How to break the yoke of sorrow and receive joy?

During a prayer meeting the other day, the Lord showed me a vision. In the vision, I saw the power of darkness putting some kind of blanket over certain people and homes, even certain cities, towns, and countries. This power of darkness caused the sunlight to be hindered, and as a consequence, the spiritual atmosphere over that place or that home became stale, dull, and damp. Then, I saw joy, the joy of the Lord, being squeezed out from that place. I saw that blanket sent by the forces of darkness covered the people with sorrow. There's like a yoke and heavy burden of sorrows being wrapped over that place, or that family, or that person. 

The Lord then spoke to me to take authority and bind those yoke of sorrow. 

He spoke further: 

"There's a fresh release of My anointing to break and destroy every yoke of sorrow right now. Sorrow is being dissipated and dispersed. When the sorrow is gone, the joy that comes from Me, that comes from heaven, is going to take over. Receive this joy from heaven! Receive a fresh new lease of life from heaven!" 

Beloved of God, if you have been going through a situation when suddenly you are overwhelmed with sorrow for no reason, or suddenly you are overwhelmed with hopelessness and purposelessness in your life, this message is for you. 

Yes, right now, receive this anointing to break and destroy every sorrow in your life, and receive the joy of the Lord which is your strength!

Maybe recently some of you have heard of certain news that caused your heart to feel like your heart is dropping, or your heart feels like being crushed. Or you may have heard of something from someone or received news from someone that breaks your heart. Or maybe someone has told you certain matters that caused your heart to be sad. It may be a hurtful news. It may be a hurtful thing said and done by someone whom you care for, or whom you love, or someone who matters to you. Whatever it may be, whatever that causes you to be sorrowful, the Lord has a good news for you today. The Lord knows it, and the Lord knows how to put a stop to those sorrows in your life. 

Let's go to the Scripture now. 

Psalm 30:11-12 (NLT) says, 'You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!' 

The word 'joy' here is 'simkhaw' in Hebrew, which can mean 'gladness, rejoicing, celebration'. Yes beloved, always find reasons to celebrate in your life, no matter how small the reason may be. The Lord wants you to celebrate all of His goodness in your life. And of course, the Lord wants you to live a life of thanksgiving and gratefulness. Give thanks to Him in everything, yes, even in advance for the good things that are to come in your life! 

Jeremiah 31:13 (NLT) says, 'The young women will dance for joy - and the men old and young - will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.' 

Even though this verse is specifically for the people of Israel and the Lord's promise of restoration for Israel, but this can apply to you (God's beloved) too. The Lord is telling you there's hope for restoration in your life as well! 

This word 'joy' here is 'sawsone' in Hebrew, which can mean 'cheerful, welcoming, rejoicing'. Let me explain. Why the word 'welcoming' here? The joy of knowing you are always welcome into God's presence as you draw near to Him in worship, and the joy of knowing you are always welcome to partake in all the goodness that the Lord wants you to have and experience! Now, knowing this, your sorrow will be lifted away, and joy comes in your life! You see, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!

You may have gone through a time of mourning and sorrow, or you are under certain bondage of sorrow, but the good news for you today is God has promised to turn all this into joy! The joy of knowing you are loved with an everlasting love of the Lord. The joy of knowing that God is here to restore you and repair you. The joy of knowing that there is hope and purpose in your life, no matter what had happened in your past. The joy of knowing that the Lord your God is greater than any form of sorrow that is being sent against you. Amen! That's what Jeremiah 31:13 mean here!

You see, you are living in the spiritual realm, the heavenly realm, even though you are on earth. Now, in the heavenly realm, there's no sorrow. In His presence is fullness of joy. So, walk in this presence. Walk in this heavenly realm. Walk in this joy of the Lord. Amen! 

Isaiah 61:1-3 (NLT) says, 'The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord's favor has come, and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair...' 

You see here? The Lord wants to bless you with this joy, the joy that comes only from Him, the joy that comes from heaven. Not only that! Look here. 'Festive praise instead of despair'. Wow! That's celebration! Festive praise! And not just that! He is also turning your ashes into beauty. Now, what does 'ashes' symbolize here? 'Ashes' speaks of 'hopelessness'. 'Ashes' speaks of 'mourning'. When things turn into ashes, there's no way to restore it again and to make it whole. But that's how the world sees it and how the world thinks. But to God, even ashes can be restored into something beautiful again!

Indeed, this is the time for your vindication. This is the time for a turn around in your life. Yes, this is the time the Lord is turning things around for you! So, rejoice and be glad therefore! Give thanks to Him, for He is good and His mercy endures forever! Hallelujah! 

Isaiah 61:7 (NLT) says, 'Instead of shame and dishonor, you will enjoy a double share of honor. You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.' 

