1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian JOY | Page 5

safe to presume that, as a result of him having confidence in the controller of his life, he freed
himself of the baggage of blame, got stuck into the cause, as mundane as it might have been,
and experienced the joy of the Lord.
The second thing we notice is that when people strengthen their limp hands to do what God
has called them to do, this releases the supernatural power of God to do what only God can
do.
I am sure that there is not one person who is reading this today who would not love to
experience both of the above. I am sure that we would all agree that we would love to
experience the reality of true joy and at the same time experience the wonder of God’s
supernatural power. To think that the residents of Jerusalem, at the time of Nehemiah, had a
restoration of both. We read that at the completion of the wall Nehemiah ordained for a
period of incredible celebration where choirs sang and great joy reverberated through the city
of Jerusalem as they celebrated the supernatural hand of God that helped them restore the
walls in 52 days.
As I close this devotion today, might I refer to a term that I have heard Chad use a number of
times. He speaks of “creative avoidance” which simply means that it’s not that were doing
nothing, it’s just that we are creatively doing stuff that will keep us from doing the things we
knowGod wants us to do. Many of us would look at our lives and declare that we are “busy”,
but the question I need to ask is, are we busy doing the right thing, or are we “creatively
avoiding” the things that we know God wants us to do? Only you can answer that question
and I leave you today with the challenge to do so.
Prayer Thought: Could “limp hands” be a problem in your life? Could it be that you are at a
point where the walls of your life, like the walls of Jerusalem, are either lying flat or maybe
even just showing cracks? I encourage you to strengthen your hands, take responsibility for the
things you know God wants you to do and then set about to realign your life focusing on the
things that are of eternal significance and then stand back and watch as the supernatural
power of God begins to evidence itself in your life.

WEDNESDAY
Zephaniah 3 v 17
Matthew 26 v 57 – 63
Matthew 27 v 11 – 14
The third aspect of having confidence in the controller of your life is that you will be
QUIETENED BY HIS LOVE. (Zephaniah 3 v 17)