Paul never wrote so much about joy as in this letter to the Philippians. And he uses the word most often as a command: “Rejoice.”

The reason for this must include the fact that internal strife is stifling their joy. What’s new here in Philippians 3:1 is the qualifier, “in the Lord”. Heaven’s joy is always available, but only in the Lord.

Joy is not a feeling. We do feel it at times, like a breeze from Paradise. But what is it?

Joy is a quality of life that is deeply rooted in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and others who are also in the Lord. When we compromise this relationship with Christ or with others, we forfeit our joy and we cease to rejoice in the Lord.

Unless we fake it. God forbid.

Joy is not a luxury. It’s an existential necessity. A church without joy is like a wedding without wine. Embarrassing and disappointing – like the wedding at Cana. Mother Mary won’t have it. She backs Jesus into a corner until He turns 500 litres of water into vintage wine (John 2:1-11).

Joy is the wine of the Kingdom and a foretaste of heaven (Isaiah 25:6-9, Matthew 26:29). We cannot truly live without joy.

Anyone who has ever tasted heaven’s joy knows what the Philippians and all of us need to learn. That one small stirring of evil in the heart, when we consent to it, vaporises our joy in an instant.

One secret gripe. One silent snub. One selfish choice. One careless word. One white lie. One lustful look. One bitter root. And a thousand other little foxes spoil the vine (Song 2:15). How cheaply we trade our treasure for trash! We squander the wine of joy for sweet and sickly soda.

Joy is not an option. It’s an imperative. Joy is not an attitude. It’s an action. Joy is something we do and must do in the Lord: individually and corporately, privately and publicly, in psalms and hymns, in singing and thanksgiving, in confession and liturgy.

We must rejoice in the Lord always, and in defiance of who or what assails us, and regardless what weapons they wield against us. Like the national flag, the banner of joy must forever wave over the Church Jesus builds.

Rejoicing in the Lord is a sacred duty. Such enacted joy is an essential declaration that Jesus Christ reigns, no matter what happens to us. And that one day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God (Philippians 2:11).

This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation (Isaiah 25:9).

Pray Now

1 Joy is not a quick fix we can source online. “The joy that Jesus offers His disciples is His own joy, which flows from His intimate communion with the One who sent Him” (Henri Nouwen). In other words, no matter the circumstance, a Singapore Church growing in intimate communion with Christ will always be an attractive community of irrepressible joy, drawing the lost to Christ, the infinite source of true joy. How are we doing?

2 Live the Word: As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:9-11).

Pray: Lord, I hear you. You’re calling me back to Yourself. Back to a personal relationship with You, rich and real, not fake and flaky. Back to abiding in You, deep and strong, not flat and flabby. Back to ongoing spiritual formation. The habit of intimacy. The discipline of prayer. The sacrifice of praise in song. The rhythm of giving You the best part of my day, not my scanty leftovers. In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

3 Joy is not a booster shot we can inject. Christians in healthcare know that better than the rest of us. Their anxiety is real. Their minds are never free from the potential of new variants and another public health crisis. Ask God for an awakening to joy among believers across the health sector. Believe for genuine personal encounters with Christ, the supernatural source of joy. A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22).

Pray: Dear Lord, let Your floods of joy run deep and wide in the hearts of our healthcare workers. Grant them reservoirs of lasting joy deep within. Rich and substantive. Full and contagious! A joy that transcends all the well-deserved gratitude, bonuses, promotions, and public accolades they will ever receive.

4 Rejoice in the Lord! Declare by singing this glorious hymn of the Almighty One who is and who was and who is to come (Revelation 1:8). 

Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore;
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing,
And triumph evermore;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice,
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Saviour, reigns,
The God of Truth and Love;
When He had purged our stains
He took His seat above.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His Kingdom cannot fail,
He rules o’er earth and heav’n,
The keys of death and hell
Are to our Jesus giv’n;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope!
Jesus the Judge shall come,
And take His servants up
To their eternal home.
We soon shall hear
the archangel’s voice;
God’s trumpet call
shall sound, rejoice!

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