Welcome to the first Tenacious Faith Study. On this study the goal is to expand you’re understanding of joy! While I was writing this I even experienced the more understanding of joy and I realized how powerful it really is. So, I hope you enjoy this study and find it useful!
Today on Tenacious Faith’s Study I’m talking about being joyful for Jesus because He loves to see you happy and He deserves it. Go into a quiet space to read and pray. Lets take a look and find out about being joyful for Jesus.
To start us off I want you to PRAY and talk to Jesus about good things and all the things you might need help with or it’s just really troubling you. I promise that He will listen to your prayers and take them in His hands. If there’s anything you want to admit or confess, feel free to do so. Don’t feel shame in confessing. We do sin and it’s not good, but the best thing to do with our sin is confess it to the Lord so He can forgive us. Pray however long you want. You may begin.
When you are all done praying we are, first, going to look at some Bible. Then, we will discuss it. Look below to see some verses, read them, and think about them. Does this verse make you feel happy? What does it make you feel? What does this verse mean; to you?
Philippians 4: 4-9: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances;for this is God’s will for you in Christ
Psalm 68:3: But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
Hebrews 10:34: You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
In these verses they talk about joy. They talk about what being happy means to Jesus. Jesus wants you to be happy. He wants you to have joy, but what does having joy really mean? Well, joy isn’t something you buy. It’s not any object on this earth. It’s the love of Jesus. You feel it when somebody helps you or when you’re thankful for something important like family and friends. So, we are going to talk about each verse in turn and discuss them so you really understand things.
First, we’re going to talk about the first verse. Now, in Philippians 4:4-9 the first thing it says is “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Plus, he says it again. Rejoicing is really hard sometimes and I understand that personally, but it says to rejoice in the Lord “ALWAYS.” So, even when it’s hard to rejoice do it in the Lord. For even in bad times and with bad things He makes everything right.
It also proclaims to let your gentleness be evident to all! Let it show. Did you know when you do this it shows God in you. It shows the Holy Spirit within you. Make it evident and when you do this don’t think it’s for nothing. People will notice and they will wonder who is that God that she believes in. Who is He that she might show Him within her? They’ll ask is He a God that loves her and you’ll be able to say yes. Yes, He is a God that loves me and takes amazing care of me. Won’t that just be wonderful? Can’t you imagine the joy it will bring to the Lord’s heart!
The last thing it says is that God is near and He does take care of us. It says to not be anxious (worried) about anything, but through prayer and petition( requesting something to an authority with respect) request the Lord’s help, and if you notice even in the Bible it says to ask for the Lord’s help and you will receive.
When it says present your requests to the Lord what might that mean do you think? I’m asking you this because do you think the Lord would want you to ask for some toy or new boots? Well, it’s okay to ask for those things, but when it says to present your requests to the Lord don’t you think he might want you to ask for wisdom, hope, or something that will really bring you joy? You know, if you know the story of Solomon then you’d know how he asked for wisdom when the Lord said you may ask for whatever you want he chose wisdom which was pretty brave and non-self centered.
So, the next 2 verses are paired together in purple because there almost saying the same thing. In the first verse it says that in all these ways to be happy and thankful do it because it’s God’s will for you. Now, like I was saying Jesus wants you to be happy and joyful because it’s His will for you. He likes seeing you smile just like a parent likes seeing their children smile! In the verse after that, Psalm 68:3, it says that people who believe in Christ and love Him (the righteous) be JOYFUL. Be HAPPY!
Verse Romans 12:12 has strong meaning even if it’s only a couple of words. The first part be joyful in hope is not the strongest part of the verse, but it tells you no matter how much you have, if you have hope be joyful for it. Be thankful because hope is not something you buy, it’s something that comes from a God that loves you. So, be joyful!
The second part is the strongest part in my mind because it says be patient in affliction. Sometimes people will torment you and bully you because you believe in the One True God. Now, don’t be alarmed by this because people do this because they don’t have Jesus. They can be saved, but they aren’t because they choose not to. So, if this were to happen you would just need to ignore it and remember that no matter what this person says it’s not true unless it’s in the Bible. You also have to remember that this world is full of sin, but you have the Lord that watches out for you. So, you just have to be patient because when those people who bully you and torment you realize that you have Jesus by your side they’ll back away. I promise.
The last part of this verse is important to understand because it says to be faithful in prayer. Jesus has a plan for our lives and when we tell Him our problems and ask for help He will help you, but sometimes you might ask for something else and Jesus will either say yes, no, or wait. David is actually a really good example. He asked God if He could build a temple for Him and do you know what God said? He said no even though it was for His benefit and He said no because He had a plan for Solomon to build Him a temple. So, as you can see you have to be faithful in prayer.
Another way you have to be faithful in prayer is because God might not always answer right away. In this situation you have to be faithful in prayer and you have to remember God knows what He’s doing. He knew what He was doing when He created the earth and He knows what He’s doing right now!
In the last verse it says that you have suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your own property because you knew you had better and lasting possessions. This verse is talking to this man and he’s suffered along with all the bad people in prison and then, he joyfully accepted the confiscation of his own property because he knew he had better, lasting possessions.
When you hear this verse what do you think of? I think that this guy who seemingly has suffered through something (I don’t know if suffered through prison is a metaphor or not) and then, joyfully accepts the confiscation of his property because he has better, lasting possessions….well, I think the better, lasting possession is Jesus because that’s all we need to be joyful. Still, I think this guy is probably sad to lose his house and his land, but he knows he has better things waiting for him…JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for reading! I hope this study helped you and I know we already did like 5 verses, but there’s one more below for you.
1 Samuel 2:1: [ Hannah’s Prayer ] Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.
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