Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser
Every sunrise is a reminder that God has given us another gift – the gift of a brand-new day. But how should we live this day? Should we live it weighed down by worry, fear, and regret… or should we embrace it with gratitude, faith, and joy? According to the Bible, joy is not just a fleeting emotion – it’s a choice, an attitude, a daily posture that transforms ordinary living into extraordinary life. This daily posture of rejoicing is a better way to live because it is a life intentionally lived in alignment with God’s will, drawing strength and purpose from His perfect design and unfailing presence. This article explores what it truly means to live a life overflowing with joy. Let’s discover how a daily posture of rejoicing is not only possible, but actually the full, rich life God has always intended for us. Be blessed as you read!
The Christian is to live an extraordinary life that God designed for us to enjoy. God wants you to rejoice, to be full of joy, and to celebrate. We are not imposing anything on Him; rather, it’s His desire for us to rejoice every single day. After all, there are benefits to living a life full of joy. I feel compelled to pray for people to gain a greater understanding of the potential we possess and the access we have to what God desires for us. This is not something that God wants to withhold from us; He genuinely longs for it to manifest in our lives. However, sometimes we need to remove the blinders, chains, and religious baggage that hold us back from realising our true purpose. We were created to walk and talk with God, to rejoice and be glad every single day.
The Bible says that this is the day that the Lord has made for us to rejoice and be glad in him. So, it’s not TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday), but thank God for every day. Hallelujah! The Bible says,
“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
“Rejoice always” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).
Joy is a choice, and it is not the same as happiness. These two concepts are different. The word “happiness” derives from “hap,” which means circumstance. Thus, happiness is dependent on your circumstances. Life naturally has its ups and downs, making it impossible to be happy all the time, since circumstances are not always good all the time. In contrast, joy is something you can experience at all times. It is entirely your choice to access joy because it is a fruit of the Spirit. If you are a born-again Christian, remember that when you were born again, all the fruits of the Spirit were deposited inside you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control are all within you. You can tap into these fruits of the Spirit because they reside in your spirit.
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “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 1:27-28).
This is a well-known passage: God created man in His own image. It’s important to understand what this means. In the image of God, He created them, male and female. God then blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the Earth and subdue it; have dominion over it.” For those of us who are married, we particularly appreciate this idea of being fruitful and multiplying. I want to emphasise today that we have been created in the image of God, not in someone else’s image. You have been fearfully and wonderfully made, and God desires for you to have dominion because you are blessed. This truth brings me joy, and I hope it fills you with joy as well.
" The Christian is to live an extraordinary life that God designed for us to enjoy. "
I want you to subdue the earth; in other words, I want you to fill the world with the image that you’ve been created in. The one who is in you is greater than whatever challenges you may face. God wants His power, which resides within you, to flow out from you. As believers of the New Covenant, we have the ability to do this because we are created in His image, and because Jesus Christ, the last Adam, came to restore what the first Adam lost. Aren’t you glad we’ve been freed from the legacy of the Adams family? Thank God we’ve been brought into His family, and we are now His sons and daughters. We live in His presence because we were created in the image of God. In Him, we live, move, and have our being. So, no matter what you are facing today, remember that Psalm 118:4 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” What will we do on this day? We will rejoice and be glad in it because the Lord has created this day for us to do exactly that.
This is not a day for us to feel depressed or filled with fear. God has made this day for us to respond to what He has created us to be. We can embrace the image of God in which we were created, and God assures us that He has given us the grace and ability to rejoice and be glad. When God created us, He declared it was very good. He did not create us as failures or victims, nor as second-class citizens or worthless individuals. He did not leave us to fend for ourselves in life. Instead, He came to give us life – abundant life. And because we are created in His image, we have now been recreated in Christ, and from that image comes our identity.
In today’s culture, a popular phrase that has emerged is “How do you identify?” As believers, we identify as the righteousness of God in Christ; that is our true identity. We have been created in God’s image, and from this image, we’ve become brand-new creations with completely new identities. Because of this transformation, we possess the grace of God within us, which enables us to rejoice even in times of adversity. Yes, it is possible to find joy every day, even when things don’t go our way. We have the ability to view our circumstances with joy because, in Jesus, we can subdue and fill the Earth with the image of God. This is possible because of who lives within us: Jesus Christ, empowered by the Spirit of God, who is greater than anything that comes against us.
The Bible says in Psalm 139:13-14, “For you formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. So, how should we respond to what God has done? We must rejoice and be glad, no matter what is happening in our physical bodies today. Each of us has been fearfully and wonderfully made. Symptoms that seek to define us, regardless of their nature, are not the truth. We know the truth from the Word of God, and it is the truth that sets us free. We were not created to live in sickness, disease, fear, or depression. No, God has made us to be overcomers! Hallelujah! We are called to subdue the earth and to fill it with His image and presence. I am so grateful for Jesus, aren’t you? He has shown us a better way to live.
