April 21, 2017

Revival of Joy

Written by Boyd Bailey

Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – April 21, 2017

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?  Psalm 85:6

Life can squeeze out your joy. Like an exhausted slice of lime or lemon, there is nothing left. You have flavored the life of others by giving to them, but now nothing remains for you. Your joy is gone. You need a revival of joy. Maybe you are battling health issues or financial woes. The pressure has gotten the best of you. Like the crushing of grapes in the preparation of wine, your juices of joy have been depleted. The only remains are dried and parched skins. You are tapped out. You are in desperate need of a jolt of joy.

You need joy to bridge you from your position of burnout back to your role as joy giver. Isn’t it ironic that we can fall victim to the very thing we see as a deficiency in others? No one is immune to slipping into a joyless life. In fact, there will be seasons that joy will elude us like water in the desert. We need a new infusion of joy. The revival of joy is ongoing. You can only run so long, and then you must stop and refill your joy tanks.

You can remember when work brought you joy, but now you are maintaining at best. Marriage was bliss in the past—full of joy—but now you just coexist. Your relationship with God once erupted with joy, but now it is stale and distant. A revival of joy refills you on all these fronts. Revival assumes that joy once existed. Joy reigned over many aspects of your life, but certainly, the joy of your salvation was once preeminent. To revive something means you bring it back into existence, back to life. So the best place to start the revival of anything is with God.

God specializes in resurrecting and reviving. He can take what is dead or dormant and breathe life into it. The breath of God gives joy. God’s breath is not stale or repugnant. On the contrary, His breath is fresh and rejuvenating. Like an asthmatic gasping for air, we struggle in need of God’s oxygen. Life’s struggles wear us down to a pulp. We need the breath of God to revive our joy. But, you may need to alter your proximity to benefit from the breath of God. His breath is most effective up close and personal.

Like an inhaler, you need God daily in your face to transmit His joy. The joy of the Lord is not captured from a distance. It is inhaled and ingested from a position of intimacy. Do not let your joylessness leave you incoherent. God wants to clear your heart and mind. Joy is on the way, like the arrival of the cavalry in the heat of the battle. Let God rescue you, revive you, and set you back on a joy-filled journey. You are not defeated in Christ. The enemy is the loser. He is the joy killer, but his advances are temporary. Allow God to resuscitate your joy. The world won’t. Work can’t. People fail. And money is an illusion of joy.

So, go to the creator, dispenser, and sustainer of joy. Lean on the one full of joy, Jesus. He will bring your joy back to life as He was brought back to life—full and robust. Let Him make your joy complete. His joy is your strength. Some things never change and His joy is one of them. Start by simply thinking back on when you exchanged self for a savior. You opened the door to your life and Jesus entered with a housewarming gift. It was a beautiful basket full of joy. Relive that experience and re-engage with Him. His joy is not jaded—it is just right. Your joy will rub off on others, and the revival of rejoicing in God will extend from one person to another.

Be joyful in Jesus!

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, teach me to find my joy in Jesus alone, in His name I pray. Amen.

Application

What person or fear have I allowed to steal my joy?

Related Reading

Leviticus 9:24; 1 Kings 8:66; Colossians 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:6

Post/Tweet today

Let God rescue you, revive you, and set you back on a joy-filled journey. #WisdomHunters #revivalofjoy

Worship Resource

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Comments

  1. Buddy says:

    Our life in Christ is much like a song being played each day. Some days are a sweet melody, some days a sad ballad, some days an encouraging, uplifting, hand-clapping pop song and other days a peaceful tune and soothes the soul. But before a song can become a song there must be pauses in the lyrics or between the songs them self. The same applies to our life in Christ. There will days, weeks, months and sometimes years that joy is absent and God seems to be silent, though he’s not. It is during those times we can still have joy by recognizing and remembering our life truly is a song that the Lord placed in each of our mouths (Psalms 40:3) and just like a song, our life is merely in a pause. So rejoice that you recognize the pause in your song (life) as some people have never lived the song to recognize the pause.

  2. Jamie Ricketts says:

    Thank you for this devotional and allowing God to use you to serve others. I am in a season of many disappointments and pain. It feels like waves that keep knocking me down and it is getting harder to experience joy. This devotional really spoke to me and has helped me tremendously. Thank you and God bless you Boyd!

  3. Tawn C Battiste says:

    EXCELLENT!!

  4. Gwynne says:

    Thank you, Tawn, for our enthusiastic word of encouragement!We love hearing from our Wisdom Hunter’s family and look forward to hearing from you again.
    Grateful for you,
    Gwynne

    “Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him.”
    Psalm 4:3

  5. Gwynne says:

    Dear Jamie,
    Thank you for taking the time to respond to us after reading Boyd’s devotional, “Revival of Joy”. Please know that I am passing along your kind comments to him and I am sure he will be grateful for them. We are thankful that this devotional “spoke to you” and give all the glory to God!
    Jamie, isn’t it just “so God” to put those words right in front of you during a time when you really needed to read them? It never ceases to amaze me when He is in the details of our lives. He loves us that much! Wow!
    There were so many statements of hope in this devotional. “Do not let your joylessness leave you incoherent. God wants to clear your heart and mind. Joy is on the way, like the arrival of the cavalry in the heat of battle. Let God rescue you, revive you, and set you back on a joy-filled journey.” AMEN and AMEN!!
    (I say “Bring on the cavalry!!”)
    Jamie, I’m so happy you are beginning to feel His Joy. His Joy is joy like none other.
    We are grateful for you and look forward to hearing from you again.
    Blessings,
    Gwynne
    “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
    He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow,
    Will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”
    Psalm 126: 5-6

  6. Gwynne says:

    Dear Buddy,
    Gracious. Thank you so much for your sincere and wise words.I have read this over a few times and I must say it is beautifully stated. Thank you. Please know that I plan to share it with the Wisdom Hunter’s team and they, like myself, will be blessed by your words. How very true, when you stated, “But before a song can become a song there must be pauses in the lyrics or between the songs themselves. This applies to our life in Christ”. Well said!
    And Buddy, we DO rejoice in the fact that we “recognize the pause” and thank Him for what He teaches us and how He loves us through the “pauses”.
    Grateful for you,
    Gwynne

    “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God”.
    Psalm 40:3


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