Leaders rule by example rather than command

I will lead the men with me; we will march toward the city. The men in the city will come out to fight against us. We will turn and run away from them as we did before.

Joshua 8:5 (ERV)

When Joshua, the leader of the Children of Israel was giving the battle strategy of how they were to capture Ai, he told them that he will lead the men and they will march toward the city. In other words, Joshua did not just give the orders, he actively get involved in the battle.

This teaches us another important lesson about leadership; leaders must rule by example rather than command.

The Bible is filled with stories of men and women who lead people, not by staying in the background but by actively getting involved.

Deborah the Prophetess

Deborah the Prophetess and Judge over Israel encouraged Barak, the captain of the army to go and fight against their oppressors. However Barak refused to go unless Deborah went along with him and so she did and God gave them the victory (Judges 4).

King Jehoshaphat

King Jehoshaphat led Judah into the enemy camp by being the first to bow his head with his face to the ground and then all of Judah and Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. As a result of the praise and worship they offered to the Lord, the Lord set ambushments against their enemies and they were destroyed (2 Chronicles 20:18-22).

Gideon

Gideon was another leader who led by example. Once God told him to arise and go to the camp of the Midianites, he divided the three hundred men into three groups.  He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar with a burning torch inside it. Then Gideon told the men, “Watch me and do what I do. Follow me to the edge of the enemy camp. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly what I do”. The Lord gave Gideon and his men the victory (Judges 7:16-25).

Jesus Christ

Jesus taught His disciples that whoever desires to be great must serve (Luke 22:26), and He demonstrated this by serving His disciples at the last supper (Matthew 26:26-29). Jesus showed His disciples how to be humble by washing their feet and encourages us as His disciples to do likewise (John 13:14).

These few examples show that it is important as leaders to rule by example rather than by command. A problem with commanding those you serve is that we do not remember very well something that we are told. To be an effective leader therefore we must strive to not only teach but to lead by example as Joshua did by getting involved in the heat of the battle.

When a leader is supposed to get involved but decides to stay on the side lines, it can lead to trouble. David, was a skilled warrior who did much exploits, however there was a time when he decided to stay at home instead of getting involved in the battle. A great sin of adultery and murder was committed as a result.

Prayer

Dear Lord, please help me to be like Your Son Jesus Christ. He showed us how to be humble by stooping down and washing His disciples’ feet. Please help me to lead by example rather than command in Jesus name, amen.

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How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

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God wants our firstfruits offering

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid; don’t give up. Lead all your fighting men to Ai. I will help you defeat the king of Ai. I am giving you his people, his city, and his land. You will do to Ai and its king the same thing you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you can take all the wealth and animals and keep it for yourselves. You will share the wealth with your people. Now, tell some of your soldiers to hide behind the city.”

Joshua 8:1-2 (ERV)

Last week, we learnt that when Achan brought the accursed things from Jericho, it brought a curse into the camp therefore the Children of Israel could not stand up against their enemies because God did not go out to battle with them.

In today’s Scripture, God was instructing Joshua on how to defeat Ai however, His commands this time was different. God told Joshua that this time when they defeat Ai, he was to share the wealth with the people. You will recall that for Jericho God wanted them to give Him everything which is why He instructed them not to keep anything for themselves.

You see, Jericho was the first city that they conquered and God had already instructed the Children of Israel that the first of everything, including their children belongs to Him (Exodus 13:12 / Leviticus 23:9-14). The Bible tells us that we should honour God with the firstfruits, or the best, of all our increase:

Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

(Proverbs 3:9-10).

God Himself gave us His very best in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who became our firstfruits offering when He died and was the first to be raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:23).

This story from Joshua shows that God wants us to give Him the very best of everything.

How can we honour God with our firstfruits offering?

We can give God the very best in the following areas:

1. Grateful heart

We can honour God by having a grateful heart and giving Him thanks for all that He has done for us:

Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20)

2. Time

Time is a precious commodity that we cannot get back once it is lost. We can give God the best part of our time by spending time in His presence. Jesus says He is standing at the door of our heart and is knocking. If we will hear His voice and open the door, He will come in and dine with us (Revelation 3:20). We are also told that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31).

