I want to preach to you a message this morning entitled "Joy Builders". Colossians 1:9-12, "For this reason we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you might walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light".
Lord, we thank you this morning that you're here. Again, we ask that we would decrease and that you would increase. Holy Spirit, may this word take deep root inside every one of us that Father you would be glorified. Amen
A key component to Christian life is joy. When I have read this verse time and time again I am struck that Paul always prays for the believers to be filled with wisdom and knowledge in relationship to the Lord. But one of the things that I think we pass over is that Paul is praying constantly for those that are saved, constantly for those that are being poured into that they would be able to live their life with joy. How many have found that joy seems to be one of the things that is missing in many people's lives?
God wants us to be filled with joy. As a matter of fact, he called us to enjoy the life that he gave us. To be able to live not only in the fullness of all the knowledge and the wisdom and the power of God but to actually have the joy of the Lord that is our strength. Too many people today are just enduring and getting along in life. How many believe that there has to be more to life than just getting by?
Life is meant to be enjoyed. When I get up in the morning I like to get up, I love to face the day not just because of the challenges but how many of you are thankful that you're alive and you've got Christ living in your heart today? Many today don't have that. One of the key components is being able to live in that joy. I want you to know that I pray for that for our church, for my life, for my family, not just that we would have wisdom and the understanding and the power of God, but that we would live in the fullness of all that he has for us. That isn't just in the spiritual things but really in the sense of enjoying this life that he gave us to live.
In the world we live there is a lot to be joyless about but we're to pray that there is joy. In Jesus' prayer for the church, in John 17, Jesus began to pray for his children, for the disciples. In that prayer he also prayed a key thing, that we would have joy. John 17:13 says, "But now I come to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in them". How many believe that Jesus walked around with a mopey face and hated getting up everyday and wherever he went there was doom and gloom? I hope that's not the Jesus you serve. The Jesus we serve I believe walked around with a smile on his face. I believe that when I see Christians who are filled with the love of God there's a smile even in the times that are difficult, they are not shaken. Not only are they just standing firm hanging on by the skin of their teeth, I have watched those who have grown in the Lord and have had that solidness even in the hardest times of their life. Although they may not be happy about everything that is going on with them, there is a joy about them and it's a marvelous thing.
A lack of joy can manifest in many ways. We see it in our society. As a matter of fact, Doctor's are handing out more pills than ever before so that people can have a sense of joy. It manifests in depression, discouragement, hopelessness, anger, those who walk around with consistent grumpiness. If you go to a Doctor for all that he'll tell you, "I've got a pill for that". They may have a pill for that but we've got a Jesus for that.
There's three main enemies of joy, that If you will watch what's happening in the world today and in our lives, you can see how these enemies will attack. I call them "joy suckers", those things that just grab a hold of you like a leach and try to suck the life right out of you. The first one is worry. Worry literally tries to choke out or suffocate our hope and our faith. Worry effects our thinking where we begin to think about everything in a negative sense. The Bible tells us that not only does worry rob us of joy but that many people have had their faith choked out because of the cares of the world and the cares of what's going on.
The second enemy of joy is stress. Everybody has stress but these situations that arise are stressful situations that we can't control and we can't manage so we begin to freak out over them. Listen, how many have found out that if you can't control it and you can't do anything with it, you might as well just trust Jesus in the midst of it.
The third enemy of joy is fear and fear is the anticipation of impending evil or bad. The world does everything to get us to fear. Over this last week these 3 kids were walking around our street about 11:00 on Thursday night all dressed in black running through the neighborhood. How many know at 11:00 at night, 3 kids dressed in black running around the neighborhood looks just a little out of place? It's still a school night too. So instead of them trying to scare me I thought I'd scare them. I got in the car and I started to follow them like Hawaii Five-0, pastor on the prowl. I had the cell phone in one hand and they dodged between the houses so I drove around the block a couple times and then a couple kids got their cell phone out to try and figure out why the crazy guy in the tan car is circling the block. I had no fear. I wasn't going to worry about it, just trust the Lord, but the world does everything to steal the joy.
The Bible gives us several ways to build our joy. John 16:19 says, "Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full". How many believe that our joy meter should be all the way at the top instead of at the bottom? I want to give us six things to look at this morning that will help us to have joy , I call them "Joy builders".
Joy builder number one is to "jettison all regrets and hurts about the past", throw them overboard. All of us have stuff in our life that we've done that we regret. How many of you have ever been hurt before? How many have had someone do you wrong, situations do you wrong and things go bad? The truth is you can sit and dwell on those things or you can jettison them right out of your life. The past will weigh you down, it will wear you out. There is truth that we need to understand, we can never go back and change the past, we can't change the things we've done. I can't change the things that have been done to me but I have a Jesus that knows how to take my sins and put them under the blood and I know how to allow the Lord to heal every hurt I've ever had in my past.
