Corner 1 | God Delights In You

Here is where you will experience the Unspeakable and Triumphant Joy and the Unspeakable Delight that the Bible speaks of in the books of 1 Peter and Jude.

"​As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen and precious in God’s sight..." - 1 Peter 2:4​

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy..." - Jude 1:24​

What does Unspeakable Delight in you look like?  One time I had an experience where someone I loved had lost hope in me and didn't want to be with me anymore. I went out to my car and just sat there, unable to catch my breath. My breathing was shallow and my heart was pounding. All my muscles were tense and my thoughts were racing. I was unable to think clearly and couldn't feel God with me. All I could think about was how to resolve the pain I was feeling.

Suddenly I felt hands on my face.  I saw the Lord looking at me with eyes so full of joy and delight.  He kept saying over and over, “I am delighted in you, I desire you.” His words seeped through me like hot honey, covering all the painful cracks and craters in my mind, heart, and spirit.  As He looked into my eyes delighting in me, I had so much joy yet I could not speak. He literally took my breath away with His Beauty & Goodness!

Eventually, I was able to meet His gaze and smile.  Then it became easy to forgive myself and be me again, even with all my weaknesses and shortcomings.  I was celebrated and lovely.  Jesus said to me, “You are going to make it through this because I am your Joy and your Strength! You will find your voice and you have something special to say."

Jesus wants to do this with you too.  In this Corner, we invite Him to be our Joyful One who Delights in Us.  We let Him hold our face in His hands and stare at us.  Joy always stares at the beautiful.  As you choose to look into His eyes and behold His Beautiful Face, the lesser “truths of challenges" shrink and come completely overshadowed by the brilliance of the higher “truths of uncontrollable Joy & Blessing." He can even rewire your mental circuits for joy. This comes from belonging to your God as He delights in you!​

Your authority is in His Joy!

Corner 2 | Our Delight In God

Jesus teaches us how to have joy in the moment and to see His face every day. He is our ever present friend and He wants us to know and experience Him in every moment of the day.

​"Come, enter into the joy of your Master..." - Matthew 25:23

​God commanded Joy. He said that Israel needed to have 7 Feasts a year.  It was so hard for people to stop and celebrate!  But heaven is a celebration!  God is a great celebrator.​

He intends life to be a celebration... and we make it hard. When you leave joy out of the equation, every evil thing can come in and attack you.  Yet His Joy comes in the morning and it energizes us for the day ahead. Each day is a glorious opportunity to walk in Joyous communion with our most joyful God.​

"Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.​" -Psalm 90:14

​Paul and Silas knew this.  They sang from deep inside the prison cell. Their joy was so abiding it ushered in the redemption of God! They sang and worshipped Him because the victory was theirs even before they saw themselves overcoming!  How powerful joy is!

Jesus says to us, "When you don’t submit your thoughts to my Joy and Celebration in the moment, then it adds poison to the bread."  You lose the full reality and celebration of God. You lose the ability to hear His heart of praise and healing when you leave out the joy in the moment.  

One time, the Lord spoke to me from Jeremiah 31:29-30 about training children to be Hopeful Reformers.  He said, “When you feed the children sour grapes, it will set the children’s teeth on edge. The most important things children need to learn is:

1. How to celebrate
2. How to love life
3. How to have joy in the moment!​

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.

​"Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do." - Ecclesiastes 9:7

​When we're in joy, we develop true love and relationship with Jesus. Relationships are two-ways – it is not a fulfilling relationship if only one person extends love and delight to the other.

One time I spent hours with Jesus, dancing, delighting, and rejoicing.  He celebrated every part of me, and I longed to give that same love back to Him!   This was how He designed relationship and love to flow back and forth, originally between the heart of man and His own heart.

It delights God's heart when we are delighted in Him and long to give Him love. It means some aspect of Eden has returned. The number one mandate and mission in life is to bring our Father love and joy, and to make Him happy.  We can do this with joy because He has such a great personality!  As we get to know Him, we delight in Him.

As our relationship with Him grows, our lives are filled with more joy than we could ever imagine. It becomes our greatest joy to delight in God and bring Him our love and praise.

Development of a true relationship with Jesus is the greatest gift we will ever receive.  Jesus pursues us with love all the days of our life and He never stops delighting in love for who we are to Him. There is no greater Joy than being able to pour our love and delight back over Him. This is not a requirement, but a wonderful privilege and blessing to have this kind of relationship with Jesus.  We are so overwhelmed by His love and consumed with desire to fill His Bottle of Joy by delighting in love for Him.

