Joy of the Lord | Girls Gone Bible

Hi guys, I'm Ange.

And I'm Ari.

And we are Girls Gone Bible.

We are a faith-based podcast.

We talk about everything from mental health to relationships to anything in your everyday

life.

And most of all, we talk about the Bible and we talk about Jesus because we love Jesus

so much here.

And we always say, come as you are, just don't stay that way. That's what's up dog hi y'all what's up the joy of the lord is my strength preach what's up you guys man we have a fun episode today Ari and I we had an idea and we're like should we try to have an episode where we don't talk about anything sad the whole time? We don't talk about anything sad the whole time.
And we were like, you know what? That gives us an idea. Let's talk about joy.
Every episode I'm yelling in the camera telling you to take authority of the thoughts. Take them captive.
Hey, but you know what? From's the thing, though. There's so much entertainment out there, and there's so much fun-loving stuff, which is important, but people are suffering.
They're really including us. We'll get to it, you guys.
We're all this together, guys. What's up, Far? How was your weekend? Well, how was our weekend? I know.
Why don't you kick it off? How was our weekend? Go ahead. Our weekend was amazing.
Our weekend, you guys, we had a weekend of shows. So as you know, we're on tour right now.
It's probably, it's going to go like this. It's going to be a weekend of shows, a weekend off, a weekend of shows, a weekend off.
So we have this coming weekend off. but last weekend we were in Raleigh, North Carolina and Huntsville, Alabama, and we had two of probably the best nights of our lives.
Oh yeah. Oh my gosh.
These shows were so special. Five down, 45 more to go.
We love being in the room with you guys. We love what God does through these nights.
And I think we like didn't even know really what to expect. And as always, God just always exceeds our expectations.
Like we just have so much fun out there, but not in a way that like every moment is laughing because there's a lot of tears. It's very emotional.
You know, Ari and I, we do have some laughs. We tell a couple of jokes and some stories that we've never told.
But for the most part, I mean, it's our life. It's Jesus.
It's what he's done. And a lot of it is heavy.
A lot of it is emotional. So much of it is going based off of what the room is feeling.
And we always ask God to speak to us when we're in the room with his children and speak to us while we're on stage.

Lord, is there anything for somebody in this room? Is there any direction you want us to go in? Would you, what do you want us to preach about? What do you want us to talk about? While we'll go in with ideas of what to talk about and like a couple of things prepared, for the most part, every show has been different. We just have such a heart for not to over-spiritualize things, but like prophetic ministry in a way that like we of course can come up with so many ideas and so many things to say.
And, but we really have a heart for hearing God and for hearing exactly what he wants and for leaving room for the Holy Spirit. I think like Ari and I, I'll speak for myself.
I lean so much charismatic in my faith to where I love a church service that like, of course you have a plan. Of course you have ideas.
But like, if the Holy Spirit wants to disrupt whatever you're doing, you leave, you make room for him. You know what I mean? And so, and then I've also been to so many churches where it's very set, like 30 minutes of worship, 35 minute message.
Every word is the same every single time. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.
But I think for us, we want so badly. We have a vision of kind of like what we want.
God is forming us as speakers. He's forming us as preachers.
He's forming this tour. And like, we are just so open to what God wants to do with us.
And we want, we just want him, his wisdom, his words, him to take control. And yeah, we never want to do any, have like set expectations of what something has to look like and just like really suppress the spirit of God that like has something he needs to say, you know? Yeah.
I think that's why we just love when Stephanie speaks because that's what she does she'll throw a whole service out she'll be or a whole message yeah she will and you just leave there feeling different feeling like wow she really spoke to me and we just you guys mean so much to us and we just want we want to be able to to serve you in that way so it was so funny so speaking of joy of the lord angela and i are on the plane we're coming home this was i was laughing so hard about this this morning she's we're sitting in aisle seats and we're like so engulfed in our bibles and we're reading and we're like passing the Bibles, passing each other.

Because we're both in idle seats and so we are being so annoying.

Passing each other's Bibles. Look at the revelation I just had in Philippians.

And like we're going back and forth and like our eyes are bulging out of our head and we're so

excited about the revelations we're having. And I'm reading lines to her.
Oh, look at this. Look

what I discovered. And the guy in front of us looks behind and he goes, are you guys new to this? I don't know.
He was like, you guys are acting like you just found like a new television series that you're excited about. We're like, yeah, no, this is our new exciting television series.
It's the Bible. Actually, I literally go, no, we actually, we're binging our favorite TV show right now.
It is so funny because we literally were like kids. We're like, oh my gosh, look at this.
No, look at this. We're like reading the Bible.
These poor people around us were reading the Bible. It's just so funny that, okay.
And then the flight prior, I end up, I'm like in a window seat and you're in an aisle seat on the other side.

