But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and
singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
ونحو
نصف الليل كان بولس وسيلا يصلّيان ويسبحان الله والمسجونون يسمعون
The joy of the Lord is your strength and your
stronghold.
فَفَرَحُ
الرَّبِّ هُوَ قُوَّتُكُمْ
Acts 16:25
Nehemiah 8:10
The original Hebrew for "joy" in Nehemiah
8:10 is "chedvah," meaning joy or gladness. The root word for joy in
this context means to rejoice or to make glad. "Strength" in the same
verse is a Hebrew word meaning “a place or means of safety, protection refuge,
or stronghold.”
The joy of the Lord is a constant gladness and cause
to rejoice. It stems from an inner strengthening from our relationship with
Him.
I continue to learn that if I am not extremely
careful, my emotions can and will govern my life.
God instructs us to keep our focus on Jesus in order
to grow spiritually. When I succeed on doing that, the emotional ups and downs
of this life will not shake or change my world.
In “Telling Yourself
the Truth”, William Backus writes about joy:
“Joy comes
from your relationship to God and His unchanging faithfulness. You don’t need
to live in perfect circumstances to be happy. The Bible tells how two men of
God, Paul and Silas, were brought before Roman authorities at Philippi and
beaten with rods and then thrown into jail … But did Paul and Silas moan and
complain, “If it weren’t for the cruelty of the unbelievers, we wouldn’t be
wounded and bleeding. We’d be happy!” No.
Paul and Silas had a strong belief that transcended
circumstances, events, people, feelings; it even transcended pain. That belief
was in the person, power, and presence of Jesus Christ. They believed their
suffering wasn’t as important as the message they carried …
They sang so loudly their voices were heard throughout
the prison! And not only that, God … opened the prison doors for them. Their
happiness came from the belief in Jesus Christ within them and not from
circumstances around them.”
I invite you to repeat the following prayer
for yourself:
Abba Father, help me to keep my focus on the person, power, and presence of Jesus Christ in my life instead of the circumstances of my life. I thank You Jesus that You promised that You
will never leave me nor forsake me. Thank you LORD that I have
absolutely no doubt that You are in control of every second of my future
and that through this assurance I can have an inner sense of peace that
transcends all our human understanding. Thank You Father that You delight
in showing me again and again that You are the source of my strength, my
provision, my protection, and my ultimate joy in life. In the name of Your
precious Son Jesus, I pray. To Him be the
glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus loves you,
In Him,
Wagdi Henein
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