Are you always joyful or is your joy determined by your mood or what you possess per time? Joy is an important virtue every Christian should have if you want to be on top of all circumstances and enjoy the blessings of the Lord. This post aims to give you better understanding of the wisdom that lies in acquiring and maintaining your joy.

Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation - Isaiah 12:3 (NKJV).

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! - Philippians 4:4 (NKJV).

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls-yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation - Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NKJV).

Many people have reasons to give for not being joyful and they are ever eager to tell them to you. The enemy has so bombarded people with challenges and in the process succeeded in stealing their joy, which is a vital weapon in overcoming the enemy and his attacks. If devil can't steal your joy, he can't continue to keep what belongs to you.

When the enemy first attacks you, his major target is your joy. Once he takes your joy then he has power to keep stealing from you. However, if you refuse to let go of your joy he would be forced to restore whatever he had earlier taken from you. Therefore, it is great wisdom to guard your joy at all times. Choose to retain your joy no matter the circumstances around you. Put action to your joy by rejoicing evermore. Rejoice in the Lord always.

Reasons To Guard Your Joy

1. Joy is the bucket you use to draw water out of the well of salvation (Isaiah 12:3).

When your joy is in-tact it becomes easy for you to locate your escape route from any oppression of the devil, no matter how hidden it may be. Without joy you will be so engulfed in that challenge that you won't be able to see the helps God had stationed around you or be able to reach out to God to save you.

2. Joy keeps you afloat over every flood meant to drown you (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

People are depressed, broken and shattered because they didn't have the joy of the Lord. Joy causes you to see the God of your salvation in the midst of the flood, building your faith that He would soon bring you out of the challenge. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them from them all (Psalm 34:19).

3. There are healing virtues in joy (Proverbs 17:22).

Joy is like medicine to your body. It makes your body to heal fast, because the enemy can't keep oppressing you when you are joyful. It repels any affliction. But a broken spirit, void of joy, will only make the situation worse.

4. You enjoy divine guidance (Isaiah 30:29-30).

With gladness of heart you're empowered to hear the voice of the Lord guiding you in the way you should go. The Lord dwells in the praises of His people. So, as you rejoice, singing praises to the Lord, you draw God to you and if He be for you, who can be against you (Romans 8:31).

5. You enjoy divine strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

The joy of the Lord is your strength. It is what will keep you going even when others have given up. This joy is beyond normal, it enables you to keep going in the strength of the Lord against all odds. It's the strength that empowers you to push the enemy far away from your territory.

Joseph was a man who bubbled with the joy of the Lord. This sustained him all through his ordeal. It was this joy that enabled him to keep going without giving up his faith in God. This joy enabled him to identify the sad servants of Pharaoh. It takes a joyful person to identify a person full of sorrow. This joy showed Joseph the door to his freedom. However, God had a better package of freedom for him; He made him second in command to Pharaoh (Genesis 37, 39-41).

You need to know that this joy is not dependent on any circumstance; therefore it's different from happiness, which is determined by the state of things around you. This joy is from within and is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You gain access to it at redemption when you give your life to Christ, and it's sustained through encounters with revelations from the word of God. When you rejoice, you put your joy to action, and this gets you ready for salvation from all oppression of the enemy. Therefore rejoice in the Lord, again I say rejoice!