Whatever trouble, shame, or dishonor sent by the enemy against you in your life, you are now receiving double share of honor. That's what the Scripture say! And look here. 'Everlasting joy will be yours'. Not a temporary joy that the world gives, but everlasting joy directly from heaven to you! Now, this joy cannot be destroyed by anything or anyone in this world. Because this joy is from God. Amen! 

Let's continue with Nehemiah 8:9-10 (NLT). "Don't mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God." And Nehemiah continued, "Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!" 

You see the words 'the joy of the Lord is your strength' here? It means the joy of the Lord is your strength to carry on and to look forward in life! Without this strength, it is not easy to carry on in life and to look forward. So you see, this joy from the Lord is the key. This joy of the Lord is the key to your strength, and with this strength, you can carry on, and you can move forward in your life. Hallelujah! 

Nehemiah 8:12 (NLT) says, 'So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God's words and understood them.' 

In that context, they were eating rich foods and drinking sweet drinks, literally. But it can also symbolize receiving spiritual food and spiritual drink. The Word of God. The Spirit of God. Word and Spirit. Spirit and Word. So, keep eating the rich from the Lord and drinking the sweet from the Lord! 

Last but not least, to take authority and to bind every stray thought. Now, this is a very important principle to kill off whatever sorrow and to receive joy. Never entertain even for a few seconds those thoughts that are sent by the enemy. Never let those thoughts grow and fester. Don't let what's in your past to linger in your mind. Because if you don't let go of your past, you cannot move ahead. Now, anything that is a joy-killer and joy-stealer, take authority against it! It means whatever that kills or steals your joy, you take authority! No one and nothing in this world can or should be able to take away and rob away God's joy in your life! 

So, take authority and bind all those stray thoughts and negative thoughts! Cast those down! Set your mind free! Receive this anointing from the Lord to set you free! And that's how you are free and you are free indeed! Set free from every bondage of sorrow, and walking in the joy of the Lord. Amen!

Prayer: 

"O Lord God, we receive this joy that comes directly from You. We receive a fresh release of Your anointing that breaks and destroys every yoke of sorrow in our lives right now. Yes, we see all these sorrows dissipated and dispersed. You have turned things around for our lives. You have turned our sorrows into joy, our mourning into dancing. We therefore now take authority and bind every stray thought or negative thought that's been sent by the enemy against us. In You, O Lord, we triumph! In You, O Lord, we receive Your joy which is our strength! In You, O Lord, we see our hope and restoration! In You, O Lord, we have our victory! In Jesus' name. Amen!"

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A soft and tender heart before Him

The Lord says: 

"You are still in a season of repair and restoration. Repairing and restoring your relationship with the Holy Spirit is foremost. With this, everything else in life will begin to flow. You may not understand fully what I am doing in your life now, or why I am doing what I am doing, but one day you will understand. All things work together for good." 

Beloved of God, we are still in this season of repair and restoration. I want to talk about our relationship with the Holy Spirit today. So, let's go back to the basics today. Let's go back to the very simplicity of who the Holy Spirit is in our lives. 

A lot of people go around looking for formulas or methods to achieve their ambitions or whatever they want in their life. But that's not how one works with the Holy Spirit. Instead, a heart that is soft, tender, yielded, and pliable (i.e. easily bended) before the Holy Spirit is the key. When He says so, you say so. When He says no, you say no. When He says do this, you do this. When He says do that, you do that. When He says go here, you go here. When He says go there, you go there. When He says let go, you let go. When He says hang on, you hang on. 

Well, this is how I live my life. 

Sometimes, it may even seem to be foolish to those who don't understand what God is doing in my life and in the ministry God has entrusted to me. But eventually they will understand. And sometimes, people's minds got "jammed" as to why I chose to do what I do. But I am just obeying God and doing what God says, every step of the way in my life. If God says let go, I let go. If God says move ahead, I move ahead. 

So, what is 'yieldedness' in one's life? It can be defined as 'not insisting on our own ways or own fleshly desires; but yielded, submitted, and surrendered to Him and His way'. That's what 'yieldedness' mean. It means when He corrects, we can humble ourselves, and we do not need to get offended or fight back. You know why? Because He, the Holy Spirit, is all knowing, not us. The Holy Spirit will show you what to do, every step of the way. He will even show you the (hidden) sins and motives in your life that you need to let go.

One example is David, a man after God's heart. Nathan, a prophet raised up by the Lord at that time, represented 'the Spirit of the Lord (who spoke to David)'. Now, David was a king and powerful in his position on earth at that time. He was the king of Israel and Judah. David could have been offended by Nathan. David could have even killed Nathan in order to shut his mouth. But no! David's heart was soft and tender enough before the Lord. David admitted his sins and wrongs. This is one example of a heart that is soft, tender, yielded, and pliable before the Lord. 

