Joy Thief: My Observation (John 10:10) by: Dana Lewis

John 10:10, ESV

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Satan, our enemy, is a joy thief. He likes to use people, situations we do not know much about, misunderstandings, the past, disappointments which sometimes stem from (false) expectations,feelings of hopelessness, exclusion, rejection and so-called “perfect” images posted in and throughout social media to keep us in a perpetual place of ~JOYLESSNESS~

If he can steal our joy he can get ahold of our hope and distort our desires. He can cause us to believe the lies in front of us which he’s constructed in order to keep us distracted and unwilling to seek TRUTH. Without the supernatural power of the joy of the Lord we turn to a life of faithlessness. We stop believing in the possibility that God can turn things around for us – for our greater good. We begin to slip into the traps of constant comparisons. Telling ourselves that if we were more like… had more of… and if we only were with… then we’d have… and more people would embrace us as…

Once we begin starve our spirit man of its righteous foods in order to feed our souls the (un)spiritual foods which will destroy us from within – out, it’s a downhill spiral from there for us. Everything about our ability to survive and maintain, function and cope becomes a FIGHT.

This was never God’s intent for us.

He (God) is NOT our enemy. Sin, Satan and this flesh are our enemies. When we understand what is draining us of our joy we will know the importance of guarding our joy and our peace – noticing the attacks of the enemy, his strategies and we will get stronger in our decision to refuse to follow him into those traps, again. We become stronger in heart, in mind and in our sight. We will be more intentional about our investments (our time & energy).

Understand –

Everyone gets down from time to time, but we do not have to take up residence there in the low times and areas of our lives. We can choose to vacate those spaces and periods anytime we want. Just like wallowing in our sadness is a decision we make, so is it with taking up God’s promised JOY and walking on in faith until… until something changes – something different happens for us. He gives it to us freely, His abundant joy – & it’s our responsibility to hold on to it – to use it when we face various trials and setbacks. Joy is not situational. Happiness is.

That part!

Joy is much like a surfboard – We can learn to use it to ride out the waves or we can keep it standing pretty as a show piece for others to envy. I’d rather to my board out and ride the biggest waves. 💖

Just to find out how indestructible God has made the joy within using LIFE’S TOUGHEST, HARDEST TEST.

I gotta know for myself.

Let’s go surfin’!! ☺️

Wipeouts only teach us how to ride the waves better – longer, smarter. The waves will always come – stronger, taller, faster, crashing down louder and harder. If they bring us back to shore – let’s jump right back on our boards to swim out – set our feet firmly on our boards using our core to balance us and RIIIIIIIIIIIIDE THE WAVES. Wooohooohooooooooo!!!

The joy of the Lord, the peace which Jesus speaks of in John 14 is much like our core. The more we exercise it the stronger it gets. The more UNBOTHERED we become by life’s hard hits. Troubles will always be there, fam. We can choose right now just how we plan to ride them out when they come crashing down all around us – like the waves of the sea. We choose… We can train hard and conquer the waves and enjoy this life for what it is or we can allow the ocean to take us under – drown us.

Do all that you can to stay afloat, fam. You have the Joy of the Lord right here, right now. Right here, right now. Whether life is going well for you or not, the joy of the Lord is yours to grab hold of and to cling to. God’s joy is our lifesaver. Don’t let go just because things are a bit rough for you, this season.

Let the joy of the Lord be exactly what He sent it to be –

Our STRENGTH.

You got this! 💪🏾😉