And there's a man sitting next to me.

And I'm talking to you over this poor man.

This poor guy is just trying to enjoy his life.

And I'm like, hey, we just, me and Ari are having to make a big decision on something.

And so we're like going through it.

And I'm like, but what about this?

But what about this?

But should we speak at this because of this?

And it's this and whatever.

And these speakers.

And it's like a ministry question. And then the guy looks at me and goes, hey, hey, hey, pray about it.
And I was like, you know, Jesus, he goes, I'm a deacon. And literally, listen, I go, oh, no way.
What's a deacon? He's telling me what's a deacon. Typical.
The guy in front of him, so, I don't know, maybe it was a loving rebukebuke he turns around and goes don't you think you should know what a deacon is before you go speak about jesus and i go probably buddy he qualifies the call not calls to qualify like darn he didn't say he was a deacon he said he was jewish and leave him alone like no us two together it's like not even normal and the guy the other guy who said he goes i'm not jewish i don't know the other guy goes when he was like um are you guys reading the bio or is this your first time reading it you're really into it and then i and i asked him i'm like hey you know jesus and he's like yeah something something are you something goes no we said he was jewish and i was like, are you Jewish? He goes, no. I go, I just said I know Jesus.
I was like, he knows Jesus. She goes, no, he's Jewish.
And I was like, what is going on right now? We had the whole plane upside down. It's not even okay.
That first one, I swear, we had every single person in that plane praying. Like, we were literally, like, I feel like we were talking to every single person about Jesus.
We had left Huntsville Alabama so of course like everyone's a believer but it was just so yeah that's what I was gonna say I was like this is this is not calming having a bunch of believers on a plane that's not coming that's not common oh common we're in LA no no you know what I mean no one's like, but anyways. Yeah, so tour has been so, so amazing.

And we just want to invite you guys to go to girlsgonebible.com slash tour and look at the dates and see if you guys have a date near you anytime soon. We really want you guys to come to these nights.
I just the response that we've been getting of people really feeling like people encountering the presence of God for the first time and like seeing God's glory, like seeing Jesus's face, like getting touched by the Holy Spirit sometimes for the first time in their life has just been really, I mean, it is the greatest honor of our lives. We're so grateful and we want you guys to come.
We want to see you. We get to hug you at the end.
Like it's just the most beautiful night. There's worship.

We have fun and we see Jesus and Jesus is there. And everybody in the room is so expectant of something beautiful to happen.
And God always meets us at our expectation. So please come to one of our shows.
Our next shows are in North Carolina. It's Charlotte, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina on October, uh, September.
Uh, help me. On October 4th, we have a show in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On October 6th, we have a show in Charleston, South Carolina. And I am so excited to visit these places.
I have been waiting very patiently. I always say, and that one place that I could see myself living is South Carolina.
I've never been, but from the photos, it looks a lot like Nantucket vibes. I can't wait to go.
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It's been in the works for a little while. So much prayer has gone into this.
We are going to launch something called GGB Plus on Supporting Cast. So Supporting Cast is basically this site where we get to upload exclusive, before seen content and we are so excited because what we get to do here is so fun but there's a bit of a format and like we have a very strict policy of like scripture is everything to us the bible means everything to us and so often like we only have an hour in here sometimes

we're in here for like way longer than that and the episode is an hour and a half but there's so much of our personal life and our personal hearts that we don't even get to share here but on ggb plus on supporting cast we will be sharing everything and our first episode everything I don't know

Knowing us

I'll tell you

We filmed the first episode

With a little camera it is more raw and real like i comfortable we're more comfortable so comfortable we're comfortable here but it's a completely different vibe like here we know like we got to get to work but there you never know what might come out because it's just so not like it genuinely feels like we're alone with our friends. Yeah, yeah.
And so our first episode, we basically took you guys on a backstage behind the scenes of like this whole weekend of going on tour. And then we sat and talked with you guys and we talked about tour.
We talked about spiritual burnout. We talked about singleness, relationships, settling, getting a little older, feeling like your time is running out, like we talked about so much.
And so we're announcing it now. We'll put it in the description.
We want you guys to join GGB Plus if you're willing, if you'd like to. It's just another way for us to connect with you.
We're going to have these opportunities to do like Q&As with you guys, like very specific name by name situation and a situation where we are even going to do like live calls with you guys. We're going to pick people, do live calls for that.
You tell us your issue, your circumstance, and we'll pray with you and try to speak into it. And we will deliver anything that we feel like is on our hearts from God for you.
And so we're just so excited. And write in the comments, maybe you want to do like a Bible study even, a prayer session, you name it.
So we'd love to hear your thoughts on just things we can do there. Yeah.
So excited. Okay, so the joy of the Lord.
The joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord.
Joy is everything. Everything.
My gosh. My God.
My God. Joy is everything, you guys.
Ari and I. Yeah, you don't want to be that.
I'm sorry. I know we have to start.
I have to tell them what you did. Never mind.
No, go. We're on the plane right now.
And I'm like, I don't know. What do you think about that? I won't get too deep.
What we're talking about. She goes, Angela goes, I don't know.
What do you want to be like this? Like, yeah, it's not do it. You want to be like that? No, we want to be happy, humble, joyful.
Okay.

