A Sermon
Delivered on Wednesday Evening, September 10th 2025, by
Evangelist PAUL ACQUAH,
Live on MZ Radio London, London UK.
What if your greatest strength had nothing to do with your circumstances? You see, the joy of the Lord is more than just a passing feeling; it’s a divine strength that anchors us through every trial and triumph of life. Unlike worldly happiness that depends on circumstances, the joy God gives flows from His presence, His promises, and His unfailing love. This joy is constant, unshakable, and deeply rooted in our fellowship with Him. It is what empowers us to stand firm, bringing inner peace when storms rage and resilience when challenges arise. The joy of the Lord steadies our hearts, fuels our faith, and equips us to move forward with hope no matter what we face. When we truly understand this truth, we can face anything life sets before us. In today’s message titled “Strength in His joy,” Evangelist Paul Acquah explores this life-transforming power. Let’s discover together the joy that changes everything.
Be blessed as you listen!
We were created to walk and talk with God and rejoice and be glad every single day. The bible says that this is the day that the Lord has made for us to rejoice and be glad in him. So God created every day for us to rejoice and be glad no matter what happens in a particular day because joy is very important. The joy of the Lord is our strength. God is a good God and it’s his good pleasure to give us every good and perfect gift. It’s his desire that we walk in his joy. Start A New Path today right now, A New Path of walking and talking with God and of enjoying you and letting his joy be our strength
“Looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). So, what’s that joy, what’s the joy of the Lord. Jesus had the strength to endure the cross because of the joy that was set before him. Jesus was going to pay the price in order to have relationship with us and fulfil the will of the father no matter what. So, what was the joy set before him? We were the joy that was set before him. We were the joy that helped him to endure the incredible price, the cross, the beating, the torture and all that he went through. We were the joy that was set before him that helped him to endure the cross.
The joy of the Lord is our strength, so our strength comes from joy. What is the joy of the Lord? Relationship with us. our strength comes from having relationship with God. Our relationship with him literally becomes our strength. The relationship with us was what Jesus did not have yet. He had a place at the right hand of the father. He already had heard from the father: ‘you are my beloved son in whom i am well pleased’. But what he didn’t have yet was you and I and he wanted relationship with us to the point that he paid the price that was really a price nobody else could afford. He said I’m going to lay down my life for you and I call you friend. Then you begin to realise that relationship really is the joy of the Lord. His relationship with us was God’s joy and still is the joy that was set before him hallelujah. The joy of the Lord can take us through anything. This was how Paul survived shipwreck and being beaten and all the things that the apostle Paul went through and yet he talks over and over again about the joy of the Lord. How does somebody go through these kinds of things and not end up as a victim but instead as a victor. It’s only through the life of God inside us and specifically his joy relationship with us is what becomes our strength.
In this life, we can at any time or at any place enter into that relationship or that fellowship even when things are not going well. I can still enter into the joy of the Lord. It’s not just acting happy or trying to feel a particular emotion. No, this goes way deeper than that. It’s joy that’s inexpressible and full of glory. In other words, full of the presence of God. So in good times, in challenging times, in impossible circumstances, the joy of the Lord is always available. Isn’t that awesome? Praise God! We don’t have to just wait until we get to heaven. No, ‘your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’. God says you need to enter into that joy not just when you get to heaven but heaven has literally come to us, it’s already started now. Yes, there’s going to be a day when we die and go to heaven, but the kingdom of heaven has already come. It’s here and so we don’t have to wait until we die, we literally have entered into that eternal life even right now.
So, God says we can enter into this kind of joy in any circumstance and any situation. It’s available to us but many times we just don’t know and it’s through lack of knowledge that we perish. We think it’s an emotion, we don’t really understand the fact that it’s way more than an emotion. It’s actually the fruit of the life of God living on the inside of us. It’s the fruit of that relationship that we have with him. Romans 14 and verse 17 says: “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. This is where our strength comes from. We can’t just fake it till we make it because that’s only going to last for a short period of time because you’re the one trying to maintain it and fake it.
You’re going to get to a place where you crash, burn up and burn out and your heart is going to get overloaded and you’re going to find yourself looking back and saying how did I get here, I just feel like I’m shipwrecked somewhere. How did I ever end up over here? Well, it’s because we’re not relying upon what’s been already given to us by grace.
The life of the Spirit of God is already living on the inside of our spirit man but as we enter into the joy of the Lord, that joy will change everything. You may ask, what about when circumstances are really terrible or they’re not joyful. Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small”. This verse makes us understand that a person’s resilience and spiritual strength are tested during difficult times, and if they give up, it reveals their limited inner resources. The verse serves as a warning to rely on God’s power and not on one’s own strength when facing trial. Joy is so powerful that it overcomes the enemy’s attacks. Not only is joy strength but joy overcomes the enemy’s attacks. Joy is a weapon against the enemy attacking you.
Understand that “if you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small”. When the enemy attacks you and defeats you then your strength is small. But what’s your strength? Your joy is your strength, and when you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. If you fall apart when the devil attacks you then your strength is small and that means your joy is small. So, if your joy is great then your strength is great. Likewise, if your joy is small, then your strength is small. Therefore, the more joy you have, the more strength you have in the day of adversity to overcome him, when Satan attacks you. Be in God’s presence, keep a vibrant relationship with the Lord because in the presence of God is fullness of joy and the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Let’s pray:
Father, we love you, and we thank you Lord for your goodness. It’s your good pleasure to give us every good thing. You want us to walk in your joy; you want us to walk in your peace that surpasses all understanding. You want us to be an example of what God looks like in a person. You want us to have your joy continually and be in your presence continually. So, I pray father for the people who are listening right now that for those that are considering what’s been said today that Lord you would quicken these things to their hearts. And that they would value them enough to go back to listen again, to take notes, to look up scriptures. Whatever it is they need Lord, that they would value this enough. I pray that they would Start A New Path today right now, A New Path of walking and talking with you, of enjoying you and letting your joy be their strength. Father I just speak that over everyone that’s listening right now in the powerful name of Jesus Amen.
