Joyce Meyer - Be Joyful: 50 Days to Defeat the Things that Try to Defeat You

One of the most remarkable stories in the Bible is the account of the apostle Paul, previously known as Saul. As a young man, he was zealous in following the Jewish lawzealous to the point that he persecuted Christians. According to Acts 8:3, he began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Because of his hatred for followers of Christ, he was determined to stop the spread of the early church. In these activities, Saul truly believed he was serving God and doing the right thing. Later in his life, he realized that God had mercy on him because he was ignorant and lacked knowledge (1 Timothy 1:13).

Even though Saul did many wrong things, God, in His mercy, chose to visit him in an amazing way. According to Acts 9:12, while Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lords disciples, he requested permission from the high priest to travel to Damascus, hoping to capture and jail more believers in Christ. Something shocking and wonderful happened during his trip:

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

Who are you, Lord? Saul asked.

I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied.

Acts 9:35

After this encounter, Saul became known as Paul. One of the lessons of Pauls miraculous conversion is that if Gods grace can transform a persecutor of Christians into one of Christianitys greatest heroes, He can do anything for anybody. No matter what you need in your life, God can bring it to pass.

Pauls experience on the road to Damascus changed him completelyfrom a persecutor of Christians to a powerful minister of the gospel and writer of New Testament letters that have shaped Christian theology for centuries. Paul was forgiven and so transformed that after his personal encounter with Jesus, he forever turned his back on his old life and began pouring all of his passion and energy into helping others know Jesus and live victorious Christian lives.

One of the hallmarks of Pauls life and writings is his unbounded joy. In fact, he has been called the apostle of joy. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:2223) and a quality that can range from extreme hilarity to calm delight. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us as believers, we can have and demonstrate joy in every circumstance we face. Anyone can be joyful when they have everything they want or when everything is going their way, but it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to remain steadfastly joyful in our hearts when we face difficulties or disappointments. Joy helps us enjoy lifes happy seasons and gives us strength to persevere in faith and trust through hard times. According to Nehemiah 8:10, The joy of the Lord is your strength. The more joyful you are, the stronger you will be.

Just as God met Paul on a journey and transformed him into a man of joy, I pray that God will meet you on the journey you will take through Pauls writings over the next fifty days as you gain strength to be joyful in every circumstance. These passages have changed my life, helped me mature in Christ, and taught me to find joy in each day, no matter what it may hold. I believe that they will do the same for you as you meditate on them and apply them to your life. I am praying for you, that as you go through this book God will use it to draw you into the joy that comes with a deeper, more intimate, and more powerful relationship with Him.

Galatians 1:35

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

P aul frequently opens his letters with Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. These words are not simply a salutation, but a beautiful and powerful blessing. This greeting was much more beneficial to the hearer than most of our greetings might be today. We may greet a person with hello or hi, but in saying Grace and peace to you Paul expresses his heartfelt wish for his readers to experience the power of amazing grace and the wonderful peace of Godwhich transcends all understandingin their lives (Philippians 4:7).

As you and I begin this fifty-day journey together, I pray grace and peace for you, and I hope you will become increasingly aware of all the ways Gods grace and peace will help you in every area of your life. I also pray that you will deliberately watch for Him to extend grace and peace to you, because when you look for them, you will see that He makes them available in more ways than you may have imagined.