3. Prayer

Prayer is basically talking to God and Him talking back to you. It is so powerful that it is described as an incense that goes up to the Throne room of God in Heaven (Psalm 141:2 / Revelation 8:4). We are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Throughout history, men and woman who have been used by God powerfully all understood the power of prayer. Martin Luther, the German theologian whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation, is quoted as saying:

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” – Martin Luther

4. Possessions

We can honour God by giving Him the best of our substance, whatever that may be, whether it is money, cars, houses, clothes, grain harvest etc. What matters is that we give it willingly with a grateful heart:

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver

(2 Corinthians 9:7)

One way we can give to God is to give to the poor because we are told that when we give to the poor we are lending to God (Proverbs 19:17).

5. Talent

In the parable of the talent, we learn that the servant who was given five talents and doubled it was given the talent of the servant who was only given the one talent who because of fear buried his talent (Matthew 25:14-30). This story shows that it honours God when we use and develop all the talents and gifts that He has given us.

 

Prayer

Dear Father, today I surrender my life to You. I choose to honour You with the best of everything I have. I thank You for the talents and gifts and potential that You have placed inside of me. Dear Lord, please give me wisdom to discover and to use them for Your glory in Jesus name, amen.

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Your views

I would love to hear from you on which other ways we can give God our best. Please share your thoughts.

How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

Do you know God’s purpose for your life? If not, please listen to the audio version of: How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

Why should we meditate on the Word of God?

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:8)

Just like Joshua, God has a promise land that He has placed before all of us to possess, however before we can go in and possess the land and have good success, there are certain principles that God wants us to follow:

What does God want us to do?

1. Keep the Word of the Lord in your mouth

This means that we must speak the Word of God whether circumstances are favourable or not. For example when we are weak the Lord wants us to declare that we are strong (Joel 3:10). This doesn’t deny the fact that we are feeling weak, but we are declaring the outcome that The Lord will make us strong. Speaking the Word of God is important because that is how our faith will increase:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)

2. Meditate on the Word of God day and night

According to Strong’s Concordance, to meditate is to “moan, growl, utter, speak and muse”. In other words when you meditate you ponder on and then declare the Word of God. You don’t just do it in the morning but also in the night. When you do this the Bible tells us that you are blessed:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night (Psalms 1:1-2)

3. Observe and do according to what is written in the Word

To observe means you pay a close attention to what the Word is saying and then you do it:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22)

Why should we meditate on The Word of God?

1. You shall make your way prosperous

To be prosperous in all your ways refers to well-being, having favour with God and man and being wealthy. It means that when you ponder on and declare the Word of God you will flourish in your spirit, soul, body as well as in your finances, and God take pleasure in making His servants prosperous:

Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant” (Psalm 35:27)

2. You shall have good success

Success is achieving all of what God has ordained for you with excellence. Successful people have wisdom and understanding, and are skilful in what they do. Success comes when we obey the commandments of God:

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man (Proverbs 3:1-4 ESV)

So in summary, we meditate on the Word of God so that we can be prosperous and have good success. You can also listen to this message on YouTube here:

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Do you know God’s purpose for your life? If not, please download your free book copy of How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

God bless,

Blessing

What does it mean to be successful in God’s eye?

This week’s scripture, encourages us to obey all the commands of God so that we can be successful:

If you obey all the commands in this agreement, you will continue to succeed in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 29:9 (ERV)

What is success?

There are many definitions of success. The world tends to define success by your education, position in life and the things you possess, i.e. money, houses, cars etc. These things perform an important function in our lives however we cannot measure our success by the things that we possess only.

Jesus warns us that we should “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15)

God does promise that if we obey His commands He will make us successful in everything we do, this means we will flourish spiritually, financially, physiologically, relationally, academically, and in all other areas.

What does it mean then to be successful in God’s eyes?

Biblical success can be defined as the following:

1. Having a relationship with God

We can only have a relationship with God The Father through Jesus Christ His Son:

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6)

2. Love The Lord and love your neighbour as yourself

Once we have this relationship with God we should learn to love the Lord and to love our fellow human beings as we love ourselves:

“Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

3. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness

The Kingdom of God is the reign of God in the hearts of people and it is also an everlasting Kingdom (Psalm 145:13) that will replace all the kingdoms of this world (Daniel 2:44, Revelation 11:15).

