Urban Legend
God Wants me to be Happy
God wants me to be Holy more than He wants me to be Happy
How to live a holy and blessed life for the long term
Worship the Lord
Know the word
Obey the word
Avoid the Disobedient
Make the best of the bad
Slide
Last week we started a new series called Urban Legends.
We saw some pictures of big foot and a video of a cell phone popping popcorn. Well, I have discovered that this is not only with American phones but phones across the world as well.
Check this out.
Video
Slide after Video
I promise, as a service to our congregation, we at Hickory Creek will continue to investigate this to make sure our people safe from the cooking effects of cell phones on our brains.
Imagine if it takes a microwave on full power a whole minute before popcorn will start to pop, what is happening to your brain if it only takes a couple of rings on a cell phone to emit enough energy to pop some popcorn. But have no fears, we will keep you informed if this is as true as it appears to be or if it is an urban legend.
Last week recap
Now last week we saw that urban legends don’t just happen in the secular world, but there are Spiritual Urban Legends.
We talked about the Spiritual urban legend that says
God won’t give you more than you can handle.
That is an urban legend because while we won’t face temptation beyond what we can handle, God does give us more than we can handle to help us learn to
Carry each others burdens
Rely on God’s strength and to
Prioritize our best choices.
Transition
Well, this morning, we are going to look at another urban legend that says
God wants You to be happy.
Slide
What, the statement that God wants me to be happy is an Urban Legend?
How can that be? Does God want me unhappy?
No.
God’s desire is Not for you to be unhappy.
Well if that is the case, how is the statement that “God wants you to be happy” an Urban Legend?
Well, first we need to understand, that when this statement is said, it does usually not stand alone. Most of the time it is preceded by another statement that goes something like this.
I am just not happy being married to my wife anymore, so I am going to get a divorce because God wants me to be happy.
I am so happy being in a relationship with my boyfriend, but if we don’t go further than I want, he won’t like me anymore and will break up with me, so I am going to give in to his advances because God wants me to be happy.
The statement that God wants you happy is usually said with the meaning that God wants me happy above all else.
Now parents can relate to this.
We want our kids to be happy. But often things that will make them happy in the moment are not things that are good for them.
“I want candy for dinner…don’t you want me to be happy?”
“I don’t want to go to school…school does not make me happy…don’t you want me to be happy?”
And the reality is, whether we are adults or kids, I believe the thing that we think will make us happy, often will actually make us happy…for a time.
Skipping school will make us happy that day, but not for the long haul.
Getting a divorce may bring happiness…for the short term.
If you give in to a boyfriend’s advances, you might experience pleasure…for a moment.
But, I will argue that anything that makes us happy that goes against what God would have us do, will certainly not make us happy forever. In fact, not only will it not make us happy forever, it will eventually bring disappointment and hardship.
Now Jesus did say in
John 10:10 - I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
So the question is what is the full life that Christ wants us to have if it is not being happy?
I would argue that the full life is a blessed life.
How is a blessed life different from a happy life?
Slide
Well,
A Happy life is dependent Circumstances
When our circumstances are good, we are happy.
When our circumstances are bad, we are not happy.
The blessed life is not about circumstances.
A Blessed life is Dependent on relationship.
Relationship with the Lord.
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him – Psalm 34:8
Blessed is the man who trusts in you (Lord Almighty) – Psalm 84:12
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord – Psalm 112:1
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him – Romans 4:8
The blessed life begins with a relationship with the Lord.
But then it goes beyond just entering into that relationship.
It is about walking in that relationship.
Paul tells us in
Galatians 5:25 - Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Keeping in step with the Spirit, walking with the Spirit of God means doing what the Lord wants us to do in any circumstance. That is where a life of blessing is found; being in relationship with and walking with the Lord.
The life of Joseph
This morning I want to look at a person who was blessed, even though he experienced some circumstances that were not too happy and see how we might not settle for temporary happiness, but how we might live the blessed life.
His name is Joseph. Not the Joseph of Mary and Joseph, but Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob.
You can find the story of Joseph in Genesis, chapters 37-50. It is a great read. We are going to be looking at several different passages this morning, but you can turn to Genesis 39 while I give you a bit of background.
When we first really meet Joseph,
he is 17 years old (Genesis 37:2) and
he is loved by his father more than his brothers are.