By throwing off those things that have happened in the past we refuse to live in the land of "If" or "If Only". The truth is, living in the land of "If" is a waste of time. I want to encourage you, if you've been hurt you can think about all the things that would have happened if it never had happened or you can choose to forgive those who hurt you, you can choose to forget about those things that you've done and continue on in the Lord.
Phillipians 3:13-14 says this, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus".
One thing I know, I'm going forward. Listen, how many know that you have to move on? What the enemy wants you to do is stay right there in the past and stay right where you were. There have been times in my life where the enemy has come when I've been going through discouraging times and he'll bring up every mistake I ever made, he'll bring up all the things that I could have done better. What I began to realize is that when I dwell on that, the truth is I could have done better and I should have done better but how many of you know, I didn't. How many of you have been in the same place? What the enemy wants to do is keep you right there by saying "You should have made that choice better and now you're paying for it and you're going to be stuck living with that all your life". Listen, how many know God makes all things beautiful, He makes all things new in His time. So we begin to forgive and we begin to move on.
The Bible says that Jesus has put all our sins into his sea of forgetfulness, as far as the east is from the west, even if you wanted to chase it down. Christian, listen to me, this is one of the things that you and I have to learn. I have watched so many Christians suffer because the enemy keeps bringing their past back to them and they keep living it thinking they don't deserve anything else. No one deserves anything else, that's why Jesus came, that's why he gave us life so that we could be free. I want to encourage you, put those things behind you.
Paul was the same man while Steven was being stoned who said, "Use a rock, I approve". His mind could have taken him to the place where he said, "Alright guys, we're going to call the board and the elders of the church, what I deserve is for you to start stoning me". Paul said, I know this one thing, I haven't apprehended everything, I haven't done everything right but what I know is that I'm forgetting those things that are behind me because there's no use. They are a part of my testimony, they are a part of who I am but God is developing something in me and I'm not that anymore. What I am is what God has made me and I'm moving on.
Before God can do something new in us we must let go of the old. Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "Do not remember the former things nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. It shall spring forth, shall you not know it?" You're going to see it, you're going to experience it, you're going to feel it, what a marvelous thing.
Sometimes there are things that we don't want to let go of because we like them but if you want what God has for your life, you've got to let go. Some of you have had some things done to you and you don't want to let go of it because you don't want to forgive and it feels good because you feel if you do that, as long as you have that you'll be safe. The truth is this, If you will forgive and let go, you'll be safe in the hands of Jesus. If you'll let go of those sins that you're holding onto that you want, If you let go of it you can have the new thing. New wine must be poured into new wine skins or else it will burst. Before God can do something new through you, he's got to make you new first. How many are thankful that he's made us new?
Joy builder number two is to "omit all worries about the future". The more you worry the worse it gets. The truth is that worry lets you suffer things you may never have to suffer. I found this time and again when I start to worry about things that aren't going to go right and they keep me up at night and then they never happen. I wonder how many of us have taken some years off our life because we lived through the experience we never had to live through? How many know your imagination can be a great thing for the glory of God or the enemy can turn it and use it for his benefit? The truth is I don't have to waste my time living through something, I found out that If I'm going to have to live through it then I'm going to have to live through it and I might as well do it when I get there rather than before I get there and when I get there. You don't have to go through it twice because Jesus won't be there in the imagination but he is there through the real thing and the key to eliminating worry is prayer.
Phillipians 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God and the peace of God which passes understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus".
Joy involves peace. Joy is a heart and mind thing, it is not mind over matter, it is both the heart and the mind trusting Jesus no matter what.
Joy is not the absence of things to worry about. How many of you have ever found that to be true? Is there anyone in this room who doesn't have a thing in the world to worry about? The truth is, that joy can be there because the peace of God is in the midst of those things.
Joy builder number three is "yield yourself to God's purpose". One of life's greatest kill-joy's is a lack of purpose. This is why so many people go through a mid life crisis. Last week I turned 39 and someone said to me, "Pastor, you're almost 40, are you going to go through a mid-life crisis?" First of all, I already have a motorcycle so I'm good to go. Secondly, I have purpose in my life. Everyday I wake up I don't have a lack of purpose and things to do, sometimes I have too much purpose in my life. Now here's the deal, that means I know that when I get up, I can enjoy what God has for me. As a matter of fact, it's in the midst of having so much to do that I need to make sure I don't lose my joy because of too much. The enemy will try and mess with you either way, he's such a liar.
So we choose to get up and face the day. How many of you have ever gotten up and just had a cranky day? You were right there on the edge and you thought you could work through this but then decided you kind of want to be cranky. What's funny is that my wife and I don't let each other go there. Too many people are just drifting, the truth is that all of us need a cause greater than ourselves. Living for ourselves will never bring joy. Those who live self indulgent lives will be unhappy people.
