Length: 4 minutes

The Lord doesn’t want us to take our joy from anything that is changing. In our last part we mentioned the instability and inaccuracy of people’s opinion of us. But did you know that God doesn’t even want us to take our joy from manifestations of the Holy Spirit? That may sound strange, but it’s absolutely true.

Jesus disciples had gone out and seen many miracles done by the power of God. But when they expressed how happy they were that they saw demons obey them, Jesus told them not to be happy about that, but to be happy because they were citizens of heaven. 

Luke 10:17 (NKJV) Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” [Jesus says to them in verse 20] Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

There is quite a difference between rejoicing in what you have in Christ, and rejoicing when you see it manifest. Here is the problem that Jesus was trying to address, with rejoicing when you see things manifest. If we train ourselves to rejoice when the Spirit manifests from us, then we will have no choice but to be constantly discouraged when we don’t see what we want. Whether that’s healing, the resurrection of someone, something financial, or casting out a demon. If you invest your emotions in something that changes, you get the ups and the downs along with it. 

But why should we walk around being discouraged if we don’t see a particular manifestation just yet, when we’ve got healing, resurrection, power to wealth, wisdom, and authority over everything, living right inside of us? And we’ve got the promise that it will manifest as we believe! You see? If you’re rejoicing over who you are in Christ, and in the promise that it will manifest through you, you can rejoice all the time, because you have those things all the time! It’s steady and always true! But if you rejoice, as Jesus disciples did, only when you see it manifest in your life, then your joy will constantly fluctuate with the manifestations or lack of them. All the while, you’re full and lacking nothing!

If those disciples went on rejoicing in the manifestation of the Spirit, what happens the next time they try to cast out a demon and it doesn’t listen to them the first time, like in Matthew 17:19? If they rejoice when the Spirit is manifesting, they will inevitably be discouraged when they don’t see it manifesting yet. If you take your rejoicing from something, you are setting yourself up to be completely discouraged when you don’t see it present. 

But let’s assume they took Jesus’ advice, and instead of being happy over the manifestation of who they were, they started getting happy over the fact that they were citizens of heaven, which is why they always had authority over everything. If they were rejoicing like that, even if they tried to cast a demon out and it didn’t listen the first time, they wouldn’t be discouraged, because they’re not taking their joy from the presence of a manifestation. They could keep rejoicing, knowing that their authority over demonic powers was constant. And then, perhaps, they’d joyfully rebuke the demon again.

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit aren’t bad. All the contrary. It’s an inevitable part of the lives of those who believe. But don’t take your joy from things that change. Stop taking your joy from manifestations of the Spirit, which are ever increasing in us, and start rejoicing over the constant fact that, even before you see it manifest in your life, you’ve got it right on the inside of you and a guarantee that it will come out!

All in all, don’t take your joy from things that are changing, and your joy won’t change either. Start taking your joy from something that is constant, like who you are in Christ, and your joy will be constant.

If this blessed you, share this with someone else. More people need to understand this awesome truth.