No, we like, man, joy is, you know what the thing about joy is?

If I came on here a year and a half ago to talk about joy, I would be preaching up and down about joy.

Yeah.

I would be because joy is who I am.

Yeah.

Joy has not necessarily been who I am for a little while now. Yeah, we'll get into it, but it's so hard because joy means everything to me.
And it has always been my main—I preach about authority a lot because I know it so well. I used to preach about joy a lot.
And I would tell people like, the joy of the Lord is your strength. Today is the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice in it and be glad.
Don't let the devil steal your joy. He wants to take your joy.
I've been in a situation where I've let the enemy take my joy a little bit for a little while. I think you're in the same boat as me where it's been a little bit tough and we'll get into that.
But joy is not happiness. Joy and happiness are two completely different things.
Happiness is like an elated feeling and about being pleased with an outcome of your life or certain circumstance. Whereas joy is a spirit, joy is a fruit of the spirit that lives within us because the resurrected Jesus lives within us.
It is because of the spirit of God that lives within us that produces the fruit of joy. It is not based on your circumstance.
Joy has absolutely saved my life. I look at someone like my mom.
My mom, Christina, the best woman in the world. She is the greatest woman on the planet.
She has been through so much. She continues to go through so much.
I've seen my mom endure a lot of suffering throughout her life and simultaneously be the most joyful person in the room who can be in the midst of so much pain and still float around with joy i'll second that about christina i love you she loves you so much ari and my mom are so close it's the most beautiful thing in the world all day you guys talk all day whenever i'm not answering they call each other and they're like where is she she doing? But yeah, so and I had gotten that from my mom and joy saved my life.

Joy was the thing that got me through a lifetime of tragedy.

Yeah.

You know, and joy was something that I always held on to because my current my circumstances could look really bad.

I could be in the midst of a really hard situation of so much anxiety, of so much pain, but I was still able to laugh. I was still able to have joy.
And it's something that is, it is so important and so valued. What is your experience like with joy? Well, I think for me, like you were, I've always had, my dad is the same.

Like he always, no matter what he's going through, he just always is a light, you know? I have struggled with joy in my life because, well, first of all, I didn't have Jesus before. And now I've come into a place of being stripped in a different way

Being stripped I've come into a place of being stripped in a different way, being stripped of, like we talked about, like our old selves into our new selves. And it's just been, it's been difficult.
It's been difficult rewiring my thoughts and my brain and becoming into this new identity of new Ariel. And I'm someone who gets in my head a lot.
So not letting the thoughts and the enemy get in my head and be able to take authority of it and not steal my joy, because it can be very easy for me to believe those lies. So it's like something I always have to work through.
I feel like I've come into this new era that has been the, like truly the greatest blessing of my entire life. I like, I'm on my hands and knees every morning, like looking up being like, I don't know what I did to deserve this.
Like, I thank you, Jesus. Thank you for providing.
Thank you for loving me the way you do. Thank you for everything.
Thank you for everything that you've given me. But then I'm on my hands and knees being like, I don't feel good sometimes.
Like, I feel like lost a little bit. I'm feeling a lack of identity.
I'm feeling, I don't know what I'm feeling. I just don't feel good.
Like I see like the tiredness in my eyes. Like there's just a lack of happiness sometimes.
Sometimes I don't know how to act. Like I'll be with a group of people and

I don't know how to be because I'm in this new version of myself. And I grew up in Boston where, you know, we joke a lot and, you know, sometimes it's, you know, there's swearing involved and there's, it's just like, it's, you're, you're kind of free in that way.
And I've come into like a woman of a godly woman. And I, and, and that version of me is so beneath me.
And so it's recognizing that, no, no, no, wait a minute. That's not you anymore.
Like, it's okay. Like you can still be you, but not act that way anymore.
So I'm like in a, I've been in a transition phase. Like I really have of of growing into this new version of me and being happy and settled in it while still shedding the old and learning.