Phillipians 1:21 says, "For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ". I want to ask you this morning, what is God's purpose for you? If you want great joy live the adventurous life. Adventure yourself in God. How many have found that when you live for Jesus, everyday is a new adventure? It really is, everyday is a new oportunity and living for God is one of the most exciting things. I think it's more fun than waterskiing or skydiving. The truth is If you'll get useable for God, God will use you, and I guarantee if you will let him do that your life will never ever be boring. As a matter of fact, I found out that what God asks me to do on a daily basis is even better than strapping on a parachute and jumping out of a plane. As far as I'm concerned, it's always better than strapping on a parachute and jumping out of a plane. Many have no joy because they know what God wants for them but they resist it. I want to tell you, you can resist the ride or enjoy the ride but either way you're going to ride.
I remember when I got out of High School, I knew God called me into ministry and instead of going after what God had, I went to the University of Pittsburgh and that was the most miserable year of my life. Now I met my wife, that wasn't miserable, that was the best thing that ever happened. But I wasn't happy because I knew I wasn't doing what God called me to do. Hebrews 12:2 says, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God".
Those who know the joy of being God's right hand man choose to enjoy the journey recognizing that even at the end of the hard stuff there is not only bragging rights but there is blessing. How many know that Jesus could stand here today and say, "I went to the cross, I did it for you, I obeyed the Father, I did all he set before me" now Jesus is enjoying everything because he obeyed what God had for him. You and I can do the same thing, there are going to be things that are hard and difficult that God asks us to do but if we do that for the joy that is set before us and adventure ourselves and take the risk of trusting God, then I found that If I trust God there really isn't any risk involved and I can begin to enjoy the ride.
My daughter talked me into going on this one rollercoaster, I got on it and it really was more than I even thought. They got me on this thing and it wound up bending backwards going straight up, took me up to the top and when I got down it took me up to an even taller one. There were only two cars and I looked at my daughter with absolute terror on my face and then I realized that I'm going to have to do this anyway, I'm in the middle of the ride and there isn't any getting out of it so I might as well enjoy myself. So I looked at her knowing that I was strapped in tight and I put my hands up and yelled and I wound up having a good time. I had the choice to hate it or adventure myself and when I got off the ride, Brittany looked at my wife and said, "Dad's crazy, that's all there is to it". Just yield to the adventure.
Joy builder number four is "focus on whatever is good". Phillipians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things".
Don't ignore or deny the negative, you can know that it's there. When I was on that rollercoaster I could choose to look at that hill as something horrible or choose to enjoy it. I've found out that life is going to have some negative things in it so in the midst of it I'm going to find out what God is trying to teach me, I'm going to find out what I've got to do. I'm going to make sure while I'm in the midst of it that I'm going to focus on what is good in it. All of us have wins and losses, mountains and valleys, praisers and detracters, and you have a choice, you can focus on the things that are negative or you can focus on the things that you can see the beauty of the Lord in.
Fill your mind with God's word because the more we do, the more joy we'll have. Put in positive insight. Someone wrote a song a few years back that says "Sad songs say so much". Sad songs do say alot but they also do a great deal of harm. How many have just found yourself in a bad day and you put on those blue songs and all of a sudden you find yourself in a bluer mood? No one may love me but Jesus loves me. Turn off the sad songs, put on something good. If you find yourself going to that place, turn on the radio, put on the praises of God and let the high praises of God come out of your mouth and begin to see what God has for you.
Hudson Taylor, one of the great evangelists of his day said it really doesn't matter how great the pressure is, it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord then the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to his breast. I love that. In our marriage we've learned that stress can either make us combative or it can draw us closer to each other. It took us awhile but we've sure learned how to do the latter. The same is true of Jesus. Life has negative in it but if I don't let that come between me and the Lord, it just draws me closer to him. I found out that I know he loves me and cares for me and how many know that brings joy? Dawn and I have had to adventure ourselves through some of the hardest things we've gone through in life. Some of it hasn't been fun but if the bull is coming at you, you can either run or you can just grab the horns and hang on tight. What we found is this, we let it press us closer to the Lord and to each other.
Joy builder number five is "use yourself to help others". Paul wasn't a selfish man and neither was Jesus. Phillipians 4:1 says, "Therefore, my brethren, my joy, my crown". Paul could look back and he could see the people that God allowed him to bless, those that he won to the Lord. After the Lord becomes our savior, the greatest investment we could ever make is in the lives of others. When you encourage those who are down, nothing will ever excite you more. When I found myself getting into that place in life where I feel like it's useless, like nothing matters, I've sat in my office at church and began to feel like nothing I was doing was making a difference and so I said, "Lord, just send me somebody". How many know God will send you somebody? Those cards that you gave me over the last week will be in my credenza and the truth is when I get discouraged I'll pull out those loving words you gave. Paul said that the lives he poured into are his epistle. He could go back and read and see what he's done. In my life I have the great privilege to know the lives that I've touched, people that have been changed. Every once in awhile when I think that life isn't making a difference I can go back and look at them.
