Question...

[nhistym]

Can someone further explain to me this verse: "The joy of the Lord is our strength" It is in Nehemiah 8:10. What is the Lord's JOY? I know we get our strength from His joy, but what is His joy???

[P_G]

We must never confuse the Joy of the L-rd with temporal happiness.

Temporal happiness is conditional on events in our lives Joy is not
I am happy when something good happens to me but I loose that happiness when something tragic happens.

Now Joy has no conditions because it revolves around the salvation that is found in Jesus. Once finally and truely done for good and for all. No matter what happens ifI am in Christ Jesus I have a surety of salvation. This is Joy.

I have the promise also that he will love me and care for me - all of my days this too brings Joy - an inner peace and absence of worry about the future.

I have the promise of the Holy Spirit that will guide me away from sin and bring always to mind the things of G-d This gives me joy to know I am not alone and have an ever present friend in times of trouble

Joy is that peace which passes all understanding

Pastor George

[dvd_holc]

Life is a precious gift of God to be enjoyed in his purpose. We have great pleasure in living in it and worshiping him. Love is always joyful. So then have sustain happiness that never ends becuase you are the image bear of God to the world.

BTW...nice post Nehemiah.

[dvd_holc]

Phil 4:4-9

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

[DrDaveMD]

Very nice Nehemiah

[Flynmonkie]

We must never confuse the Joy of the L-rd with temporal happiness.<snip>
Joy is that peace which passes all understandingPastor George


Just an AWESEOME answer! :thumbsup: I am totally impressed! But as usual not surprised!! ;)

A short way to put it - the "protection or promise" of our Lord is our Defense or Refuge (strength).. in times of trial --You think? :scratch:

[nhistym]

Ok, so, when the Bible says that "the joy of the Lord is our strength," it means that the joy we've been given comes out of having assurance of our salvation, that I have nothing to fear in my future, and that I will always be guided because of the Holy Spirit. If joy=His salvation+His promise+His guidance then His salvation+His promise+His guidance=our strength!!! Makes sense! Let me know what I am missing.

[mlqurgw]

Can someone further explain to me this verse: "The joy of the Lord is our strength" It is in Nehemiah 8:10. What is the Lord's JOY? I know we get our strength from His joy, but what is His joy??? You have already been given an excellant answer as to how we are strengthened by our joy in the Lord so I will attempt to answer your question as to what is His joy.


Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.


The joy that was set before Him and that for which He endured the cross was that His bride, the church, become His. We might think in terms of Jacob serving for Rachel. Gen. 29:20 He served an arduous 14 years altogether because he loved her and would have her as his wife. That was his joy.

[California Dreamin']

The joy of creation.

[JPPT1974]

The joy of God creating us.
As humans and as Christians.
To do and enjoy His world and will.

[Flynmonkie]

nhistym --I think you have it!! :thumbsup:

I thought I would show you a way to help study what “words” mean in the bible. A good place to start is www.BlueLetterBible.com. You can actually look up the translation for each word there. They have a Lexicon, Concordance and other tools. In fact, they even show you how to pronounce words! The numbers that you see by each word correspond to the translations for that word. They also give supporting passages where that "same" word is used. So next time you are trying to understand a word in context of the passage you will know how!

But actually this verse is interesting to me, because the word Joy is only used in this context only three times in the Bible. Here and 1 Chronicles 16.27, & Ezra 6.16. Sometimes to help you further understand you can study other passages to get understanding of what context of the particular word is being used as.

Joy: chedvah, hedvah means: gladness

1Ch 16:27 Glory 01935 and honour 01926 [are] in his presence 06440; strength 05797 and gladness 02304 [are] in his place 04725.

Ezr 6:16 And the children 01123 of Israel 03479, the priests 03549, and the Levites 03879, and the rest 07606 of the children 01123 of the captivity 01547, kept 05648 the dedication 02597 of this 01836 house 01005 of God 0426 with joy 02305,

Neh 8:10 Then he said 0559 unto them, Go your way 03212 , eat 0398 the fat 04924, and drink 08354 the sweet 04477, and send 07971 portions 04490 unto them for whom nothing is prepared 03559 : for [this] day 03117 [is] holy 06918 unto our Lord 0113: neither be ye sorry 06087 ; for the joy 02304 of the LORD 03068 is your strength 04581.

[JPPT1974]

Thanks as well.
Those will indeed come in handy.
Thanks again I really appreciate it. :amen:

[nhistym]

Wow! Thanks for the responses everyone! I will definitely checkout blueletterbible!