You are not the part-time focus of God’s
attention. You are His delight and the full-time
object of His affection. Israel’s King David wrote,
“Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under
the shadow of thy wings” (Psalm 17:8). That’s the
heart of your heavenly Father.

His promises to Abraham and Moses show that
man’s well-being is God’s number one concern.
He sent His own Son, Jesus, to take every curse
of the Law on His own body for us, so that we
could walk in all the benefits of God’s protection,
wholeness and prosperity. From beginning to end,
He tells you in His Word how much He loves
you by demonstrating how protective He is of
His people.

God is not someone who is hard to get hold
of when you get in trouble. He is not someone
who can’t hear you call out His Name when
you have a need. In fact, He is waiting for those
who will take His promises seriously. For the
sake of His Word and His Name, He will rush
to the aid of those who call on Him. He wants
to be involved in securing our lives not only in
heaven, but also while we live down here.

So don’t ever accept the lie that you are
alone and forgotten. The Lord knows right
where you are.

Trust Him, turn to Him, give Him an
opportunity to prove His love for you in time of
trouble—He’ll shake heaven and hell to deliver
you and bring you to a place of safety.

Psalm 3:4-5

NIV—To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers
me from his holy hill. Selah. I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

AMP—With my voice I cry to the Lord, and
He hears and answers me out of His holy hill.
Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! I lay
down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord
sustains me.

Moffatt—When I call out to the Eternal, he
answers me from his sacred hill. I laid me
down to sleep, and this morning I waken, for
the Eternal upholds me.

KJV—I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and
he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. I laid
me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord
sustained me.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Read Colossians 1:11 again and you’ll
see it is that joy-inspired strength, which
enables us to be patient and long-suffering.
(So, if you’ve been running short of patience
lately, check your joy supply. That could be
what you’re lacking.)

Read Ephesians 6:10 and you’ll see it
takes that same strength to operate your
spiritual armor. If you don’t have the joy of
the Lord, you’ll eventually get too weak to
wear it!

The fact is, joy and the strength it
provides are far more vital than we ever
imagined. Study Ephesians 3:16-19 and you’ll
see what I mean. There Paul prays:

That [God] would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit
in the inner man; that [the Anointed
One and His Anointing] may dwell in
your hearts by faith; that ye, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height; and to know the
love of [the Anointed One and His
Anointing], which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the
fulness of God.

According to those verses, we can’t abide
in the anointing without joy. We can’t
comprehend the love of God without joy. We
can’t be filled with all the fullness of God
without joy. We can’t do any of those things
without joy because we simply wouldn’t be
strong enough!

Can you see now why joy is such a major
force in this end-time move of God? Even
more importantly, can you see why joy must
be a major force in your life if you’re to be
a part of that move?

“Oh yes, Brother Copeland, I do. So I’m
planning to attend every Holy Ghost meeting
within 100 miles of my house.”
That’s great. But, frankly, even if you do,
it won’t be enough. You see, as wonderful as
it is to be in services where there is Holy
Ghost laughter, you need joy all the time.

And since you can’t carry Kenneth E. Hagin
or Rodney Howard-Browne around in your
pocket, you’d better learn to release the joy
of the Lord yourself!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries