Be Filled with the Oil of Joy

Be filled with the Oil of Joy

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. Hebrews 1:9

What does the joy of Jesus look like in your life?

How would you define the joy of and from Jesus? Author Jack Wellman states, “Joy is an emotion that’s acquired by the anticipation, acquisition or even the expectation of something great or wonderful.” For Christians, joy is not limited to favorable circumstances, but remains even in difficult times.

According to our verse, joy remained upon Jesus because of his love for righteousness and the rejection of wickedness.  Joy remained because of his oneness with good.  He had no internal conflict between his actions and attitudes with living righteously because he never sinned.

We sin. Our lives are spotted with inconsistent living in holiness.  We know that we should be living one way and yet we act in the opposite way. We struggle with controlling our words about and toward people. We lose our temper too often. We have to take our thoughts captive often for purity’s sake and for thinking wrongly of others. With all of this yuck in our lives it is no wonder that we struggle with maintaining joy.

Our temptation at this point is to try harder to be better.  We think if we can “clean up our act”, then joy will follow.  This statement would be true…if we could be successful.  But because of our struggle with sin and self-love, we will fail again.

The secret is that joy is found in Jesus.  He was anointed with the oil of joy or gladness. When we stay connected to him, then we receive the benefits of his life. He imparts his life to us.  When we sin, and ask for him to forgive us…he does.  And because of His grace, he restores a “right spirit” within us.  It is never about our righteousness, that we will experience his enduring joy, but it is His righteousness alone.

May you experience his abiding joy today that goes beyond your circumstance and sinful life.  May God pour out his joy so that others can sense the aroma of joy in your life.  His joy is a tangible expression that you can experience regularly.  May the joy of the Lord, be you strength.