His brothers “hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.” (Genesis 37:4)
Apply
Now can you imagine, your own family hating you?
Or those you work with day in and day out disliking you so much that they never say anything nice to you?
Or maybe it wasn’t a job, but it was in school as a kid.
A few kids hated you and then it seemed they would turn others against you.
They would do things to you and play pranks on you and you found yourself anything but happy.
Return to Joseph
Well Joseph is experiencing some of these same things within his family.
And not only do they hate him, but they want to kill him.
They devise a scheme to kill him, but they eventually think better of it and only sell him into slavery.
Whew. There is some good news.
“Hey they didn’t kill me. I’m my circumstances seem to be improving. What a great day!”
Anyway, from the people who bought him, Joseph gets sold again to an Egyptian named Potiphar and he becomes a slave in his household. Potipher is captain of the guard for Pharaoh.
Ok, so imagine. Your 17 or 18 years old
Your brothers hate you and sell you as a slave.
You have little hope of ever seeing any of your family again
Your future is not seeming so bright for you from a circumstantial standpoint. Most of us would not be too happy because our circumstances are not very good.
But, finally some good news. The slave business starts to go pretty good for Joseph. Over time, he gains the trust of his master and he puts him in charge of his whole house.
Ok, finally, it seems things are turning around.
Now Potiphar’s wife begins to take note of Joseph.
Joseph is well built and good looking and she wants him.
Joseph, at this point, is probably around 20 or so.
I can imagine a thought process in a lot of our minds if we experienced the unhappy circumstances that Joseph had up to that point.
“Hey life has been hard these past 20 years, but things are starting to turn around. I’ve got a lot of authority in Potiphar’s house and he is gone a lot. God has given me these desires within me. Why shouldn’t I accept Mrs. Potiphar’s advances, after all, God wants me to be happy!”
Is that what God wants? No. That is absolutely not what God wants for Joseph at this point. And that is not how Joseph responds.
Look at what he says in response to Mrs. Potiphar’s advances.
Slide
Genesis 39:8-9
8 But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
Did you hear that?
After all the unhappy circumstances he has faced, he is concerned about sinning against God. That is because Joseph was in a relationship with the Lord and he was a worshiper of the Lord.
If we are going to live a blessed life, we need to
Worship the Lord
Slide
Now why do I say Joseph was a worshipper of the Lord? I didn’t see him singing in those verses.
While singing might be one expression of how we worship, true worship comes out in how we live our lives.
Listen to what Paul says in
Romans 12:1-2
Slide
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.
To truly worship the Lord means that we
Obey God’s Will
Slide
Joseph was a worshipper of the true God and he was obedient to Him. He followed what the Lord would want him to do in his actions.
That is what it means to offer ourselves as living sacrifices. Do what God wants.
He recognized that sleeping with Potiphar’s wife was not a sin so much against Potiphar, as it was a sin against God.
Genesis 39:9b - How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
If we are going to live a blessed life we need to worship God by being obedient to Him and sometimes that means
denying short term pleasure and happiness
in exchange for long term blessing and joy.
This is the same thing Moses did.
Hebrews 11:24-26
Slide
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
There are going to be times that God does not want us to do something that may make us happy in the short term but will rob us of blessing in the long term.
Those are the times we must stand strong.
But how do we know?
How do we know what and what not to do to truly worship the Lord?
Well if worshiping the Lord means Obeying God’s will, then if we are going to obey God’s will, we need to
Know God’s Word
Slide
The will of God is found in the word of God. So if we know God’s word, we can know how to obey God’s will
Listen to what
Psalm 119:9, 11
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Now Joseph did not have the Bible.
How did he know this would be a sin against God?
They would talk about God and the things that God did in history and in their lives.
Joseph’s father Jacob (Israel) had a number of encounters with God. I can see Joseph and his brothers sitting around the fire at night and Jacob telling them about God and the things he had experienced and what God taught him about right and wrong and the things he learned from his father, Isaac and his grandfather Abraham.
Joseph knew from his father what God’s word was in regards to right and wrong and He worshipped the Lord through His obedience to God’s will in those matters.
This is where it is so important for us to know the word of God.
There are so many people that base what they do upon what they feel, what they think will make them happy and they think that God wants them to be happy above all things.
