Victory is not the absence of problems, it is the presence of power.
God’s power is greater than any problem. His victory swallows up all adverse circumstances. We can stand strong, as more than conquerors, when we know that He is with us. Repeatedly the Bible instructs us to fear not, for He is with us. Not only is He with us, but He is with us to deliver us.
Stay Strong by Refusing To Lose Your Joy!
You [Lord] meet and spare him who joyfully works righteousness (uprightness and justice), [earnestly] remembering You in Your ways. …
Isaiah 64:5
In the King James Version of this verse the prophet says, Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness. …
Since you and I are the righteousness of Christ, when we rejoice, God will meet us at the point of our need and see us through to the finish line. A rejoicing heart is not a heavy heart; it is one full of singing. As He did with Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, God will give us a song in our “midnight hour.”
In Isaiah 61:3 KJV the prophet said that the Lord gives a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, and in Romans 4:18-20 we read what Abraham did during the time of his waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promises to him:
[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be.
He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah’s [deadened] womb.
No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God.
Abraham did not permit his heart to become heavy; instead, he kept up his faith and his spirit by giving praise and glory to God.
I believe Abraham kept a merry heart and therefore his faith was strengthened to carry him through to the end.
Wells of Joy
Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!
He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.
But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).
John 7:37-39
When we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we have righteousness, peace and joy living in us. (Rom. 14:17 KJV.) Our inner man is like a well of good things. (Matt. 12:35.) One of those good things is joy. But Satan will try to stop up our well.
Actually stopping up the wells of one’s enemies was a warfare strategy used in olden days, as we see in 2 Kings 3:19: You shall smite every fenced city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop all wells of water and mar every good piece of land with stones.
The stones of worry, self-pity, depression — all of these things — are Satan’s strategy to stop up your well. When your soul is full of these stones, it hinders the flow of God’s Spirit within you. God wants to unstop your well! He desires that the river of life in you flow freely.
Let joy flow! Let peace flow!
Speaking of Isaac, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, we find recorded in Genesis 26:15 that his wells had been stopped up: Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had closed and filled with earth.
Earth, or dirt, is another thing that Satan uses to stop up our wells. The dirt of judgment, hatred, bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness — the dirt of jealousy and competition. All of these things will definitely stop up our wells and hinder the flow of righteousness, peace and joy.
Isaac reopened his father’s wells. Isaac’s name means “laughter.”2 He was the child of promise given by God to Abraham and Sarah. They gave birth to Ishmael out of their own works because they grew tired of waiting. Ishmael’s name means God hears (Gen. 16:11). Genesis 16:11 KJV says that his name will be Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. But Ishmael was a man of war. Genesis 16:11,12 (KJV) says of Ishmael: the angel of the Lord said … he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. …
Our own efforts always bring misery and frustration, but God’s promise will bring joy and laughter. I believe we can see “a type and shadow” from all this.
Laughter will help unstop our wells!
Maybe you have not laughed — I mean really laughed — in a very long time. You will find that you feel better all over after a hearty laugh.
Sometimes I feel as if my pipes have been cleaned out, so to speak, after a good laugh. If I am tired and weary from dealing with life’s issues, I often feel like a dusty closet inside — stale and in need of refreshing. When God provides me with opportunity to have a real good laugh, it seems to “air me out” — to refresh me and lift the load off my tired mind.
In Philippians 4:4 Paul wrote, Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! In this verse, we are told not once but twice to rejoice.
When the devil launches war against you, retaliate with joy and laughter, with singing and praises to God. The Apostle James wrote: Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations (James 1:2). He goes on to say that the final outcome will be good.
Despite your problems, your trials and temptations, be assured that you will benefit in the end, so look to the end and rejoice now!
Laughter in Church Services
When God called me to teach and preach His Word, I had no training or experience in the “how to” of developing or delivering a sermon. It surprised me to discover that people did a lot of laughing when I ministered. I never purposely put things into my messages that I thought would be funny, it just happened.
My natural personality, especially at that time in my life, was much more serious and sober rather than humorous or funny. This has helped me to understand that God wants laughter interwoven into the rest of life. We need the serious and the humorous side. Some people have said that laughter helps them handle the correction that the Word often brings.
My teaching ministry in particular is geared toward helping believers grow into maturity, so they can really enjoy all that Jesus died for them to have. This requires correction, dying to self and facing truth that is often painful.
