Let joy be your continual feast! – Devotional

Let joy be your continual feast – 1 Thessalonians 5:16

I remember when I just started the ministry, living in Kitwe with barely anything. I had such a big vision, dreaming to see stadiums filled, thousands saved at Gospel Crusades and  even to start a “global evangelistic ministry”.

I remember the third month in, from when I got to Kitwe, that I actually became disappointed as I wasn’t seeing my dreams and visions come to pass. I wasn’t seeing partners support me, I wasn’t seeing the churches really excited about this vision of mine, and honestly people weren’t the most supportive of me staying in Zambia with no money. It all, for a moment, felt absolutely terrible. I felt hopeless, and just disappointed in myself. What was I doing with my life? I thought. Did I miss it?

The next day I was lying on my bed, and in that moment the Presence of God swept into my room. The Lord began to fill me with an unspeakable joy that immediately took away every bit of disappointment in my heart. It’s something that few words can explain, and what is meant to be experienced.
In that moment I began to worship and fix my eyes on Jesus, and the more I worshipped Him, the more I began to experience what David said in Psalms 51:12, “Restore to me the Joy of my Salvation…”.
I realized one thing from that encounter; that Joy can not be found in a vision, it can’t even be found in ministry, or even leadings thousands to Jesus Christ.
Joy is found in One Thing alone, and that is Him. He needs to be our Joy, He needs to be the reason why we wake up in the morning, He needs to be the reason why we love our neighbors, our spouses and families. He needs to be everything in our lives.

It’s ONLY in His Presence that we can experience this unspeakable, fullness of Joy that the Bible speaks about (Psalms 16:11).
It’s only when we are filled with His joy, that we can stand strong, because we are only as strong as the joy we have (Nehemiah 8:10).
I believe we constantly need to check our hearts, especially in this season, where there are so many distractions in this world, and all of them are there to try steal our focus.
I’ve personally made a decision to feast on the joy of the Lord. Most people know me for my encouragement, my excitement, and positive attitude. I’m not boasting in who I am, but rather, I want to say that I have chosen to fix my eyes on Him and because of this, His supernatural joy can fill me. And in the toughest and hardest of moments, I can laugh and enjoy Him because He is Good, and His mercy endures forever! (Psalms 100:5). 

Today I want to encourage you to set your eyes on Him. The Author, and the Finisher of our Faith, and I can tell you when you do this, you’ll experience His Fullness of Joy!