I Choose Joy

I Choose Joy

Scripture: James 1:2-4; Nehemiah 8:10; Proverbs 17:22; Luke 6:45

Good morning Strangers Rest – didn’t we have a good sermon last week? Rev. Bobo’s message on how to win souls, if we take it to heart, prepares us for witnessing to our neighbors on September 8th during our Church on the Block event. So I thank God and Rev. Bobo for the message we heard on last Sunday. Now, because of technical difficulties, we were unable to broadcast on last Sunday so Rev. Bobo has graciously allowed up to upload a PDF copy of his message on our Church website. I highly recommend that you visit the Church’s website and read it.

The title of my message this morning is “I Choose Joy.” I have shared with you recently that we have a choice about the things we allow into our lives. The Bible is very clear that because we have free will, we can choose to walk with God according to His will or not. If we make the choice to walk with God according to His will then we will find ourselves rejoicing, or having joy, even some of the most during difficult times we will experience here on this earth. As I was meditating on this message the song that Dea. Taylor brought to the choir two months ago came to mind. That song, “I Am Redeemed” gives a clear example of the change that takes place within us when we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. The song says, “Where there was hate, love now abides. Where there was confusion, peace now reigns. I’m walking, with Jesus, I am a child of the King. It’s all because, I am redeemed. I'll tell of His favor, I'll tell of His love. I'll tell of His goodness to me. He purchased my redemption with His own precious blood, and from sin, I've been set free. I am redeemed, bought with a price, Jesus has changed my whole life. If anybody asks you, just who I am, tell them I am redeemed.” These words should be the testimony of all of us and if they are, then you too will find yourself choosing joy this morning over everything else.

I want to share with you this morning that in the midst of all the negativity of the world which has crept its way into God’s house, why I choose joy and I hope that you too will make this choice. James 1:2-4 from the Amplified Bible says, “(2) Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. (3) Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. (4) And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.” James says that when we are faced with various trials we should consider it nothing but joy. Why, because these trials produce endurance that perfects and completely develops our faith. If you are experiencing some trials in your life or are surrounded by a lot of negativity, today, I am saying to you that you can choose joy.

Last week, during a time of meditation, the Spirit of God spoke to my heart about joy – what it is; what it means; and most important, why I should choose to walk in it every single day. Notice I said “choose to walk in.” This is not something that is done automatically, we have to choose to do it otherwise we will be like those who really do not understand who they are in Christ Jesus. The Spirit further confirmed what He had told me when I had a conversation with Deacon Monroe. So this morning I will share with you some of what was shared with me, and I hope that, if you are not feeling any joy right now, you will walk away from this message knowing that joy is available to you and is actually within you because of who you are – a child of God – even if you do not see its manifestation currently. I want you to remember this if nothing else, our joy is not dependent upon the people surrounding us - it is dependent upon knowing Who we belong to. Our joy is not dependent upon our circumstances, good or bad. Our joy is dependent upon the One Who is able to impact our circumstances in ways that we can never imagine.

Before I get into the heart of this message, I want to give you the Greek definition for joy. The Greek word for joy is chara and it means, “calm delight; gladness; greatly, exceeding joy.” Now, keeping this definition in mind, I want to share with you a Super Bowl commercial that I saw a couple of years ago that really struck me. This commercial caught my attention primarily because it had absolutely nothing to do with the product being sold by the sponsor of the commercial. The sponsor of the commercial sold alcoholic beverages, which I do not consume, so I normally ignore these types of commercials. But this one caught my attention and, when I saw it, I rewound the playback and put on the close caption. I wanted to verify what I thought I had heard. As I listened to it again, the Spirit confirmed some things He had already shown me. Here is what the commercial said: “What if we were wrong this whole time? Wrong in thinking that joy only happens at the end. After the sacrifice; after the commitment; after the win. What if happiness had always been there, fueling the run towards greatness? It’s not a distraction, but instead something more vital. What if joy is the whole game and not just the end game? So ask yourself, are you happy because you win, or do you win because you’re happy?” I can confirm to you that this commercial was spot on from a Scriptural viewpoint as it relates to joy. Although this commercial was talking about sports, I want you to translate it to life itself.