“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
—Nehemiah 8:10
The Word of God tells us the joy of the Lord is our strength. But we cannot experience this joy until we let go of our old paradigm to see life from His paradigm. Every day we battle to gain His perspective, let go of our own, and then think and act in accordance with His ways.
More than anything, the Lord wants you to know that your matchless Creator made you perfectly just as you are. He gave you life as a gift of love to you, Himself, and this world. Selah, think on that for a moment. Let go of any negative views you have of yourself. See Yeshua’s blood washing away all your sin-stained impressions of who you are. You are God’s treasured creation, a diamond created for His love and light to pass through. As you receive His perfect forgiveness and love into your heart, you can release this divine love back to Him and into this world. This is how we experience true joy.
To discover the brilliant, shimmering beauty of your diamond today, begin to look at your trials and tribulations differently. Rebuke the fears they trigger and see that these battles propel you into the arms of your Maker. Nothing else is more important than for you to look to Him as your Daddy, Creator, and Savior, seeking everything you need from His loving arms. Deep brokenness will cause you to seek your Father’s face and relinquish your problems to Jesus at the cross.
Philippians 4:6 reveals there’s power when we pray with thanksgiving. Thank Him for Jesus, for His faithfulness in the past, and for revealing the next step to take. When we place our lives in Father’s hands, every “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7) causes us to rely not upon ourselves but to look to God to receive His love and learn His ways. Nothing else can bring true joy.
You are Father’s treasured diamond created to receive His unconditional love. Let His living, active love and light shine through you, back to Him, and into this world. Receiving His love and releasing it back to Him and others is true joy—the joy of the Lord that is your strength!
Thank You, Lord, for creating me perfectly. I am Your diamond, cleansed and receiving Your love and light. Fill me afresh with Your Spirit so I can see trials and tribulations as You see them. I love You, trust You, and release Your unconditional love to others today, for I am Your diamond reflecting Your glory.
Cynthia Schneider, From Passover to Pentecost (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2021), Used by permission.