When we seek for the expansion of God’s Kingdom on earth, the way we spend our time and the things we do will be different. We will be so Kingdom minded that we will want to share the good news about Jesus Christ everywhere we go at any given opportunity, and when we do this all the natural blessings that we want will be given unto us:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33)

4. Walk in God’s purpose for your life

There is a purpose or reason for everything. Purpose is God’s original intention for you, it is the reason why God created you.

I want to assure you that there is a reason why you are alive, and your responsibility is to find out what that is. Each one of us has been called and given a specific purpose, even before time began:

“Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9)

Surrender to Jesus

You can only discover your purpose in God your Creator, therefore if you have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus, please do so by repenting of your sins and asking Jesus to come into your heart and then ask God to show you the purpose for your life.

God has inspired me to write a 30-day workbook which is designed to help you to discover your purpose in 30-days. It will provide scriptures for you to meditate on that pertains to purpose and allow you to record any dreams, thoughts or ideas, prophecies, and impressions that come to you. If you would like a copy once it is published please let me know.

5. Fear God and keep His commandments

The Bible tells us that when all is said and done, we ought to fear God and keep His commandments:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Please respond

These are my definitions of biblical success. What do you think it means to be successful in God’s eye? Please share your views, I would love to hear from you. Please contact me at info@blessingcoaching.com

God bless,

Blessing

You are God’s special people

In today’s Scripture God want you to know that you are His special people.

“Today the Lord your God commands you to obey all these laws and rules. Be careful to follow them with all your heart and soul. Today you have said that the Lord is your God. You have promised to live the way he wants. You promised to follow his teachings and to obey his laws and commands. You said you would do everything he tells you to do.

And today the Lord has accepted you to be his own people. He has promised you this. The Lord also said that you must obey all his commands. The Lord will make you greater than all the nations he made. He will give you praise, fame, and honor. And you will be his own special people, as he promised.”

Deuteronomy 26:16-19 (ERV)

 In this Scripture, Moses the man of God, tells the people of Israel that if they do everything The Lord requires of them then the Lord will make them His special people. As believers in Jesus Christ, the Lord is saying the same thing to us today. If we will believe in God by accepting Jesus Christ His Son as our Lord and Saviour, The Lord will also accept us as His own people and we will be God’s special people. Let’s take a closer look at this scripture.

What does The Lord require from us for us to be His own special people?

1. Obey all His laws and rules – do everything The Lord has told us to do in His Word – The Holy Bible. Just like Jesus, we should surrender our will to the Father and do all that He has commanded us to do “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38)
2. Be careful to follow them with all your heart and soul – we should put our all in serving God and follow His Word with all our heart and soul “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” (Matthew 22:37)
3. Make The Lord your God – there are many god’s out there. Some are made of stones, metal and wood, some even worship the sun and the moon. Some worship their money, car, family etc. But The Lord who made heaven and earth, the God of Israel, wants you to make Him your Lord and God: “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands” (Psalm 115:3-4)
4. Live in the way God wants – there are many philosophies out there of different ways to live the good life, however God wants us to walk in love (Ephesians 5:2), walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8), and walk in in wisdom (Ephesians 5:15)
5. Follow the teachings of God – we should do what The Word says “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22)
6. Obey His laws and commands – even in the face of difficulty and persecution The Lord wants us to do what He says “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29);
7. Do everything God tells you to do – The Lord wants us to do everything He tells us to do so that He will make us prosperous and give us good success “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8)

Once we do what The Lord require, what will The Lord do for us?