He wants you to be blessed. He wants you to follow the way He has told us how to live because that is where long term blessing is and eternal blessing.
So to be blessed, we need to worship the Lord by knowing God’s word and being obedient to His will.
Not only that though.
If we are going to live a blessed life, then we need to also
Avoid the Disobedient
Slide
Potiphar’s wife kept making these propositions to Joseph, but Joseph continued to refuse and tried not to be around her.
Genesis 39:10 - And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
In the verses in Romans we read a minute ago, Paul said to “not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.” (Romans 12:2)
If we are going to live holy and blessed lives, there are going to be times that we have to avoid being around those who are disobedient and who are seeking to conform us to be disobedient like them.
Apply
Do you have people in your life that are continually trying to get you to sin?
Do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend that is pressuring you to do things that are not godly?
Maybe you are in a situation that you do want to get out of but if you do, you know that relationship will be over. I will tell you while it may be painful and it may not be a happy time in the short run, it will result ultimately in walking closer with the Lord and living a holy and blessed life.
This does not mean as some may tell you that we need to totally cut ourselves off from the world. There are some cults that seek to isolate themselves so they can live a life that is not conformed to the world.
That is not what we need to do. We do need to be around people who sin so we can be a light to them. However, we need to be cautious about becoming so close to those who are striving to get us to sin.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 - Bad company corrupts good character.
We need to avoid those who are disobedient and seeking to lead us into disobedience.
One last thing if we are going to experience the blessed life that God wants us to have.
We need to
Make the Best of the Bad
Slide
Everyone of us are going to face bad situations in life that are due to nothing we have done.
Jesus even promises us that.
John 16:33 - "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
How do we make the best of bad situations?
Just like Joseph.
You will notice that when Joseph got into Potiphar’s house as a slave and when later, he gets thrown into prison, it says that “the Lord was with Joseph.” And because of that he was successful in the things he was doing as a slave and as a prisoner.
But notice for him to be successful, he had to do something.
He wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing. People were noticing him and the things he was doing.
That is because he was keeping his eyes on the Lord and trusting Him as he worked hard.
The only way to make the best of a bad situation is to keep your eyes on the Lord and trust his sovereign control over all things.
That is what the Lord tells us through Paul in
Ephesians 6:5-8
Slide
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Knowing that God is in control and that He is good and desires to bless me, not just make me happy, gives me strength to follow him and do what He wants.
And as I rely on him, even as my overall circumstances may not change, he blesses me with peace and contentment.
Paul, when he experienced bad circumstances, said in
Philippians 4:12-13
Slide
that he has “learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13)
No matter our circumstance, we can make the best of it by remembering God’s sovereignty and by relying on the Lord and his strength.
Joseph went through 13 years of slavery and prison after what his brothers did to him.
It was another 8 to 12 years before he was able to see his father again and his little brother.
But he recognized the sovereignty of God and how God had worked though all of these circumstances and he made the best of them by keeping his eyes on the Lord.
Listen to what he said to his brothers after his father died and he could have easily had them killed.
Genesis 50:20-21
Slide
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
God intended it for good.
Conclusion
Slide
While God does not want us to be happy above all things just like a parent doesn’t give a child everything they want because it is not good for their long term, God does want us to be blessed in our lives and that comes from being in relationship and following Him in all things and trusting Him in all things, even the hard circumstances.
Maybe you are here today and have been facing some really hard circumstances that have really not been making you very happy and you have been wondering why God is allowing this.
We need to trust that He wants to help us live a blessed life that is eternal, not just experience temporary happiness.
Maybe you need to worship the Lord in your actions.
Stand strong against temptation
Maybe you need to break off a relationship that is pushing you to conform to the world and sin against God. Take that step of faith.
Maybe you need to make the best of a bad situation by looking to the Lord and allowing him to strengthen you to serve Him in the midst of that situation and find contentment in Him during it.
That is a great blessing the Lord provides to His people who serve Him.
We are going to be closing in a song called the Stand this morning.
(Worship team come up)
It is a song that helps us recognize how good God is to us in providing salvation and exercising His sovereignty and how we can do nothing else but give ourselves over to him completely to follow Him.
Make this your prayer to the Lord this morning and ask that he gives you the strength to stand in the difficult times and follow Him to a life of blessing.
Stand as we sing.
The Stand
