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What the Holy Spirit showed me in Isaiah 9 and Matthew 10.
by Nikki Walton for CurlyNikki.com
The other morning, while on Silent Retreat, I asked the Holy Spirit (again, again lol) if Joy was the way- sustained Joy. I know He’s sick of me lol, but He instantly said… “Isaiah 9 and Matthew 10”. And again, while I know a lot of the Bible, I can’t quote it. So in the moment, in that silence behind my closed eyes, I just had to trust that once I came out of meditation, there’d be something in those scriptures for us. And there is!
Isaiah 9: Joy as the Sign of God’s Reign
Isaiah 9 opens with:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… You have multiplied the nation and increased their joy.” Isaiah 9:2-3
Here Joy isn’t a reward after victory, it’s the first evidence that the victory has started! That Victory is already victorious! Joy marks the end of oppression (“the yoke of their burden”) because it reveals that God Himself has entered the situation, aka Emmanuel, God with us. The child born in this chapter (“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God…”) is Jesus, and His government is described as a reign of peace, expansion, and increase that will never end.
I asked the Holy Spirit what the way was, and as usual, He revealed that Jesus is The Way. That Jesus is that Joy. And that this Joy isn’t manufactured or created by us, we were created by It. It’s why we seek it… it’s Home. And somehow, by Grace, we made it Home.
This message is your prophetic signal (and I can feel you feeling it) that the Light has broken through and new authority is active in your life. The old doesn’t exist. Everything not of Him has broken off of you.
Read More: Maya Angelou’s Prayer and Meditation Practice
Matthew 10 – Joy as the Posture of Apostolic Power
In Matthew 10 Jesus sends His disciples out with authority to heal, cleanse, raise, and cast out. But notice HOW He tells them to go:
“Freely you have received, freely give.”
“Take no gold, nor silver… for the workman is worthy of his food.”
“When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.”
He’s teaching them to move from trust, from overflow, from Love… not from wheel-spinning and striving. FLOW. They’re to rely on Presence, on Him, not worldly provisions. The Spirit of the Father will speak through them when needed… that’s Joy embodied, Joy in action, the fearless Godfidence is working through you right now, too. That’s why you’ve been stepping out of old ways, into the new, more and more.Out of the shadows and into the Light. He’s calling you forth. That’s the Energy you feel.
Matthew 10 connects joy with mission and manifestation: you carry the same Presence that Isaiah 9 promised. When you walk in that joy, miracles follow, not because you’re forcing results but because Heaven is speaking through you. Words come here. Maybe songs will come there… or portraits… or contracts, clients, and dollars.
In both chapters, Joy isn’t a side effect. It’s the Way. It’s the Energy… the Frequency of the Kingdom, the current through which power flows. Staying in Joy keeps you aligned with the government of Christ… the source of every breakthrough and every form of true success. Don’t step out of the River of Joy!
Sustained Joy
I remember meeting Oprah backstage at the University of Johannesburg before she went on stage to speak. I asked her if that quote she shared about joy being a sustained peace, or well-being, a connection to what matters… if that quote was flowery language or an actual, real experience… an encounter. And she touched her heart and said it was indeed a feeling. The Feeling. Maya Angelou’s pastor Butterworth likened Christian meditation to a battery being charged… silently… not asking for more power. Just receiving and getting charged up!
Joy isn’t thinking about how to become joyful,
how to sustain joy,
how to make more joy,
how to save some for tomorrow,
or where to safely invest Joy.
Joy is just… Joy.
Charged. And charging the gates.
Taking back all that was taken.
Claiming everything underfoot,
under its sole, under its soul.
All that was marked by God for God, for you.
THIS IS THE HOUR.
The hour of Joy.
The hour of overflow.
The hour of return.UR.