The pruning and the sanctification process can sometimes be very draining.

And so that's why you need people and family and just Jesus and love to just be like, it's okay. Like everything's okay.
You know? Yeah, totally. I think Ari and I have said a couple of times, like sometimes we'll watch old videos of ourselves and we'll be like, man, why don't we laugh like that anymore?

and I think so weird because

you can be so grateful for something

and not want to have it any other way

while also recognizing that there are things to it that might not be easy. If you watch our first ever episode until now, you will see that a complete transformation from beginning to end, from our testimony video till now, You see the anointing get stronger.
The wisdom flow. God's spirit be in it.
And you see the joy begin to dwindle a little bit. I think that there's a cost to ministry that two girls who have barely been to church couldn't have been prepared for.
again, it's so hard to say this because it's like, how can you be like, I'm so grateful and I will suffer for the gospel for the rest of my life. But it's just the reality.
And I've been blessed to talk to so many pastors and I have so many friends in ministry and they all deal with the same thing. Of course, the enemy is going to attack your joy because the joy of the Lord truly is our strength.

Joy is the reason that it's like, it's like a cushion that helps you endure. Like it's what,

like for me, it feels like joy holds me up. When things are really bad, at least I have joy.

That kind of, it's like joy is a grace and grace makes things like effortless. It makes things

easy. When God's grace is on something, it could be a really hard situation, but somehow you just kind of move through it with a grace.
It's effortless. And joy is kind of that grace for us where it helps us move through things effortlessly that should be really hard.
And so when we're doing something like ministry or raising children or trying to go to school or in a really difficult career, whatever you might be doing, and you need grace, you need God's grace to help it be effortless. God wants to give you joy and he gives you that joy.
And then the enemy comes and he takes it away from you because that's the only strength that you might have. And he wants to take your strength away to inhibit you from being able to endure the trials and the tribulations of life.

And so for us, of course, we're in ministry and the devil wants to attack our joy.

And of course, he wants to take the light away from us in our eyes.

That's the one thing, like what you said, there are so many times where I'll be like, I never have social anxiety.

I find myself having social anxiety sometimes. Yeah.
And I'm like, oh, why do I feel awkward? Like, why can't I just laugh? Like, there are moments where people will start laughing. And I'll be like, why am I not actually laughing right now? I know.
It's because we're new to this. And we have, honestly, and this isn't like to be in victim mode whatsoever.
It's not. It's just the reality of we were two girls who came from the world who were judged in very close eyes.
And so we don't want to disappoint people and we want to act right. So we have come into this space where we don't want to sway or we want to do the right thing.
And sometimes we can get in our heads so much.

So much. Yeah.
That's just the reality of it. No.
And that's not. I love that you said that.
Actually, I haven't even thought of it like that. I don't think that's victim me at all.
I think it's so real. But then there's like seasons for everything, too.
You know what I mean? And like right now, we pray, Jesus, would you please, please, please, after these shows, because the joy after some live events for me personally, and I think for you, too, that's what goes completely. I am just like, it gets hard for me.
And then these shows, I said, Jesus, I want it to be different. You called us to this, and I believe you to sustain us through it.
And like, I am like, I don't, I know that your will for my life is not to be a shell of myself after I minister. Like, I know that that's not what you have for me.
Like, of course you get tired. Of course you're a little drained, but like to become a legitimate shell of myself where I can't find joy for the life of me, that is not what you want from me.
So we prayed our hearts out. God, would you minister to us just as much as we minister to other people? May we leave this weekend feeling more refreshed, more restored, more joyful, and with a stronger sense of identity and sense of self.
And that's just what he did. And Ari, we had the best weekend.
We laughed so much. We had so much joy.
We had so much joy. And I just want to let you guys know how important it is to have like somebody because I had a moment.
I always say this, but Angela is very stronger in the mind. She's been doing this walk and she knows she's just good.
Like she's you you see her, she's a slayer. I struggle with worth, with the thoughts, right? And so one day after, one night after the show, I just, I have these thoughts that just defeat me sometimes.
And Angela looked at me and she said, you know, you know what it is about you? You will convince yourself of the actual opposite that happened. And you'll literally like paralyze yourself.
You literally let the enemy have it. And I like, right.
It was like, God had spoken through her to me in that moment. And I was like, you're right.
And typically when somebody would say that to me, I wouldn't even listen to them and be like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just keep letting the thoughts and I'd let them have me in a chokehold.
She said that to me and I was like, wait a minute. Yes, you're right.
And I talked through it to myself and I took authority of the thoughts and it was like a beautiful, beautiful breakthrough that I had. Like when I preached to you guys, it's literally because I'm walking through this with you.
I just know how paralyzing the thoughts can be when you're someone who grew up not knowing how to take captive of thoughts, not ever knowing how to love yourself. And so that is something that can paralyze your joy.
I think what really freed you that night was I looked at you and I meant it with my whole heart. And I looked at you and I said, would you just, and that's why it goes with joy.
I just remember this. I'm like, would you just let yourself be happy? Would you just let yourself enjoy this moment? That's right.
Yeah. Yeah.
Because that's what we do to ourselves. And I do it to myself all the time where I have to look in the mirror and say, would you just let yourself enjoy this? That's right.
That's right. Yeah.
Because the truth is joy. Joy is a choice.
It's a choice. It really is.
Yeah. And we can say all day and it's true.
The enemy does come to steal, kill, and destroy your joy. He comes to take it.