In Hebrews 4:12 KJV we read that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and that it divides soul and spirit. The Amplfied Bible says that it is operative. I like to say that the Word often operates on us, cutting out the “spiritual diseases” that are hurting us. Worship and praise are the anesthesia before the operation, and occasional laughter during the operation is the little extra “calming solution” that keeps us on the operating table.
One person said to me, “This is wonderful; I am laughing while my old nature is being put to death.”
It is interesting to me that we sanction crying in church as being a holy and godly response, but laughter in church is very offensive to some people. I think it shows that we need more insight into the nature of God. I believe Jesus laughed a lot more than most of us do.
I have seen laughter spread through a congregation until nearly all the people were laughing hilariously.
One evening in a meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, I had a desire to pray for women who had been unable to conceive and give birth. I was not able to bring the people to the altar for ministry, so I asked them to stand while I prayed for them. There was an obvious anointing on the time of ministry to those standing, and when I finished and told them they could sit down, on
e woman took her seat and began to giggle.
As I was trying to go on with the service, this woman moved from giggling to laughing and then to hilarity. She was obviously embarrassed and did not seem to know quite what to do with herself. I believe we can control ourselves, and I think if I had told the woman to stop she would have.
I did not tell her to stop because I saw what was happening not only to her, but how it was spreading to others. I felt it was the Holy Spirit so I just stood and watched it. Before long, almost the entire congregation was laughing very hard — I mean hilarious laughter.
You may remember that in Chapter 4 of this book I stated that a compilation of definitions on joy had taught me that it could be anything from calm delight to extreme hilarity. I said that most of the time we live in the calm delight stage, but that the times of extreme hilarity have their value also. This occasion was one of those times.
I found out later that the woman was not from a Charismatic or Pentecostal background. She was not at all accustomed to that type of emotional display in church. The church she attended was much more reserved, and yet God used her, a willing vessel, to usher in “bubbling over joy” for the entire congregation.
Laughter is contagious! I would much rather have someone catch joy from me than sadness. We know that when we are around someone who is depressed and negative, if we do not aggressively resist it, that person’s depression and negativeness will start to affect us in a similar way. It is the same way with happy, positive people. They make us feel better, help us forget our problems for a while, and their joy is catching.
I will never forget that meeting, because as I continued to attempt to go on with the service, I was trying to use a Scripture in the book of Job to make a point. Every time I said Job and gave chapter and verse, the congregation would explode with laughter. There were approximately twelve hundred people in the building, and I can assure you, there is nothing funny about the book of Job, yet saying “Job” had the same effect on almost all of them.
Now I admit this is not the normal way our services go, but that particular night, God was ministering to the people Himself in what some would call an unorthodox way. Everyone enjoyed the service. I did not see anyone leave, and I heard a lot of good reports later.
Whenever God has decided to use laughter to minister to the congregation over the years, people have said things like, “I desperately needed that; I haven’t laughed like that in years”; or, “I just can’t tell you how much better I feel”; or, “I feel as if something heavy has been lifted off of me.”
Some have told me even months later, “I have not been the same since that service.” Of course, people say that about services where there is no laughter, so I am certainly not implying that laughter is the only thing God uses to bring a breakthrough for His people, but it is not to be excluded either.
According to Ecclesiastes 3:4, there is a time to laugh, so let’s not be afraid of laughter — even in church.
A Continual Feast of Joy
… he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].
Proverbs 15:15
One evening I was playing games with some of my family members, and I had been suffering all day with a bad headache. My older son, who has a gift of humor, began to clown around, and I started laughing. I laughed so hard that tears were running down my face, my sides were hurting, and I was close to falling out of my chair onto the floor. What he said was not all that funny. It was amusing, but not funny enough for me to have that strong a reaction. It just seemed like once I got started, I could not stop. When I was finally finished, I realized that my headache was completely gone.
Children laugh easily and freely. As a matter of fact, sometimes, when you watch children play, it seems they giggle almost continually, and over practically nothing. I am sure that they need to grow up some, and that they will as the years go by, but we adults also need some of what they have and display so freely.
Laughter for the average unbeliever is usually based on his circumstances. He laughs only because something funny is occurring or because something really good is happening to him.
