Thieves Of Joy (1&2) By Pastor Paul Enenche

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Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC)
IMPARTATION SERVICE – SUNDAY, 18TH OCTOBER 2020
ANCHOR SCRIPTURE(S): PHILIPPIANS 4:4; PSALM 9:1-3
MESSAGE TOPIC: THIEVES OF JOY (1&2)
BY: DR. PAUL ENENCHE

SERVICE OBJECTIVE(S): Understanding those forces that steal our joy

THINGS TO NOTE:

1. Joy is a critical, crucial asset of irreplaceable value in the life of the child of God.
2. The enemy fights joy in the life of the Christian because of the relevance of joy.
3. The enemy uses several channels to fight the joy of the child of God (2Cor. 2:11)
4. The child of God is responsibility-bound to defend his/her joy, by all means and at all cost. (1Sam. 30:5-6)
   Fight for your joy like you fight for your life or fight for your salvation
   Nobody can encourage you like you; to wait for external encouragement, most times, is to die discouraged.
   You are your closest relation.

THIEVES OF JOY:

1. The wrong input or intake (Prov. 4:23; Matt. 12:34-35)
   1a. What you feed into your soul and spirit affects how you fare in life (Jer. 15:16)
   1b. The spirit or heart of man is the fountain of man’s life (Matt. 12:34-35)
   What flows into the heart of man determines what flows into life.
   Until you are watchful over your heart, you are not yet watchful over your joy
2. The wrong association (1Cor. 15:33; 1Sam. 10:5-6; Prov. 13:20)
   The people of your life can determine the joy of your life
   2a. Your association determines your celebration (1Sam. 10:5-6)
   Association with depression can never produce the atmosphere of celebration
   Association is a choice; it is better to walk alone than to walk with the wrong crowd
   You have one life to live, don’t endure it, enjoy it!
   2b. The attitude of your company determines the attitude of your life
   No matter how hard you try, you cannot have a quality of life that is higher than the quality of your company
3. The attitude of Ingratitude (Ps. 100:1-4; John 6:11; Jer. 31:1-4)
   3a. There is a connection between thankfulness and joyfulness
   To be thankful is to be joyful; to see no reason to be thankful is to see no reason to be joyful
   No matter how bad things are there is always something to be thankful for
   Become a gratitude harvester; make it a habit to make a list of 6-7 things daily that you are grateful for (Eccl. 3:11)
   Gratitude is a fertile seed that reproduces after its kind; when you sow seed of gratitude you begin
   to reap harvests of multiplied reasons to be grateful
   The tap of gratitude is the same as the tap of gladness, once you turn on the tap of gratitude you don’t need to separately turn on the tap of gladness, because it turns on, on its own
   It doesn’t matter where you are in life, the most important thing is that you remain in the hands of God
   The future of the clay is guaranteed once it is in the Hands of the Potter. Remain in the Hands of the Potter
4. The low self-esteem (Judg. 6:15-16; Num. 13:33)
   4a. A low feeling about self ultimately translates into a low feeling in life generally
   You cannot feel good about life if you don’t feel good about yourself

WHAT LOW SELF-ESTEEM WILL AFFECT:

1. Joy and excitement
2. Energy and enthusiasm levels
3. Performance and competence

CAUSES OF LOW SELF-ESTEEM:

1. Consistent personal failure, mistakes or errors of the past
2. Harsh, negative, demeaning words from authority figures
   As parents when you use harsh, negative, demeaning words on your children, you will raise children that:
   i. Lack confidence in life,
   ii. Can’t face challenges,
   iii. Feel inferior to other children and
   iv. Consistently underperform
   It is easier to groom a child than to mend an adult
3. Rejection situations
   The rejection you are experiencing is because the devil fears your future
   Your rejection is the birthplace for the unction
   God is attracted to the rejected; there is an unction left for the rejected
4. Unkind or uncomplimentary remarks regarding physical challenges or limitations
   If you mind people, you will lose purpose
   Anybody shorter than you is too short for your life’s assignment and anybody taller than you is too tall for your life’s assignment
   Diversity and variety is the foundation for beauty; the rainbow is beautiful because of its variety

HOW DO YOU HANDLE LOW SELF WORTH?

1. See yourself as God sees you (Ps. 139:14)
2. Decide to turn your liability into an asset
   There are no disadvantages in God
3. Renew your mind with the Word of God (Rom. 12:2)
4. Reject the spirit of devaluation
   Nobody can devalue you without your permission and nobody can esteem you without your participation
5. Avoid climates that emphasize your deficiency
   Don’t hang around where you are tolerated

COUNSEL:

1. Do all that is within your power to defend your joy
2. Seek spiritual help to deal with the spirit of heaviness and depression (Isa. 61:3)

PRAYERS

Thank You Lord for Your Word to us today. To You Lord be all the glory Lord, in Jesus’ Name.

Thank You Lord for the freedom and liberty received from this message. To You be all the glory Lord, in Jesus’ Name.

Father, I receive the grace to be everything You want me to be, in Jesus’ Name.

Father, I come before You today to reject every spirit of rejection, low self-worth, failure and depression; oh you spirit of rejection, low self-worth, failure and depression, you have no place in my life; you are leaving me now! GO!

PROPHETIC DECLARATIONS:

• I prophesy healing and wholeness to every self-esteem that has been battered, butchered and ruined. I prophesy resurrection and restoration in Jesus’ Name.
• I prophesy help from above, mercy from above and grace from above.
• Whatever is needed for you is released to you today in Jesus’ Name!
• We decree and declare that the frustration in the nation expires immediately!
• We declare the lifting up of our nation to another level.
• Before the week is out, we shall testify!
• God is opening your door and taking you places in Jesus’ Name!
• Whatever has imparted upon you the climate of rejection, it is arrested!
• Anything negative that has entered your life on the grounds of parental upbringing, that thing is deleted from your life now in Jesus’ Name!
• Every spell of rejection that the enemy has cast over your life is broken now!
• I don’t care what they have said about you, you will soon shock your generation and shock those that think you are nothing!