So you see, we need to return to the simplicity of who He is. The people of this world have made this life so complicated. But we need not fall into that. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you and guide you to return to the simplicity of who He is, even as you come to Him just as you are. 

What is our part? Our part is to humble ourselves before Him. When He leads and guides, we follow. When He corrects, we choose to change our ways, and not insist on our own ways. Why? Because He sees farther than us, and His ways are always higher than ours. So, let His will be done in our lives, not our own fleshly desires. He will never lead us into trouble. I believe this is the key to living a life of good success on this earth (i.e. success that is measured by the Lord, not by this fallen world). 

Let's look further at David now. 2 Samuel 12:13 (NKJV) says, 'So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."' 

What is the background here? The Lord used a prophet named Nathan to deal with David, or rather, to rebuke David of his wrongs. You see, the Holy Spirit has not been poured out yet during that Old Testament time. So, Nathan here represents 'the Holy Spirit speaking and correcting'. At that time, David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and he even cunningly had Bathsheba's husband (Uriah) killed! 

But the wonderful thing is this. When Nathan came to rebuke David, David didn't kill the prophet. Instead, David came to his senses. I mean, he could have killed the prophet. After all, he's king. But, instead of hardening his heart, David said, "I have sinned against the Lord." 

Here, you see a heart that is soft and tender before the Lord. Here, you see a heart that is yielded and pliable before the Lord. David wasn't perfect in many ways. But the Lord's not looking at all that. The Lord's looking at his heart. 

Now it is the same with our hearts before the Lord. He's not looking at all those sins. He's not all-out looking at those sins in order to expose you. But He's looking at your heart. Is your heart willing? Is your heart willing to be changed by the Lord? Is your heart yielded before the Lord? Is your heart soft and tender before the Lord? This is what He is looking for even right now. 

In cross-reference, you can look at Psalm 51. 

In Psalm 51:3-4 (NKJV), David said, "For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight..." 

In Psalm 51:10 (KJV), David said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." 

What is a right spirit? A spirit (or a heart) that is soft, tender, yielded, and pliable before the Holy Spirit. A heart that is not putting up a front. But a heart that is willing to humble. In other words, a heart that is willing to let the Holy Spirit have His way in one's life. 

David was willing to allow the Lord to deal with him. This is what touches the Lord's heart the most. The same it is today. The Lord has never changed in His ways. And you know what? David didn't look back ever since. He went on to become arguably the greatest king ever in Israel!

Let us contrast between David and Pharaoh. While David's heart was softened when the Lord dealt with him, Pharaoh's heart was the opposite. Pharaoh's heart was hardened further when the Lord dealt with him. See? One, a soft heart, and another, a hard heart. 

Exodus 7:14 (NKJV) says, 'So the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go."' 

What is the background of this verse here? The Lord actually used Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go. But Pharaoh refused. Instead, his heart was hardened even more. 

Exodus 9:34-35 (NKJV) says, 'And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord has spoken by Moses.' 

What does this word 'harden' mean here? In Hebrew, it is 'qashah'. It can mean 'to be tough, to be sore, to be stiff, to be fierce, to react negatively, to be defensive'. The more the Lord told him to let the people of Israel go, the more his heart was hardened. So, it's clear here that Pharaoh refused to acknowledge the words of the Lord. Not until the tenth plague, when his firstborn died, that he gave in. You know what? Pharaoh stood to lose so much more in the end. Not only did he lose his firstborn, he lost his entire mighty army and chariots who got drowned in the Red Sea! 

So beloved of God, the Lord is giving each of us a choice even right now. The Lord is asking us, "Do you want to choose to be a David, or do you want to choose to be a Pharaoh?" Let us choose to be a David, a heart that is soft and tender before the Lord. Amen! 

Let us pray: 

"O Lord God, we choose to be like David, and not Pharaoh. Teach us to have a heart that is soft and tender before You. Teach us to have a heart that is yielded to what You say. There may be many things we do not understand now, what You are doing in our lives, and why You are doing what You are doing in our lives, but one day we will understand. Because You are always a God who wants the very best for us. You are always a God who sees farther than anyone of us can see. In Jesus' name. Amen." 

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Receive the cleansing power!

What is the major difference between the blood of the New Covenant and the blood of the Old Covenant? 

In the Old Covenant, the blood shed by animal sacrifice was only temporary and needed to be offered over and over again, year after year, for the sins of the people. 

All these animal sacrifices in the Old Covenant pointed towards the ultimate sacrifice, i.e. Jesus the Lamb of God, whose blood was shed to take away our sins once for all. 

Let's look at the sacrifice in the Old Covenant first. 

Exodus 30:10 (NKJV) says, 'And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations.' 

