In common vernacular, the word joy means “delight, happiness and pleasure.” However, from a biblical standpoint, joy is a powerful force that resides in your spirit once you’ve made Jesus the Lord of your life. Just because you may walk around all day with a frown on your face doesn’t mean joy is not in your spirit. It just means you’ve suppressed it—you haven’t tapped into it. And if you haven’t tapped into joy, then you are not experiencing the strength of the Lord. Appropriating the joy of the Lord is a matter of choice, and act of your will. You can get up in the morning and will to be happy, or you can will to be unhappy. Either way, the choice is yours.

In order to walk in the joy of the Lord, you must choose to reach down into your spirit and tap in to the joy that resides there. Of course, the devil will do everything he can to prevent you from connecting to the force of joy, but he can’t succeed unless you let him. He will attempt to deceive you into thinking there is no joy within you. And if he can get you to choose not to tap in to it, you will be a weak and easy target for the devil to overcome. Regardless of the frustrations and challenges you may be facing at this moment, the joy of the Lord resides within you.

Choose today to tap in to the force of joy, and then take a step of faith and choose to rejoice. When you do, you will experience renewed strength.

Confession: I will not be deceived into letting go of my joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength, and I choose to tap in to the force of joy today. Regardless of my circumstances or how I feel, I choose to rejoice in the Lord.