8-12-07 Albion Church
Series: The ABC’s of Christian Living
Lesson: Joy- The Ability To Live In God’s Presence.”
I. INTRODUCTION
Good morning!
We are continuing our series on The ABC’s of Christian Living.
(Gal.5:22-23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
This week we come to a fruit that is very elusive for us probably because it is misunderstood.
The fruit (which is the result of our lives- what we produce as Christians) that we are talking about this morning is joy.
Joy is the ability to live in God’s presence.
II. Happiness or Joy
Oftentimes happiness is used to describe or tell of joy but they are completely different because they come from two different sources.
One comes from the world around us, the other from the Spirit of God.
Happiness is conditional. It is dependant upon what’s “happening” to me-my circumstances.
If people treat me good, if things are going well (as I have expected or planned), then I am happy.
If people are treating me poorly, if things are not going well (according to plan or expectation) then I am not happy.
JOY on the other hand is not conditional. It is described throughout the Bible as a quality of life that transcends the events and disasters which hinder us (circumstances).
The Bible is quite obvious which one (happiness, joy) is of God.
The Bible speaks of joy over 300 times. Happiness is mentioned just 16 times.
The Hebrew word for joy means “to leap or spin around with pleasure.”
In the NT it refers to “gladness, bliss, and celebration.”
Now let’s take a moment and ask an honest question: Does that describe us? The church? Should it? YES
We have to remember that joy is a “fruit”. It is something that takes time and effort to produce in our lives.
III. Joy Bashers
The 1st thing we need to do if we want joy in our lives, is we must get rid of the things that steal our joy and keep it from “ripening” in our lives.
Just like with real fruit that ripens in season, there are pests and other things that cause the fruit to spoil or not ripen at all.
Farmers who grow fruit for a living know what they are up against and prepare for harvest by guarding their investment.
We need to do this as well. We need to be aware of the ‘pests” that ruin and steal joy away from us.
1) Unfilled Expectations
Is your life going the way you want it to? Some of us would admit that things aren’t going according to how we “expected them” to go.
Maybe it’s our marriage, or our career, or perhaps our kids have moved away and are not faithful. Maybe you don’t have everything you want- bigger house, newer car, etc.
One thing we can be certain of in this life is that our life will be full of things that are uncertain and are unpredictable.
A spirit of discontentment can rob us of our joy.
(Phil.4:12) “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
Notice Paul uses the word here “secret”. There’s a mystery about it. Also, he had to “learn” to live with unfilled expectations.
We must learn to be content with whatever we have or do not have in life.
Contentment does not come from having everything we want, but wanting what we have.
2) Unresolved conflict
When we allow unresolved conflict to go on with another, our joy disappears.
What eventually happens is emotions boil over and we are so spent from our conflict, that we have nothing left to give to God.
(Heb.12:14-15) “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
Another fruit of the Spirit clarifies this= Love
(1 Cor.13:5) “keeps no records of wrongs.” So if you and I itemize each other’s mistakes, we squash joy right out of our lives.
Paul makes the connection between unity and joy in Phil.2:2 ““Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”
3) Unconfessed Sin
This one is responsible for killing more joy than any of the others mentioned.
Sin can send joy far away- guilt drives it there fast!
David is a great example of this as he understood this when he attempted to ignore the Spirit.
(Psalm 32:1-5) “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ -- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
The end to this Psalm has a wonderful message, when David owned up to his sin, his joy returned!
(vs.11) “Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”
David could not rejoice until he confessed his sins. Once he had, his joy returned.
Do you see the connection? Our joy is directly related to our closeness with God.
God is the source of our joy!
Do you have some unsatisfied expectations that have led to a spirit of discontment? If so, determine to do whatever it takes to learn the secret of wanting everything you have and not necessarily having everything you want. When you do, you’ll begin to experience joy in even the small things of life. Confess your discontentment to Him.
Are you involved in some conflict with someone? If so, confess it to God and make plans to meet with that person face-to-face so that you can be reconciled and get back Your joy.
Is God’s hand heavy upon you right now because of some sin that you’ve not confessed and repented of? Don’t keep silent any longer – it will only chew up your joy. Acknowledge your transgression and taste the joy that was once yours. Then you’ll be truly glad and rejoice in the Lord again.
(Psalm 51:7-8) “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.”
