I had a warfare dream on May 23 where I was traversing land, roads, and rough terrain. In my sleep, I began hearing the Scripture read aloud, “The Kingdom of Heaven is…. righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17)
Afterward, I heard these phrases:
“Righteousness= Jehovah Tsidkenu, Peace= Jehovah Shalom, Joy…. you don’t even know the word for joy.”
“You’ve heralded righteousness, you’ve heralded peace, NOW HERALD JOY.”
The Scripture was then repeated so many times that it woke me up.
📍What is Joy?
Is it a feeling?
Is it a happy response?
Is it something I can stir up on my own?
Is it insensitive to expect joy all the time?
These are all questions I had for the Lord.
I found that there are actually multiple words used in the Scriptures for joy: chairo, chara, euphraino, agalliao, etc., and they all have somewhat similar meanings:
To rejoice. To be glad. To be well and thrive. To be calmly happy. To be merry. To be delighted with a thing. A cause or occasion that produces joy. A condition or state of blessedness.
One form, in particular, is used 14 times in the New Testament; “euphraino”.
“Eu”= to be well, good, and properous ➕ “Phren”= the parts of the heart and mind which perceive and judge.
So collectively, “euphraino” is manifesting in a person who thinks they are doing well or good. In their opinion, they have a good frame of mind.
📍But, what is truly good?
That’s an opinionated question.
Only One is Good (Luke 18:19) and He is God.. and so without His mind and Spirit we cannot truly know.
I discovered that there is joy in the Holy Spirit and there is joy outside of the Holy Spirit.
Whose side are we on?
There becomes then a vast difference between a good frame of mind, in the carnal opinion of men, and God’s frame of mind, which is Holy.
We see this worked out in the Scriptures.
We can study to find that there is the divine joy which comes from God’s frame of mind (which is not necessarily relative to circumstances) but is in celebration, love, hope, and the Worship of The Lord; often seen in the face of hopelessness and affliction, but always in the works of The Father.
On the contrary, there is a flesh driven celebration or joy in natural things, sins, emotions, teachings, and works that can produce despicable choices and still someone can think they are doing good.
It is the war of the two states of mind:
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” Romans 8:6-7
📍 Carnal v. Divine
These are some of the situations happening in the New Testament where we find these opposing states of mind and the use of this word for joy:
Carnal Joy:
← When Jesus confronts the greed and comfort of those who are joyful in living their lives of luxury and trusting in mammon in His parable.
← When God’s people failed to believe and celebrated the works of men and exalted the golden calf(luxury) of Egypt (bondage and sin).
← When the world celebrates that the two witnesses (The Law and the Prophets), who stand before the Lord, are killed.
Divine Joy:
→When describing a woman with a history of barrenness, who has joy for what is to come even before she gives birth.
→When there was supernatural unity and celebration among the Jew and Gentile.
→When heaven and earth celebrate the supernatural salvation of the prodigals and lost.
→When there was a painful but fatherly rebuke from Paul to the Corinthians and he was waiting for them to make the right choices- so that joy would be restored in relationship.
→When there was a supernatural manifestation of the strength and faith of God through His people in order to overcome and continue in the purposes and call of God on their lives.
📍So, to see joy within the context of culture and each of these circumstances in Scripture, is to see that the true and divine joy of the Lord which produces sound thinking is:
1️⃣ Found only in the beholding of Jesus and His Presence.
“…I always see the Lord near me, and I will not be afraid with him at my right side.” Acts 2:25
2️⃣ A Christlike frame of mind with a mouth expressing His Words and Ways and Worship, in the unity of Holy Spirit.
“Because of THIS, my heart will be glad, my words will be joyful…” Acts 2:26
3️⃣ Based in the revelation of God’s good plan (hope and a future) for humanity- which is only possible through the revelation of the RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon men for the ministry of reconciliation. It does not rejoice in the broadcast of revenge, hopelessness, or the lie of the necessity of evil.
“…and I will live in hope. The Lord won’t leave me in the grave, I am his holy one, and he won’t let my body decay.” Acts 2:26-27
4️⃣ A supernatural impartation of the Holy Spirit for strength in God’s people- to see into the future and lead us toward His purpose and destiny.
“He has shown me the path of life, and he makes me glad by being near me.” Acts 2:28
5️⃣ Possible and never out of place, even when we are mourning, because we can stay in love, hope, and faith for God’s will to come.
“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the JOY awaiting Him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:2
📍Practical Truth & Prayer
The Spirit of God is dealing with states of mind. Literally, each state has a mind. And each mind has a state. Look at where the greatest manifestations are. This is where the greatest heat of the spiritual battle is.
→ REPENT
Father, we repent in Alabama for tolerating and celebrating spirits that promote shame, greed, luxury, apathy, rebellion, our own efforts without Your Holy Spirit, and anti-Christ teachings.
→ RENOUNCE
As gatekeepers we won’t tolerate the kind of carnal joy that Scripture warns us about which produces the greed, apathy, works, rebellion, and evil desires of men through spiritual influences. We will not tolerate states of mind produced by spiritual powers here that twist or misrepresent the Word and the Kingdom of Heaven. We bind (Matthew 16:19) and renounce the powers behind these manifestations through the Blood of Jesus and ask for Your angels to be released to remove every offense and the workers of iniquity (Matthew 13:41) from Alabama.
→ RECONCILE
We declare that Alabama is a state connected to the mind of Christ and Divine Joy, championing the Presence of God’s Good and Holy Spirit, knowing and teaching the good intentions of God’s heart for humanity, releasing the hope and future of a heavenly culture spoken through God’s Son(John 3:16) and manifested tangibly with practical strategies and unity from heaven to strengthen and empower the people to know for themselves the Person and Will of God, and to continue moving forward without distraction into His purpose and destiny for us, on earth as it is in heaven. We declare The Justice State (Alabama) will be just in all of her ways. We loose these declarative prayers of reconciliation and the divine Joy of the Lord which produces hope, strength, righteousness, and love, in the name of Jesus.
“…For the JOY OF THE LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
“And there was great JOY in that city.” Acts 8:8
“And the disciples were filled with JOY and the Holy Ghost.” Acts 13:52
Much Love, Jamie
JSMinistries 