day no. 15,555: we fight from, with and for joy

Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Joy is a weapon. It is our ammunition. It is what we need in order to fight, how we fight and what we win when we fight.

It is like a battle over a bullet factory. You must first have bullets in order to engage in the battle. If you do not have any ammunition, you are at the mercy of your enemy. You need bullets in order to win the bullet factory. But beyond merely having ammunition, you must use it. Just having bullets is of no advantage if you don't fire them. You must aim them in the direction of your enemies if you are to hold them off or advance to claim their territory. And what you get when you win is a factory that produces bullets in abundance. You use bullets to gain more.

Proverbs 11:25
The liberal soul shall be made fat:
and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

So we fight from joy, with joy and for joy. We must be given joy from God to begin with. Then using that joy, we fight. We claim more territory for joy and find that the more we lean into the joy we have and spend it in the battles we face, the more joy we have. We use joy to gain joy.

It is also like muscle. You must have muscle if you want to move. If you don't have any muscle, you can't move a muscle. But if you have muscle, you must move it. You use muscle to move and the more you do, the more muscle you gain. You must have it and you must use it and your reward is more of it. God grants the energy, you invest it in His endeavors and find more muscle at the end of it. When we exhaust our energy, we discover more of it.

2 Chronicles 20:20-22

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

“Give thanks to the Lord,

    for his steadfast love endures forever.”

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.

Praising God in triumphal joy is our best weapon. It comes from Him. It slays its ten thousands. It wins the day and multiplies itself. Joy and praise sown into the darkness yields a bumper crop. It is increased in being relied upon and faith fires away!