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
So, what Nehemiah
8:10 is telling us is feel joyful because you feel safe and protected in God’s
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 You Father God. To Jesus be the glory, the majesty, the power, and the dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus loves you,
In Him,
Wagdi Henein
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