The truth is this, every one of us can do the same thing. Reach out and touch someone, you can call them on the phone, just reach out and be a blessing and pour into their life. People need encouragement, they need Godly counsel, they need affirmation, just reach out and show them a little bit of love. If Harvest Community Church were the church that love is building, how many have come into this place and just found a loving smile and a helping hand from people who care about you? That's one of the reasons we're growing, that's why we've had to come to an 8:30 service so that we could make room, so people wouldn't have to sit out in the foyer. We're going to run into that problem in both services again, how many believe that by faith? As we're doing that we're going to love people. If you need joy in your life, just begin to love others a little bit.
We had some kids on Halloween night that were walking through our neighborhood and I was on my motorcycle. I'll never understand teenagers, they seem to think that they're invincible, one was dressed up like Dr. Death carrying this big old sickle on his shoulder. I'm riding my motorcycle, there were cars on each side of the street but the kids were right in the middle of the road. How many understand that cars are bigger than people? So I came through on my motorcycle and they weren't moving so I had a choice, I could get annoyed because they were being silly, but I said, "Guys, how are you doing? Did you get some candy? I looked at one of the little kids and said, "Man, nice costume". Do you know that's all it took, just a kind word. Some of those kids know who I am and others have no idea. Some people know who I am and I haven't any idea who they are. The truth is that I need to pour into their life.
Paul said, "I'm torn, I want to go to heaven to be with Jesus but my life is making a difference here. I have a win win situation, if I die then I go to heaven but if I live I get to keep doing what I'm doing. How many know that's a good place to be? The truth is, church, if you've got the joy of the Lord, you're ready to go to heaven and you're ready to live. It doesn't matter, either way you're ready and you're ok with that.
Joy builder number six is "learn to be content". Phillipians 4:11-13 says, "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content. I know how to be abased and I know to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". We always use that verse for other stuff but Paul is talking about learning how to be content.
Many people today are not joyful because they have not learned the secret of being content. I was listening to this song on the radio the other day and this country singer was saying, "Every time something comes I'm always wanting something more. There's got to be something more". They get what they want and then when they get it they want something else. How many know that's the American way but that's not Jesus' way?
I've learned to be content. One of the ways that we lose joy is because we haven't learned that secret. Anyone can do well when life is good and the circumstances are favorable but it takes somebody special to live at peace and rest when things go wrong or get difficult. I want to encourage us as a church, be that somebody. Contentment is a choice that we have to learn.
Do you realize that joy is something that you learn and not something that you feel? Joy is learned and we have the ability to learn and to live in joy. Joy has to be learned because flesh is never satisfied, never. When you get something you want something else.
I got to meet an NFL player one time, he was a marvelous man and made lots of money. He said, "When I got that contract I went out and bought this, I bought that, I did this, I did that, I had more money than I knew what to do with. I bought myself a jag and then I got tired of it so I bought myself a ferrari but I got tired of it. I bought myself a lamborghini and I got tired of it and I had all three in my garage, I didn't even bother to trade them in. Then I got myself the biggest house and filled it with everything then as I walked through, everything that was new got old to me in about a week. It was weird, I got everything I ever wanted and I still didn't have joy". He didn't say he wasn't happy because he was happy but he didn't have joy.
He said, "I had to learn and then God began to do something in me".
Listen, it's liberating, you can learn to be joyful just like you can learn algebra, you can learn to have joy. All of us have the aptitude for it, we just need the attitude to do it. We say, "I'll be happy when" but that "when" will never come. I want to encourage us to learn to do it now. The truth is this, we know as Christians that joy is ultimately found in Jesus, there's no other way.
When I look at these builders, I don't know if you noticed what we did, we just spelled out "Joyful". Paul's prayer for the believer was this, "I pray that you would be filled with wisdom, that you would be filled with knowledge, that you would be filled with his power and with his annointing but I also pray that you would be filled with the joy of the Lord". I want to tell you church, I believe that is God's word for us.
I look at what's going on with the economy and I'm not worried about it. The truth is this, I know how to abound and I know how to be abased. I can make beanie weenies taste really good and if you get hungry enough they taste good anyway. I know how to eat filet mignon or a ny strip steak with lobster on the side and a ceasar salad. But I also know how to put a hotdog on a bun, put some ketchup and mustard on it and it tastes just as good. I know how to do that, I can be happy. Listen, learn the joyful life and not only will you be blessed but you'll enjoy the adventure God has. Amen