God gives it to you, and then he comes and tries to snatch it.

But at the same time, it's a gift from God, and we can receive it at any point.

And what God has for this, the devil, no matter how hard he tries, as long as we receive it, he can't take it from us.

And so to receive it means that you just choose to have it.

That's right.

It feels like the lack of joy just begins to cave in on you. And it's like you're exhausted and you can't get up and you're apathetic and nothing matters.
And people say something funny, but I'm not going to laugh. And it's like you have to choose to fight against that.
Yeah. And I think that's what's so, I think that for me, like that's what's so beautiful about having Jesus is before I didn't have the tools.
I didn't know how to find my joy when I was in a state of sadness and depression. And so I would sulk for weeks, even months.
And now I have these tools of worshiping. I could run into bed, but I don't.
I go on my hands and knees and I open the Word of God and I read it. And it literally, it goes through me and literally heals me.
Worshiping, I'm telling you, I could be so sad and just that feeling just so exhausted. And I won't even have to say anything.
I just sit and worship

and soak him and rest in his presence. That's why the Bible says in Psalms, he makes me lie down in green pastures and he walks me along still waters.
That's what it means. A lot of us are just exhausted.
We're tired. When we have a lack of joy, Ange, me and you, It's because most of the time we're literally fried.

We don't know how to shut our brains off and i'm sure so many of you guys are just running on fumes running on fumes and of course you're gonna have a lack of a lack of joy and when you're running on fumes we can't hear god as well either yeah totally and so um i encourage you guys, when you are feeling just burnt out and a lack of light in your eyes, it's because you need a rest. It's because he wants you to lay down in the green pastures and he wants to walk you beside the still waters.
And he just wants you to rest in his presence. And he will, like it says, he will then restore your soul.
I love that you just

said that. Wow.
I guarantee you your joy is in rest. That's right.
You'll find your joy in his

presence when you abide and you rest. That is crazy.
Yeah. That just spoke to me.
I'm going to I'll take a nap.

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That's ShipStation.com slash GGB. You're going to be the Emanian.
Yeah. What is he called? We're keeping that in.
What is it? Nehemiah? Nehemiah, baby. Nehemiah, boy.
I love this part in Nehemiah. I don't know if you guys have ever read Nehemiah.
If you guys have ever read Nehemiah. So it's in the Old Testament and there is this person in the Bible called Nehemiah.
And I love the story of Nehemiah so much. He basically, when the Israelites, when they returned from the exile from Babylon, they go back to Jerusalem and Nehemiah is helping rebuild the wall of Jerusalem to not let any outsiders get in.
They destroyed the wall. Babylon was going crazy during this time.
And then Nehemiah goes in and he helps and they have this like whole army rebuild the wall. And there's this moment in Nehemiah chapter eight that it's the famous scripture, the joy of the Lord is your strength.
This is where it comes from. And it's this moment in Nehemiah chapter eight.
We're going to start at verse nine. But basically what's happening is the priest Ezra brought the law of Moses to the Israelites.
It says that only the men and women and the children that could understand were invited. And Ezra went and he basically read the word of God.
They didn't have the privilege of reading it themselves like we do. So they're hearing the word of God for the first time.
And I love the scripture that says, faith comes by hearing and by hearing the word of God. The word of God is everything.
And I imagine these people, you'll see, they just start weeping. They just start bawling their eyes out.
It's the first time they ever hear the word of God. It's literally us.
And they're discovering, and you know what it is? The reason that they start weeping, first they're praising and celebrating and they're bowing down and they're worshiping God and they're worshiping the Lord. And they're like, there is joy and they're so happy.
And it's a very, very holy moment. And then they start to cry when they begin to hear the word of God because they realize they're so convicted that they realize they strayed away.
They realize and recognize for the first time how far they've strayed away from the word of God in his original plan and will for us. And that's why I love the word so much because it is sharper than any two-edged sword.
It cuts between bone and marrow, soul and spirit. And that's what it does.
It's so convicting. And I remember I went loving