1. The Lord will accept us as His own people – to be accepted is to have the assurance that we belong to God and that no one can take us from His hand; “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)
2. The Lord will make you greater than all the nations He made – it has always been the will of The Father to make those who obey Him great and to give them a great name. God told Abraham, Israel’s ancestor, that if he will leave his father’s house and go to a land that He will show him; “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2)
3. The Lord will give you praise – God is a faithful God, and when you listen to Him, He will give you fame and praise “At that time I will bring you back, Even at the time I gather you; For I will give you fame and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I return your captives before your eyes,” Says the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:20)
4. The Lord will give you fame – God makes those who obey Him famous. Listen to what He told David, the man who was after God’s own heart: “And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth” (2 Samuel 7:9)
5. The Lord will give you honour – because Solomon asked wisdom from God, God gave him both riches and honour “And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days” (1 Kings 3:13)
6. You will be God’s special people – when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we become God’s special people “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9)

Prayer of Surrender

If you would like to become God’s special people but have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus, please pray this prayer of surrender from your heart:

Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God. I believe that You are the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by You. I believe You died on the cross and You were raised from the dead.

I accept that I am a sinner and have come short of the glory of God. I now confess my sins and ask You to please forgive me for the sins of (……..please take your time and name them one by one and make a decision not to do them again).

Please wash me clean with Your precious blood that was shed for me on the Cross. Please remove me from the kingdom of darkness and bring me into Your Kingdom of Light. I want to know you Jesus, and have a loving relationship with God my Father.

Please become the Lord of my life and fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can live a victorious life.

From today, please gain control over my spirit, my soul, my mind, my will and my emotions. Please help me to live for You. Thank You Jesus.

Father, I now come to You in the name of Jesus. Thank You for giving Jesus Christ Your Son to die for me so that I can have a loving relationship with You. Please guide and direct my steps from this day forward in Jesus name.

Father, I know You created me for a purpose. Please show me why You have created me and what You want me to do with the rest of my life in Jesus’ name.

Next Steps

Dear Friend, if you have prayed this prayer from your heart, you have become a child of God, His own special people. Please get a Bible and start reading the Word of God, because the Word of God is Spirit and it is life. You literally become transformed as you read the Word of God. If you do not have a Bible please read it at: https://www.biblegateway.com/

Please find a Church where the pure Word of God is preached and join fellowship with other believers. This will help you to be strong and to grow in the Lord.

Dear Brother or Sister, if you have prayed this prayer, we would love to hear from you. Please send an email and we will send you a Bible and some excellent reading material to help you on this Christian journey: info@blessingcoaching.com

God bless,

Blessing

The Lord will enlarge your territory

This week’s Scripture tells us that the Lord will extend our borders if we keep His commandments:

“Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three.

Deuteronomy 19:8-9

In this story, Moses, the man of God was instructing the Children of Israel that when the Lord brings them to the promise land, they shall separate three cities of refuge for people who may have accidentally killed someone to go and hide.

He then tells them three things they must do so they can add three more cities of refuge. The three things they must do are:

1. Keep all the commandments of God and do them
2. Love the Lord your God and
3. Walk always in His ways

Why do we need our borders to be enlarged?

1. You can fulfil God’s purpose for your life

When your territories are enlarged, your influence in this world will be great and you will be able to fulfill God’s original purpose for humanity which is to ‘be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:28)

2. You move from a local champion to an international champion

When your territories are enlarged, you are no longer just a local champion, you become an international champion. So for example, if your calling is to bless others through song writing, your songs will not only be known in the town and country where you live but people all over the world will hear about your songs and you will be celebrated as an international song writer.

God told Abraham that if he obeyed Him and left his country to a land that God will show him, He will make his name great and this promise applies to us also:

I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing

Genesis 12:2

What can you do if you want an enlarged territory?

If you want the Lord to extend your territory or influence, please do the following:

1. Keep all the commandments of God and do them
2. Love the Lord your God and
3. Walk always in His ways

Prayer of Jabez

In addition to the above you can do what Jabez did, call on the God of Israel and pray this prayer on a daily basis:

And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

1 Chronicles 4:10

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What does the Lord require of you?

This week, the Lord wants to remind us of what He wants from us, now that, like the children of Israel, He has delivered from the power of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son whom He loves; The Lord Jesus Christ:

 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13

What then, does the Lord require from us?

1.Fear Him – to fear the Lord means to respect Him and hold Him in high honour. For example we hold Queen Elizabeth in extremely high honour which is why if you were invited into Buckingham Palace to have dinner with The Queen, you will dress appropriately and arrive in good time, and ensure that all protocols are followed. Likewise when we fear The Lord we will ensure that we do what He says because we acknowledge Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16).

