“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7 KJV).

What is joy? The joy of God is excitement, gladness, delight, and it comes from being victorious. It is not based on circumstances. God will is that joy permeates our being.

In today’s text, the word ‘abide’ means to live in, settle down in, to take up residence in. The implication of the word is permanently. Jesus said, His words must live in, settle down in and take up residence in you permanently. This is somebody who daily feeds on the Word. feeding on the Word of God keeps joy alive.

That’s a reason for joy is that we can ask what we will. Now God did not just throw a visa card on the table and say, “Have at it!” There were two conditions there. He said, first of all, you are in Me all the way, and My Word is in you all the way.

He knows that if the Word of God is abiding in you, the Word is supernatural. It will change your focus, your perspective, it will change your will, it will change what is important to you. If the Word is abiding in you then you are more interested in the things of God than just the things of the flesh.

Jesus said in John 15:11, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” He has spoken what? He just told us about the commandment of love. He just told us about getting the Word of God in us. If you read a couple of verses earlier He says anybody that is connected to Him is going to have His fruit flowing from him – love, joy, peace, etc.

The joy of the Lord is your strength. If Satan can’t steal your joy, he can’t rip off your goods. I’ll tell you that tests and circumstances are about getting you to be moved away from operating in the joy that is in you, and focusing on the temporary problem. When you operate in joy, excitement, gladness, and delight about what God is about to do, God changes things. He works it out in your favor.

Scripture References: Neh. 8:10; Eph. 5:17-19