Jesus my whole life, doing whatever I wanted. There was no conviction.
No, any sin was permittable for me. I could hear it from whoever I wanted.
Don't do this. Don't do that.
Don't do that. God says.
And I didn't care. I was like, I didn't know.
I didn't hear him. He didn't say that to me.
And then for the first time, I start reading the Bible and I'm like, oh, what have I been doing with that?

I have to change everything. and then so we come to this moment where in verse 9 it it says, Then Nehemiah, the governor, Ezra, the priest and scribe and the Levites who are interpreting for the people said to them, Don't mourn, warm.
I'm so sorry. Don't mourn or weep on such a day as this.
For today is a sacred day before the Lord, your your God for the people had all been weeping as

they had listened to the words of the law and Nehemiah continued go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared this is a sacred day before our Lord don't be dejected and sad for the joy of the Lord is your strength. And the Levites too quieted the people telling them, hush, don't weep for this is a sacred day.
So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God's words and understood them. And I love this moment so much because joy empowers you, joy sustains you.
And in this moment, the Israelites are so convicted and they're so stricken and downcast because they're like, we've strayed so far away from God. And it's this moment of repentance.
Like they are repenting, they're realizing how much they've done wrong. And God is telling them, I want you guys to focus on the fact, the joy that is reconciling to God.

Instead of focusing on all your past mistakes.

Repentance should be joyous.

We look at repentance as like, oh, Jesus, I'm so sorry.

Which it is.

It's a holy and reverent thing that like you are respecting and fearing God.

But it's also like this is such a joyful thing that I am recognizing my wrong and I'm choosing to come back to you. And so in this moment, they are trying to encourage them and saying the joy of the Lord is your strength.
You need to be strong right now. They had to build a whole wall.
They had so much to do. They had so much opposition.
And in this moment, they're encouraging them. You're mourning and weeping and your sadness, that is not the strength that's going to sustain you.
You need God's joy. Be happy.
He's telling them, go have a feast with rich foods and sweet drinks, share gifts, enjoy yourself. Don't weep.
It's a sacred day. They went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food and to celebrate with great joy.
Would we as a people, as a collective, allow ourselves to celebrate and have joy in the fact that so much might be wrong, but God has reconciled us to himself through Jesus's blood and body. And like, that's the point that I'm getting to.
I'm so happy I read this and I'm so grateful that God ministers to us just as he does to everybody else. I needed this.
Yeah. Because I had a moment recently where my relationship with God has been so intense.
Yeah. It's been, I come from a very broken past, so much suffering, so many tears.
My journey with Jesus has been full of tears and full of suffering and full of blah, blah, blah, whatever and everything. And so for me, and I'm so about the fear of the Lord, for me, it's almost as if, and I am so passionate about the glory of God, about God's manifest presence.
I believe that experiencing God enter your room, come upon you physically, and to your heart, it's real. I experience it.
I love it. I love the Holy Spirit.
And I am a big Holy Spirit person where like, I want everybody to know that you can experience God's glory. And so for me, I so often experience God's glory through tears.
I begin to bawl my eyes out and the tears just rush and they flow. I don't have to strive.
I don't have to try. I don't have to like try to think my way there.
I don't have to try and think about sad things. It's God's presence that comes and it's just, that's what's released.
And recently I was in a situation where I'm like, I felt myself in worship and I was striving. I was trying to get there.
Right. And you would understand this where we have like a background in acting to where like, they always said like, you have to get there emotionally.
So you do whatever you need to do to like rev up the engine and like get the T and whatever. Whereas like, it doesn't work that way with God.
That's not how I worship. I don't have to get there.
God comes and he brings me there. And so I'm feeling myself like striving because I'm correlating tears with God's presence.
And I felt him speak to me and say, get up, get off your knees and go put on a joyful worship song. Literally.
And I'm like, okay, I'm walking around outside like a prayer walk. And I put on some sort of like uplifting song, I think from Elevation.
And I start singing and I start worshiping. I find myself, I begin to skip.
And immediately the presence of God fills my heart. And I start hysterically laughing.
Tears came too. But I am hysterically laughing outside in the middle of the street in the presence of God.
And He immediately met me. And I start bawling my eyes out.
And I'm like, that was really easy. I didn't have to try.
And he spoke so clearly into my heart and said, you have suffered enough. It's a season for joy.
Do not correlate the fact that if you're crying for me and you're in this holy reverent intense moment

that that's the only way I'm coming I'm coming to you with joy oh that's so good that's just what I felt from him so much we have been going through that that I mean that's exactly what I was going to read um that's exactly what how I feel about it I was going to read the same thing from uh I was gonna go sick of Philippines.

