What is true Biblical, God-supplied joy?  Does such joy come and go?  Does a true saint’s joy level rise when things are going good and decline when things are going badly?  Did the prophets and apostles joy fluxuate relative to their changing situations?  Was Paul’s joy the same when he was awaiting the downward thrust of the executioners blade as it was when he was healing the sick and casting out demons?  Was Christ’s joy when surrounded by adoring masses the same as when He was preparing for the crucifixion that would take place later in the day.  Yes, on both counts.  Why?  Because they knew that they were in the center of God’s will.  Even as the blade severed Paul’s head and the nails penetrated Christ’s flesh, these towering spiritual giants were filled with joy because they knew they had obeyed God until the end.   This, ladies and gentlemen, is true joy that comes only from walking in total obedience to God’s Truth.  There is only one way of knowing God’s Truth and receiving His assurance: “Study to show yourself approved by God” (2 Tim. 2:15).  Such study, if followed by belief in and obedience to that which was studied, will bring joy like nothing else.

Jesus, the prophets, the apostles, the Inquisition martyrs–all who have lost their physical lives because of their obedience to Go–never lost their joy, even though they knew what awaited them.  God-sent Joy, as He tells us and as His precious martyrs have shown us, has nothing to do with the physical or material aspects of life.  TRUE CHRISTIAN JOY COMES FROM WALKING WITH GOD.  Do not all professing Christians walk with God?  No.  God asks: “Can two walk together unless they agree?” (Amos 3:3).  No.  Any joy experienced while walking in disobedience to God is not from Him.  In the past I have felt joy while living in disobedience to the Lord.  I now know the joy that results from obedience to Him.  Take it from me, choose the latter.

But beware.  As is the case with all things spiritual, Satan is able to counterfeit even joy.  Billions of people now living in a state of joy, by their own admission, repeatedly and deliberately disobey the Source of true joy–Almighty God.  Still, they claim that God is the source of their joy.  Know this:  SATAN CAN PRODUCE FALSE JOY.  A perfect example of this truth was highlighted in a t.v. documentary I was watching some time ago.  The program concerned a particular church which I knew was no different from all other churches.  In one segment of the program the interviewer was speaking with an elderly man about his faith.  He told about his younger days when he served his church as a missionary.  He admitted that at one time he had grown tired of telling people about his religion and had begun to doubt God’s call on his life.   He had lost the joy he once had.  Then one day as he was witnessing to a group of people the Lord “spoke” to him and assured him that he was doing exactly what he had been called to do.  Now an elderly gentleman, he reported that at that moment his joy returned and had remained strong ever since.  Admittedly, this testimony makes for a good religious sound byte.  Having God assure us that we are in the center of His will is a sure joy-producer.

But let us get beyond the “headline”–“You are doing what I called you to do”–and examine the “fine print” relative to what he and all within his denomination were doing that supposedly brought a smile to God’s face.  The religion he was proclaiming as a young man involved, and continues to involve, many heathen beliefs and customs which God hates and condemns.  The following are a few of them.  This joy-filled man observed Satan’s Sunday Sabbath as well as his Christmas, New Year’s Day and Easter celebrations, all of which God declares to be abominations which He hates (Deut. 12:30,31).  He had also believed in instant salvation, denominations, replacement theology, the trinity, the rapture and numerous other heathen traditions listed in the Introduction to this website.  And yet, the God Who condemns those very beliefs and practices “spoke” to him and assured him that he was doing exactly what He (God) wanted him to do.  This message from “God” had filled his heart with joy, a joy that had remained until the day of the interview, and I suspect until his death.  Many a joy-filled soul has approached the end of this life with total assurance that he/she would soon be in the presence of God.

How can this be?  Why would the Biblical God fill with joy the heart of someone who repeatedly disobeyed Him?  He wouldn’t.  Joy, as with all emotions, can be counterfeited by the Great Counterfeiter–Satan.  We see proof of this by the smiles on the faces of those coming out of cross-topped buildings every Sun God observance day who “know” that they have paid homage to the God who has “saved” them and has reserved a “mansion” for them in “heaven” where their dead relatives and friends await their arrival.  I have experienced such joy while preaching the message found in the previous sentence, healing the sick and casting out demons.  Like all within the Institutional Church, I “knew” that God and I were soul mates.  Satan, I would learn later, has indeed deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9), including me.  I cannot thank God enough for His incredible mercy on this most unworthy of souls.  Joy, whether from God or Satan, comes from a “voice” from somewhere outside the recipient.  True Christian joy comes ONLY from God and ONLY for obeying Him.  Any other spiritual joy, though heart-felt and exhilarating, is counterfeit, fake, bogus.  Such joy comes from Satan and is awarded for obeying him.  It is the source of the “voice” that matters.

Man has an innate problem when it comes to distinguishing between the “voice” of God and the “voice” of Satan–he cannot do it.  Man is incapable of making the distinction.  This Truth was pointed out by Jesus while talking with His disciples.  He asked them who the people were saying that He was.  Some said one thing, others said something else.  He then asked them Who they (the disciples) say He was.  Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus told him that he (Peter) had not known that, nor had any man told him that, but that he knew that Truth only because God had told him through His Holy Spirit (Mat. 16:13-16).  Today we have both the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to tell us which is which.  And they always agree.  Man must know the Word of God and have His Holy Spirit to know if the “voice” he is hearing is from God, who will never deviate from His Word.  Many a church person has heard the voice of Satan and was absolutely sure that he/she was hearing God.  I know from personal experience how dependent we are on both the Word and the Spirit when it comes to distinguishing between those two spiritual “voices.”  L.J.