Here, you see that Aaron, the high priest at that time, was to make the altar ready for the service to God. How? By putting the blood of the animal sacrifice on the corners (or the horns) of the altar as an atonement. 

Leviticus 17:11 (NKJV) says, 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.' 

You would have noticed this word 'atonement' in the above verses. The word 'atonement' here is the Hebrew word 'kaphar', meaning 'to cover'. It means the blood sacrifice of animals under the Old Covenant was made to cover the sins of the people.

So, 'to atone for sins' means 'to cover the sins'. For example, if you spill your coffee on the carpet, there's blemish there. If a person takes cloth to cover it, the stain of the coffee is still there, if you look underneath the carpet. Now, that is the same principle about atonement. It covers the sin. But it does not take away the sin once for all. It is only to cover the sin. And year after year, again and again, the high priest would have to sacrifice animals again and again. That's in the Old Covenant. 

Now, everything you see in the Old Covenant is a 'typology' of what is in the New Covenant. All these point towards Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

Now that you have understood about the blood shed through the sacrifice of animals in the Old Covenant, let's go to the Scripture about the blood of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant. 

Hebrews 10:1-4 (NKJV) says, 'For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect... But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.'

Here, the writer of the book of Hebrews was referring about the Old Covenant. The sacrifices were offered continually year by year. 

Let's contrast the above verses with Revelation 1:5 (NKJV) that says, 'And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.'

You see, Jesus' blood did what the blood of animals could not! Jesus' blood not only covers for our sins, Jesus' blood washes our sins once for all! He is the perfect sacrifice. In Him is no sin and no blemish at all. Animals are not perfect. But Jesus the Lamb of God is perfect in all His ways. That is the difference. 

Let's go to the details on this word 'wash' here. The Greek word for 'wash' here is 'louw', and it means 'to wash, to cleanse, to bathe (the whole person)'. There's another Greek word for 'wash', that is, 'niptw', and it means 'to wash the hands, the feet, or the face only; or to wash ceremonially'. In other words, to wash some parts only, and not the whole part. 

Back to Revelation 1:5. Here, the word 'wash' is 'louw', not the word 'niptw'. It means 'to thoroughly wash and bathe the whole person', or 'to totally (not partly) wash and bathe the entire person'. It speaks of complete washing from head to toe; inside and outside; all of us - spirit, soul, body! 

You see the difference between 'louw' and 'niptw'? 

So, the conclusion is the blood of Jesus Christ shed for you on the cross washes you completely, not partly. The blood of Jesus Christ doesn't just cover your sins, nor just partly washes your sins, but completely covers and washes your sins!

Let's go to John 1:29 (NKJV) now. Let Scripture interpret Scripture. This verse says, 'The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he (John) said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"' 

Here, John the Baptist said, 'takes away the sin of the world'. That's what John the Baptist declared to everyone about Jesus, who Jesus is, and why Jesus came to this earth for. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Notice the singular word 'sin' there. It encompasses all forms of sins of this world. Therefore, if you have Jesus in your life, you can be rest assured that whatever your wrongs or sins may be, you can come before the Lord and acknowledge it before the Lord. The Lord is here for you. The Lord loves you, and the Lord is here to forgive you. The Lord is here to cleanse you from all those wrongs or sins. You are made new again! 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) says, 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.' 

This is for anyone who is in Christ. So beloved of God, this is the time to come before the Lord. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you. Return to Him, and He will return to you. Come before Him just as you are, and let Him wash and cleanse you completely.

You see, under the Old Covenant, people's conscience still bothered them, especially when they wanted to draw near to the Lord and worship the Lord. Even after offering the animal sacrifices, they still felt very aware of their sins and their inadequacies before the Holy God! 

In other words, the Old Covenant sacrifices could not cleanse the conscience, and therefore the person may still be feeling guilty about the sins he has committed. 

Now, you may be saying, "Where is the proof in the Bible?" 

Let's look at Hebrews 9:9 (NKJV), and then Hebrews 9:11 (NKJV). 

Hebrews 9:9 (NKJV) says, 'It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience...' 

But now look here in Hebrews 9:11 (NKJV), 'But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.' 

Hebrews 9:9 tells us that the Old Testament sacrifices could not perfect the conscience. And then in Hebrews 9:11, 'But Christ came...' See the words 'But Christ came'? It means there is a contrast here. It means what the sacrifices in the Old Testament could not do, Jesus' sacrifice could! 

Let's continue further with Hebrews 9:12-15 (NKJV), 'Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.' 

You just need to look at the three underlined parts: 'with His own blood, once for all, cleanse your conscience'. That summarizes all!

So, as a beloved of God today, because of this blood of Jesus Christ that washes and cleanses you, you can now live a life clear of any form of guilt, and you can live a life clear in your conscience. Amen!

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