We're going to read the same thing from, I was going to go to the Philippines. We're going to the Philippines.
Philippians 1. Philippians 1.
Paul is in prison. And he says in Philippians 1.
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all you with joy.
For you have been my partners in spreading the good news in Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it's finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
and then, you know, I'm not going to read it all, but Paul's joy that Christ is preached. He says, and I am in chains because of Christ and because of my imprisonment, most of the believers have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear.

And I just, when I read that, I just thought the same as you, Ange, like, I feel like as Christians, so many of us feel like we have to suffer. Like we have to suffer for Jesus.
We have to take up our cross and carry it when really he had to suffer for us so we could be in joy. We like, yes, we have to suffer for his name and preaching his name and being bold in that way.
Like Paul is rejoicing in jail, rejoicing in this moment of being in chains, but not afraid to still boldly speak his name. But Paul is still in so much joy.
He is the joy of the Lord, the strength of the Lord. He knows that his Lord is with him.
And I just like, when I read that, I had such a revelation of like, we don't have to suffer. Like everyone is so depressed and has anxiety.
And we were like, oh, we're doing it for Jesus. And because we think we have to do that when really we have to remember that he literally bore our sins.
He died on a cross so we can live in peace and harmony and gentleness and joy. And so I almost get this picture of Jesus looking down at us being like, can you just guys just be happy? Like you don't have to suffer this much.
Like I died for you so you can be happy and live your life and not think so much. Just go and have a good time, you know.
And then another, and I'll just read one more part. Paul wrote in 3 verse 13, he wrote, Dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

I was just saying this to Angela, right?

So good.

One of the biggest things that can steal our joy is looking back at the past and looking too forward at the future.

If we are sitting there looking back of what could have been and worrying about the future, am I going to make it? Is my time up? Is this going to work out? We're literally coming into agreement. That's the enemy literally stealing our joy, making us worry about the future and the past.
And we're literally coming into agreement with the enemy being like, okay, yes, have it. Yes, I'm going to sit here in bondage in my thoughts, and I'm going to worry all day.
So every time we start to worry about the past or the future, remember what Paul says, I focus on one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward at what lies ahead. God has a plan for us.
And so looking back at the past and looking too forward at the future, that is not of God. That's not what He wants us to do.
So every time we get those thoughts, we say, no, no, I'm not going to. He's doing a new thing in me.
I don't have to look at the past and the future. All I have to do is worry about today.
And He's working all things together for me. Why? Because I'm focusing on him.
I don't need to worry. Worry is, remember, we have to remember worrying is literally coming in to agreement with the enemy.
That's fear. Fear is the enemy.
That's what he does. He comes to kill, steal, and destroy.
So let's not look back at the future or the past. Let's keep pressing on.
Let's all be a family that wants to finish the race. I love that so much.
I'm obsessed. That's one of my favorite scriptures of all time because, oh, have I dwelled about the past.
It's kept me in bondage. This is a past dweller.
I'm a future dweller. I am like, we are the same.
We are like opposites in that. We're like, my anxiety has always been the future and yours has always been the past.
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So much of why God didn't bring me to where I was supposed to be is because I was stuck in bondage thinking of what could have been. And it was literally keeping me in hell.
And until I like every day, slowly but surely surrendered it, it's not easy to do that. It's not easy to mourn like that.
But when you keep coming to your knees, asking him to help you through that and walk through that with you, he's like, okay, now I can trust you with this. Now I can take you to the next level.
So true. And I think a lot of people right now are in that same situation as you where your joy is on the other side of your surrender of your past.
We're sitting here being like, where's the joy? Where's the joy? Where's the joy? Where's the joy? I think it's on the other side of you letting go of the past. Yeah, it's true.
So true, Ange. I really, Crick, want to read Acts 16, 16.
It's just this little part about Paul and Silas in prison. I don't know if I've read this on here before, but I love this moment so much because what we want to leave you here with today is, I can't speak English today, is Jesus bought your joy.
It is an inheritance. It is yours for the taking.
And I want you guys and us to rejoice before we have the right to. Before our circumstance looks the way we want it to, rejoice before you have the right to.

