You need joy to achieve exceptional success. But why?

To secure the presence of God

“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

When you are full of joy, you attract God’s presence, for He only dwells in joyful places. And when God is with you, you cannot help but succeed, because every obstacle before Him bows down (Psalm 114). That’s why joy is an asset in your journey towards success.

The absence of God equals failure, while His presence guarantees unlimited victory. This success is why the devil always tries to depress you, to make you lose His presence. Satan knows he can only steal your joy and success when God’s presence is no longer manifested in you.

Can your business or affairs fail when God is in them? Can He be in your home and watch it crumble under crises? Of course not! But you can keep Him away through your depression and ingratitude toward Him. You don’t know what you lose when you allow the devil to depress you. You bring trouble upon yourself. But when you have His presence, as the Psalmist said:

“For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall.” Psalm 18:29

Look closely at any Christian who is always downcast. They are not moving forward. Joseph was always joyful, and that is how he prospered in Potiphar’s house. And when he was thrown into prison, that joy didn’t waver an inch. That’s why he found favor with the jailer, who put all his fellow prisoners under his charge. Without excitement in your life, excellence is not in sight. True success belongs to the joyful among God’s people.

A pastor who is not happy with only two attendees at Sunday service won’t see them the following Sunday. Why? The Bible says that it is God who draws people to Him on Sunday (John 6:44). The pastor’s ingratitude and complaints will irritate God, driving away His presence, and ultimately leading to failure. But if he is happy to see those two attendees and preaches the Word to them as if to a thousand, God will draw more people the following Sunday.

Whatever doctrine you may have, if you lack joy, you are off track because His presence is not with you. If you are born again, you have within you the fruits of the Spirit, among which is joy. You just need to activate it.

Remember, divine presence is the greatest asset of the Covenant people. Therefore, be overflowing with joy at all times. Stop talking about depression and walking with downcast people. It’s a highly contagious evil. Always be joyful!

For Inspiration

Every success is the product of information, and the richest information comes through inspiration. Joy is the mother of all inspiration because your spiritual man, the source of inspiration, is at his best when joy overflows in your heart. When you are depressed, your inner man is broken.

Joy, on the other hand, is the remedy for the inner man. The healthier your spiritual man is, the more receptive you are to heavenly visions and information.

“With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3

Christ lives within you. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). But you need joy to access the rich deposit of wisdom and knowledge of Christ within you. Note that the same Christ is in every born-again child of God, and the same measure of wisdom and knowledge. But we do not all enjoy them equally. Why?

What makes some stars shine brighter than others is the unequal ability to draw from this rich inner well the hidden treasures. It is through joy that you access this precious mine. The more joy you have, the more you enjoy the wisdom and knowledge of Christ. That’s why joyful people naturally often have excellent abilities. They are blessed with extraordinary visions that, once implemented, make them extraordinary successes.

Joy: the mother of all inspiration and the production factory of visions! You miss out on revelations when you give way to depression. You miss the crucial step forward when you cloud the atmosphere around you.

No matter your erudition, if you lack inspiration (which I define as the inner guide leading you to productive results), you are condemned to frustration in life. But it is through joy that you draw this inspiration from within. No wonder, therefore, that the greatest scientific inventions have been made by Christians, men who had access to all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of the Covenant.

It is a shame for a Christian to be a failure on earth, when the wisdom that created the whole earth lies within them! The only wise God could not have birthed foolish children, people incapable of creating their world. It is through joy that you draw from this rich, inexhaustible deposit. Send depression far from your tabernacle to reach the heights of life.

For Strength

One of the most notable characteristics of any victor is undoubtedly their extraordinary strength. This type of strength has one source: the joy of the Lord!

This is what enabled David to face a lion and a bear and kill them with his hands. Jesus was also full of strength while on earth, to the point where He described work as food. Joy is the divine fountain from which this strength flows. You will never lack the strength to do your work as long as you rejoice in it. When you are not excited about your work, the strength to accomplish it fades away.

“… do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

When you lose touch with joy, your strength diminishes. Joy is a kind of remedy energizing your inner man for extraordinary acts (Proverbs 17:22). A broken spirit dries up the bones, sapping all the energy within a man.

Strength is not generated by prayer and fasting, but by joy. When you are depressed, you can only grow weaker. But an overflow of the joy of the Lord gives you the strength needed for exploits…

This text is an excerpt from the book “EXPLORING THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS” written by David O. Oyedepo.

We invite you to read the next article: “DISCOVERING AN IDEAL.”