When we delight in God, there are great results! The Joy of Jesus shines out of us.  Our heart and flesh sing with joy to the loving God. Our emotional chemistry changes and we are transformed into His nature. There are progressive benefits when our souls are filled with delight. God is most glorified when we are most satisfied and enjoy Him.

Let us enter into the joy of giving God the praise and honor He is worthy of!

Corner 3 | Joy in the Moment

In this corner we are learning how to enjoy Jesus, even during painful situations - He brings joy to every moment.

In the Valley, God has set a table filled with a feast of His abundant presence. As we eat from that table we will be just like Joseph: Fruitful in our affliction: the tree that bears fruit in all seasons. (Psalm 23:5) He will help us to shift our focus and choose to be present and enjoy the moment. We can slow down time and choose to be grateful, finding joy in the now. God desires everyone, the greatest to the smallest, to be full of joy - nothing makes Him happier than seeing His children smile. “The chief end of man is to glorify God and ENJOY Him forever!” (The Westminster shorter Catechism)

“The earth is full of the goodness of God!” Psalm 35:5

You can find His goodness everywhere!

“He shall pray to God and He will delight in him. He shall see His face with joy. For He restores to man His righteousness.” Job 33:26

Can you see God smiling over you?

Hope Prayer

WOW make it so! Amaze us! There is an unimaginable presence of You yet to come in Joy. Let all be restored to your joyful nature. We will wake up like young people that have been in slumber and melancholy, we’ll see what we have missed in joy in you, and we’ll ROAR with love and joy in you. Lord Jesus come and awaken our hearts towards you in joy... Take us into the chamber door of your presence of Joy. No more do we want to treat you distant or dreary.... You are not a dumb stone or a carved image, but You are the living vibrant, joyful God. Let all the young and old praise in joy... Lord no more to depressed wanderers. We say Yes to joyful partnering with You in the present moment!

Practical Application

Stop and celebrate with Jesus. Find reasons to celebrate life exactly the way it is. Hope Journaling - Write down 3 things you are thankful for in the moment. Look into His smiling face today – and smile back!

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Corner 4 | Joy Over Ourselves

In this corner, Jesus teaches us how to enjoy ourselves! The discovery of seeing the beauty in ourselves and appreciating our lives.

Psalm 16:3 “As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight!”

Psalm 8:5 (PT) “Honor you have given to men, created only a little lower than Elohim, crowned with glory and magnificence.”

We get to see ourselves as God sees us. He delights in us, and we can delight in who we are! It is time we receive ourselves. He has received us!

Rom.8: 31 “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

People often think that the chief goal of trials is to come out with a stronger character, but the true goal is to come out with inexplicable joy.

Bob's Story

My mom was learning how to celebrate life and enjoy herself. She was in so much pain and unhappy for most of her life, and one day, I heard her laughing in the back room. I  asked my dad what she was doing. He said, “She just likes herself… she is enjoying herself.”  A change came in her life when she started celebrating herself.

The greatest obstacle to joy is not having joy in ourselves. It is like coming to a party and sitting in the corner instead of having fun and enjoying it. Jesus told Bob to get out of the self-analysis room where he was criticizing and critiquing himself. God was most glorified when we are most satisfied in who we are in Him. The fruit of this experience was that Bob´s emotional chemistry started to change and he knew that God wasn't going to leave him in this situation until he had joy over himself.

Overcoming Joy Stealers

Then the Lord showed Bob the joy stealers and how to be wise in joy.  The greatest joy-stealer in Bob´s life was Bob. Jesus said: “I don´t like the way you treat Bob Hartley”

He said: “This is a place where I give you back your sense of humor, which is the greatest character attribute you gain during the valley season. You’ll never have enough character, integrity, or back bone to brag about it. What I want you to boast in is that you know me and you know my loving kindness. Enter into childlike joy, humor, and fun because that tells me you trust me in all things and righteous behaviors will manifest as a result. It’s time to walk away from being sour puss’s and be hopeful and confident in my goodness”

Practical Application

Identify the joy stealers in your life ( negative thoughts, self-criticism, performance etc)

See the joyful face of God as He delights over who you are! He enjoys every part of you, He has never had one negative thought about you!