Because Paul and Silas were in jail from preaching the gospel.

They're thrown in jail.

Paul, one of the many times that he's thrown in jail. In Acts 16, verse 25, it says,

Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,

and the other prisoners were listening.

Suddenly there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off.
The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, stop, don't kill yourself.
We are all here. They are in prison.
They are in chains. They are in bondage.
Their current circumstance did not look like something to rejoice in. It did not look like something to begin to sing hymns for.
But they chose, because joy is a choice, they made the decision to begin to pray and sing hymns. And that caused a massive earthquake.
The prison was shaken to its foundations. The doors flew open.
So the minute they started praising, their chains fell off and they were set free. Praise and worship and choosing joy is what sets you free.
Joy has the ability to set you free and it's something you get to choose. So let's all take after Paul and Silas in this situation that even when we're depressed and anxious, unwell, our loved one isn't healed.
The person we love just left, whatever it may be, begin to praise and rejoice and choose joy and watch your shackles and your chains fly off and the doors get open. And that's the beauty of having Jesus.
It's that unwavering love of knowing, I don't know what's happening right now in my life. This isn't to say that I'm not going to go through a storm, that things aren't going to happen, but I know that I serve a faithful God who's walking through the valley, who's not going to leave with me, that I can literally sit back.
That's what's been the best thing for me. I can literally sit back and relax and rest in knowing he's taking care of everything.
I don't need to worry. And that alone should give you this overwhelming, immense amount of joy and peace.
Because we really do serve a faithful father who literally is taking care of everything. We don't need to worry.
And when we don't need to worry, what's the opposite of worry? Joy. So let's all rest in joy because he's taking care of it all for us.
He really is. I'm laughing because do what Socrates says.
Every time I call Socrates and I say, So have no joy he goes tickle yourself tickle yourself jump around tickle yourself we were laughing so hard we started tickling on our hearts what's the medicine to joy? laughter start laughing that is medicine just laugh joy is so so. And I think about how the scripture where it says that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before him.
Like, how could Jesus look at the cross, which is literally the instrument to his death? Like the means of him dying is the cross. And it says in scripture that he looked at the cross with joy.
How was Jesus able to face the most horrific thing of all time, in all of history, the most horrific thing that would ever happen? He faced it with joy because it is only joy that gives us the ability to endure these things. And in my own life, the only way that I've gotten through suffering is through joy.
And so in this season where my joy has been affected, it's dwindled, my ability to laugh. I have always been, me and Ari, both the queen of the belly laugh, the queen.
I mean, we're so annoying to people around us because we can get stuck in those laughs. And like, we are committed with you guys to getting that joy back, to focusing on that joy, to choosing to laugh, choosing, just choosing it, doing whatever you can.
Get up, jump around, skip around, and don't lose your joy. Do you promise today that you will not lose your joy? You'll do everything in your power and you'll pray for it.
It's yours. It's yours.
It's mine. It's yours.
I'm taking it back. I don't know about you.
I'm tired. Give me it.
Give me it. Put it in me.
Put it in me. Speak in tongues.
Speak in tongues. Yeah, really.
And Philippians verse 2, don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others.
Be humble. Thinking of others as better than yourselves.
Don't look out only for your own interest, but take any interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
When we try to embody the mind of Christ and be humble and not try to impress people and not try to live of the validation of others, and we are humble enough to love each other like we love ourselves, that is going to bring more joy than you could ever know when we stop trying to put a facade up. I know for you, when you were in the time helping me, I saw the joy in your eyes every day because you were being so selfless and you had the mind of Christ every single morning with me.
And so just checking your heart posture every day. If you are not feeling good, say, you know what? I'm not feeling good, but maybe I can go make someone else feel good.
And watch your spirit just flutter. Watch the joy in your eyes come back when you see yourself helping somebody else.
I know that's what Jesus did. So good.
Yeah. We'll just leave you with this.
Colossians 1, 11 to 14. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.
May you be filled with joy. I'm praying this over you guys.
May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people who live in the light.
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Be filled with joy in Jesus' name.
I pray for you guys that joy would be your default, that it would be your natural response to any situation, that you would receive right now the free gift of joy. Jesus loves you so much.
We love you so much. And we're so grateful and we're so compassionate towards probably your season of lack of joy.
But what does it say? Hang on. Hang on.
For his anger is but for a moment and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
That's right. That's right.
Joy is coming in the morning. And by morning, I mean right now.
For all of us. For all of us, family.
We love you guys so much. Love you guys so much.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May he turn his face towards you and give you peace and joy.