As Christians we have a higher privilege, we can laugh even when things are not going as well for us as we would like. The reason we can laugh and enjoy life in spite of our current situation or circumstances is because Jesus is our joy.
In John chapter 15 He teaches us about abiding in Him. Learning to “abide” brings us into a place of rest. It allows Him to do what needs to be done. Just as a limb on a tree abides in the trunk or a branch abides in a vine, so we are to abide in Christ. The branches bear fruit, but it is because of remaining vitally united to the source of their life. We desire to bear good fruit, and the Word of God promises us that we will do so if we abide in Him. (v. 5.)
Then in John 15:11 Jesus said: I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing. As we abide in Christ, we should have overflowing joy in our lives. I believe when joy overflows, we will definitely see laughter.
The Proper Balance
There should be a balance between soberness and laughter. The Bible teaches both. First Peter 5:8 says to be sober of mind, but it does not say to be sober-faced. Matthew 5:14 states that we are the light of the world. You might say that a smile is like the switch that turns the lamp on. There is not much chance of laughter if we do not start with a smile.
If we have a frown on our face, with the corners of our mouth turned down, it almost begins to drag us down emotionally.
When I frown, I can literally feel a heaviness. (Go ahead and try it, I think you will sense the same thing.) But when I smile, I sense a lifting of my entire countenance.
I can be all by myself and smile. I don’t even need anything in particular to smile at or about. It just makes me feel happier to smile occasionally even when I am alone. I might add that I have, by nature, always been a very serious-minded, even sober-faced individual, and if I can learn to smile, anyone can who is really willing.
It takes a lot more facial muscles to frown than it does to smile. Some of us probably have weak muscles from lack of use, but they will build up in a short period of time.
Go ahead and try it. Act like a little child. Frown and see how you feel — then smile and see how you feel.
There are two good reasons to learn to smile. First, it helps you look and feel better. Then, it helps those around you.
One of the ways we can show the world the joy that comes from abiding in Jesus is by looking happy. When the peace and joy of the Lord are a regular part of our countenance, it speaks a silent message to those with whom we intermingle.
If you and I go around with a scowl or a frown on our face, nobody in the world will suspect that we serve God. We may have a bumper sticker on our car that says we are Christian, but there is no other visible evidence. We need to look pleasant. We can’t giggle all the time, but neither should we look sour.
“Lord, Teach Me To Laugh!”
Pray and believe God to teach you how to laugh more — to help you remember to smile. Start smiling at people and see the response you get, especially from people who look real unhappy or upset. Try giving them a gentle, friendly smile, and it may help them.
I had to exercise my faith in this area for quite some time, simply because I was more sober and serious-minded. I had endured a lot of painful circumstances in my life and, as a result, had formed bad habits that affected my countenance.
Pray, not only that God will teach you to laugh more, but that He will give you things to laugh about.
Are you under-laughed? I heard that we need to laugh at least fifteen times a day, three of which need to be hard belly laughs to be at optimum. I can tell you for sure that I was under-laughed, but I am learning.
Remember, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. (Prov. 17:22 KJV.)
Take your medicine — laugh a little more!
10
Diversity and Creativity
And they [the apostles] went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. …
Mark 16:20
I hope that by the time you have reached this point in the book you are already starting to enjoy life more. I believe whatever we teach on, we can believe God for signs and wonders in that area.
According to Mark, the apostles went everywhere preaching the Word, and God confirmed the Word with “signs and miracles” (signs and wonders — Acts 5:12).
I had always believed those signs and wonders to be miraculous healings until God began showing me to believe not only for miraculous healings to confirm the Word preached, but also to believe for and expect miraculous breakthroughs and abundant fruit in whatever area I was ministering. So I am certainly believing that everyone who reads this book will enter into a new level of joy and enjoyment.
There are many reasons why people do not enjoy their lives, and no matter how lengthy this book might be, I could never cover them all. But I do want to be sure that I include teaching on the subject of the vital importance of diversity and creativity in maintaining the “spice in life” which helps keep joy flowing.
Too much of the same things can be a thief of joy.
God Likes Variety!
Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it?. …
Isaiah 43:19
Do you ever get just plain bored — just really tired of doing the same old thing all the time? You want to do something different but you either don’t know what to do, or you are afraid to do the new thing you are thinking about doing? The reason may be because you were created for variety.