Dee Hillman

“So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

Romans 14:16-19

One day it all made sense

Have you ever had the feeling that THIS was the moment everything was going to come together?

Like, you really felt that a change was in the air?

A shift in your thinking had taken place?

A season of fulfillment and joy started to collide with everyday living and you were now in step with inner peace and joy?

That is exactly what is happening for me right now! Everything is falling into place. My attitude, the lessons, the experiences, and the comfort of knowing who I am as an individual is all coming together.

It’s so easy to fall into the comparison trap and believe that what we’re eating and drinking is what promotes true joy and fulfillment. But the scripture above from Romans 14 lets us know that getting it right with God, peace, and joy are the manifestation of lasting purpose, or rather the eternal kingdom of God.

How to live with joy

If you’re ready to press into abundant, joy-filled living, I’d like to encourage you to start doing these simple things:

1. Embrace righteousness! Being in right standing with God is simple. Accepting Christ as Lord and savior from sin and it’s consequences means we acknowledge the work on the cross as payment for a debt we owed a holy God. Sin forever separates us from God, and that debt needed to be paid by Jesus, the righteous Son of God. Receiving that work (Christ’s death and resurrection) as being enough for our adoption into the kingdom is essential to embracing righteousness! There’s nothing that we did to get it! It was a wonderfully bestowed upon is by grace through faith.
2. Embrace peace! Now that we’re free from the bondage of unrighteous living, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1) and others (2 Corinthians 13:11).
3. Joy in the Holy Spirit! Just listening to this song will get your joy bells ringing. This joy didn’t come from our circumstances, environment, or present condition. Holy Spirit joy is the result of the ever-abiding presence of God that assures we are never alone. He is enough.

Armed with this rich Word-knowledge (Biblical understanding), you can live with indescribable delight.

Let’s pray:

Dear Lord,

I pray every reader would begin to walk into their divine joy inheritance! May they experience beauty, the oil of joy, and the garment of praise to release them from cycles of mourning, weeping, and heaviness. May they continue reading your word to fortify themselves from every joy-thief. I declare righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit to overtake them with blessings and every benefit available to them as kingdom citizens, in Jesus’ name.

Amen.