The Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary defines joy as "A feeling of great happiness and contentment." The Encarta Dictionary says joy is "Great happiness: feelings of great happiness or pleasure, especially of an elevated or spiritual kind."
Joy is a feeling of great happiness and contentment!
The Bible calls it joy unspeakable that is full of glory (1 Peter 1:8).
Joy is the trigger for accomplishments in life. You need it! You need to
be joyful in order to be successful. Not only do you need joy to be
successful, you equally need to be joyful to maintain that success.
Excitement is one of the cardinal laws that
guarantees outstanding success in the kingdom. This is because until you
are excited, you don’t excel. Your high places in life are inaccessible
without joy. God knows that the more excited you are, the more you
excel on earth.
The Bible paints a picture of how the man, David,
handled a precarious situation in his life. Concerning the situation,
God’s Word says: And David was greatly distressed; for the people
spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved,
every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6). David did not allow the
fact that his mighty men had deserted him to discourage him, instead,
he encouraged himself.
Joy is the pathway to exploits on the earth. It is
God’s mystery for taking you to the top. If you do all that I have been
teaching in this column so far, but you are not joyful, you may still
not succeed in life. This is because the constant oozing of the joy of
the Lord from you keeps you fresh, enables you to carry His presence
always and brings you fresh insight and strength.
God has reserved the top of the success ladder for
you; but depression or lack of joy can stop you from getting there.
Depression is Satan’s trap for stealing your joy, so he can steal your
colourful destiny. Don’t allow him!
The Bible says: A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones (Proverbs
17:22). A broken spirit not only dries the bones, but also robs you of
your colourful destiny. Knowing this fully well, Prophet Habakkuk
refused to be broken down (Habakkuk 3:17-19). My friend, get excited!
Come out of every mourning and open up to the joy of the Lord. Be
excited about your spouse, career, business and children, because that
is the highway to exploits in life. Only then will God make you to walk
upon your high places.
For instance, I have never needed any encouragement
since God called me into full-time ministry. I am ever excited, giving
no room to depression. In January 1984, our average Sunday attendance
was six people. But I was ever joyful. I would still preach to them as
though they were thousands of people in the church.
One day, after having jumped up and down preaching to
the people, I said to them, "Don’t mistake me for a fool; I see crowds
outside there."
The first day my wife attended church service in
Kaduna (we were still living in Ilorin then), she couldn’t believe the
service had ended when we closed. This was because she couldn’t match
the excitement she always saw in me with the reality of the number of
people in church that day.
Get excited over your job! Many are not excited over
their jobs; that is why they are not excelling in them. Sit joyfully
behind those planks you are selling and see people mysteriously coming
to buy them from you. Get excited about your home and see God perfect
everything that needs perfecting in it. Once you are able to master this
secret for exploits, you will stay above always, never beneath.
I see joy as the catalyst of destiny (Amos 9:11). It
gives you open doors for a complete turn-around in your life and your
career. It makes your destiny to flourish. The joy of the Lord causes
your life to keep flourishing. You can move God by your joy. Whatever
position you may be in now is worth being excited over.
Excitement as I said, is a cardinal law for
outstanding success. Every form of depression makes you a victim of the
enemy, but excitement guarantees you a place in the high places of the
earth. Joy will never cease from your habitation, in Jesus’ name!
Friend, to have a genuine access to joy, you have to
first be a child of God. You become a child of God by confessing your
sins and accepting Jesus as your Saviour and your Lord. If you are set
for it, please say this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am
a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Today, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my
Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know, I am born
again!
I will continue this teaching next week.
I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle,
Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. Our midweek services
hold on Wednesdays between 6 and 8 p.m. We have three services on
Sundays. The first one holds between 6.30 and 8.30 a.m., the second
between 8.45 a.m. and 10.45 a.m. and the third between 11.00 a.m. and
1.00 p.m.
Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books—Exploring The Secrets Of Success and Understanding The Power Of Praise.
I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony
with me through: BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO, Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land,
Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail:
bishop@davidoyedepoministries.org
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