on earth. You must know he is with you, he is for you, and he is in you. That is why the New Testament is better than the Old

Testament. In the Old Testament, he was with them; he was for them, but not in them. At that time, once the anointing is lifted they are ordinary and low in the power of God.

For Samson, scraping off his hairs means the anointing is gone. For Elijah, he ran from a woman who threatened him after killing 450 prophets of Baal. The anointing is for them and upon them but not in them. Thank God today, God dwells in us.

Where is God's address? Inside you and me! You are the temple of God. It is not totally correct to call a house built for a place of worship house of God in this dispensation. You are the real temple of God because your body houses the Holy Spirit. You are a spirit being, having a soul and living in a body.

With your spirit you contact the supernatural, with your soul you contact the intellectual world and with your body you contact the physical world. God stays in our spirit because he is the father of all spirits. The Holy Ghost is in your Spirit.

It is from your spirit that the anointing of joy flows, that is where the power of God flows from in your life.

And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

John 1:16

When you receive him, he has the capacity to multiply joy in your life. If the enemy steals your joy, he steals your strength. Everyone who unlocks their potentials is full of joy, continuous joy. The more you increase in that joy, the more your spiritual strength increases. There is no need for sorrow in your life; it will hinder you from manifesting correctly.

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Rev 3:11

If your crown cannot be stolen, you will not be told to hold it fast. You can lose what you have spiritually unless you learn to hold them. So also your joy can be lost if you are not mindful.

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion….

Isaiah 61:3

In these last days, because the devil is mad after been bruised by Jesus, there will be much mourning. Because he knows his time is so short, he has been fighting like a mad dog. It takes the devil's madness for a young lady to carry bomb on her body with pregnancy and wanting to die with others, thinking that she will go to one heaven.

God's answer is to appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the Oil of joy for mourning. When they see that what brings others down does not affect you, they will know your joy is not happiness.

In the book of Act chapter 16, we see Paul and Silas beaten while doing the will of God. They could have said to themselves after being beaten, "are we sure God is with us?" But instead of being grieved, they turned the time of darkness and sorrow to praises and honour.

At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

Acts 16:26

The power that shook the foundation of the prison came from inside of them. There is a power of God inside of you. God did not come from heaven to say I want to shake the prison yard. They released the power of God inside of them through the joy of God. It was the tremendous joy they released from the inside that produced that great effect.

There was a sudden commotion; everyone's chains were loosed. All the doors were opened. These included other prisoners who were not qualified for it. Historical record said they heard about the tremor at the prison in the temple court. The keeper of the prison when he saw that doors were opened, he wanted to kill himself, but Paul told him with a loud voice, we are all here. We are not planning to run away, we are just practicing His presence.

We carry God in us that bring liberation and change to a hopeless situation. The jailor came to them and asked what he could do to be saved. He told them your God is too awesome. It is my prayer that people will see the joy of God radiating through you and they will ask; tell us about your God.

By the second day, they sent that those men who were put in prison should be released. It was because God was working on their behalf. But Paul said you have come to your senses to release us, we are not going. Then, they started begging them to leave the prison.

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The joy of the Lord is your strength; don't look at the problems in the world. When you compare the God inside of you with the world's challenges, they are minorities. Look inside you and get strength from Him.

For that joy to be released, you must be rightly connected. Many are losing out because they are not connected. I am not talking about a God that is so mysterious and cannot be experienced. You don't have to pray oh God, give me your power, it is in you already. Do not give away your power, don't give in to despair. Activate joy inside you!

The Bible is older than any book on earth, yet it has not lost its power even after many translations. Whether in Hebrew or German, once it is interpreted accurately, it has power. The same for Holy Ghost joy, it is not a matter of your colour or age, once you activate it, it works wonder and your manifestation is unlocked.

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Neh 8:10

How do I know that the joy is in you? I know by experience, I know by the word of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Ephesians 3:20

A story of a prominent man of God was told. When he was young, his mother took him to a very powerful herbalist to get a 'power' to put in his pocket for long life. To show how power he is, the herbalist cursed a tree in their presence and the tree dried up immediately. As an unbeliever then, he asked the man, "Baba you said this power was given you by your forefathers and that you helped my own father with the same power?" The herbalist said yes. He then asked the man, "Where are your forefathers and my own father you gave the power to?" The herbalist said they are dead. So he said "if they have died, I don't want the power."

The mother who took him there started crying, "My son has failed". She tried to force him to take the 'power' but he refused. After a failed persuasion, they left the man; the mother was in sorrow thinking her son will die but the son did not die. One day, the mother came to meet the son and was crying that the herbalist has died.

Real power is not in the pocket. The power is not even in mantle. I am not saying that God's power cannot flow in material things, God can and He does move through things, but you should grow in hurry to know God personally, without living by what you see or feel. Real power is in you, it is not outside you.

There will always be circumstances you cannot control. Don't get upset and frustrated about happenings around you, God is bigger than all the enemies you have. Stop getting offended; life is too short to be offended, be joyful.

The spirit that encourages you to be offended where God placed you is a 'household wickedness' that wants to destroy you. Don't be offended in the church and family God has placed you. Do not let anything steal your joy in life. Be determined that you will enjoy your life; life can be enjoyed.

In the days of Moses, Aaron and Mariam, the latter ganged up against Moses because of the wife he married. They hated the wife and they loved Moses. God had to come down from heaven and defended Moses. In judgment, Mariam became a leper. Though Moses cried to God to save her, God said she would be outside the camp for 7 days so that other people will fear Me and respect the anointed.

Leave your enemies alone, let God fight your battles. Some have made up their mind to be at war with you. Leave them to themselves, God is greater. Don't let anybody make you bottle up, release your joy and your potential will manifest.

And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.

Luke 10:5-6

Jesus said if they don't receive your peace, take your peace away. You can love people from afar. You don't have to force people to accept your peace. Do not waste your time agonizing because of people's opinion, it is their opinion and they are entitled to it. You make a choice to be joyous.

Let's illustrate further with the story of David, the Ark of God and Obed-Edom. The ark of God stayed few months in the house of ObedEdom, servant of David. The Lord blessed the man to the extent that the King was envious of him. At that time, the Ark of God was where the Holy Spirit dwells. Now, the Holy Ghost is in you. Those who hate you are in trouble, those who love you are blessed.

So, don't force your blessing on people, just live your life. If they don't tolerate you, they will suffer like an idiot. If they go away from the peace of God in your life, they enter into warfare in their life. Let God defend you. Do not fight a useless battle. Meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control. Do not waste your time arguing or explaining your opinion to those who have made up their mind to hate you.

When the joy of God fills your heart, it prolongs your years on earth. Holy Ghost laughter comes from your belly in an impossible situation and that laughter is like medicine to your body.

REFLECTIONS

Meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control.

Chapter end