The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever (Psalm 19:9), and it is also the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).

2. Walk in His ways – to walk in His ways means to go where He leads you, which is revealed in His Word. Psalms 103:7 says God made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel. God is willing and ready to make His ways known to you, but He can only do so when you spend time reading His word, asking The Holy Spirit to give you wisdom, revelation and understanding as you read.

As you go into the secret place and spend quality time with Him, ask Him what is on His heart and how you can please Him, then stay quiet and listen to His instructions. Then whatever He tells you to do, go out and do it, that is what it means to walk in His ways.

His ways cannot be contrary to His Word therefore if you are not sure whether what you have heard is the voice of God, please check it against the Word, and if it agrees with the Word then do it.

3. Love Him – the Bible tells us that to love God is to keep His commandments (1 John 5:3). It also tells us that if a man says He loves God and hates his brother he is a liar (1 John 4:20). To love The Lord then means that you put Him first, always be eager to do what pleases Him, do what He tells you to do in His Word and love your fellow human beings as yourself.

4. Serve Him with all your heart and soul – we serve the Lord by worshiping Him and serving our fellow human beings. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and have a restored relationship with God The Father, this is where the real work begins.

As servants of The Lord we must do what the masters tells us to do. Jesus, the One Whom we follow is called the Righteous Servant (Isaiah 53:11). As a Servant, Jesus had much work to do whilst He was on earth; He preached the gospel, healed the sick, cast out demons, did miracles and He finally finished His work by dying on the Cross to bring us back to God.

As His followers, we too must stand strong and always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord because we know that our labour is not in vain in The Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Once you become saved and discover what your calling in life is, we must walk in that holy calling (2 Timothy 1:9). The Lord reminds us to work while it is day because the night is coming when no man can work (John 9:4).

5. Keep the commandments of The Lord – the commandments of Lord are the rules and regulations we have to follow. Thank God that we are no longer under the law but we are under grace. In the Old Testament, the Jews had to abide by hundreds of laws which no man could keep.

Now, praise be to God, the only commandments we have to keep is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. Jesus tells us that this is the “first and great commandment”. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 22:37-39).

To love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind means we love Him with everything that is in us, it means that our heart is flooded with Him, and our mind, will and emotions are filled with thoughts about Him. It means we should think more about Him and how to please Him than we do with anything else in our lives.

If you find that your love for God is not as hot as it ought to be, please pray this prayer from the Bible which I have personalised, every morning and night and watch your love for the Lord grow strong:

Prayer for Love

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant me, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in my inner man, that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith; that I, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that I may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think, according to the power that works in me, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

(Ephesians 3:14-21)

To recap, what The Lord require from us are to:

1. Fear Him
2. Walk in His ways
3. Love Him
4. Serve Him with all your heart and soul
5. Keep the commandments of The Lord

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How do we get joy?

We began by looking at what is joy, and then the effects of joy. None of this will be useful unless we know how we can get joy. Here are some suggestions according to the Word of God:

1. Surrender our lives completely to Jesus. We do this by repenting or turning back on our sins. When we do this even God and His Angels rejoice:

I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:7, 10

2. Obey the commandments of the Lord

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

John 15:10-11

3. Ask God to anoint you with the oil of gladness

Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

John 16:24

4. Be filled with the Holy Spirit

And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.

1 Thessalonians 1:6

 5. Become born again into the Kingdom of God

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17

6. Make a choice to be joyful. Offering sacrifices of joy – Psalm 27:6; sing praises unto the Lord, offer shouts of joy (Psalm 35:27); play instruments (1 Samuel 18:6); jump or leap (Luke 6:23).

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice

Philippians 4:4

7. Come into the presence of God – get alone and be quiet before Him.

Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

Acts 2:28

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 16:11

How do we get Joy:

1. Repent of our sins and surrender our lives to Jesus
2. Obey the commandments of the Lord
3. Ask God to anoint you with the oil of gladness
4. Be filled with the Holy Spirit
5. Become born again into the Kingdom of God
6. Make a choice to be joyful by offering sacrifices of joy
7. Come into His presence

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