The Joy of our salvation
I want to speak about the joy of our salvation.
THE WORD:
Ps 51
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
He anointed us – it means he has oiled us
Isaiah 61:1-3, that ministry is foretold as if through the mouth of Christ - "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me because the Lord has annointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord... To comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting."
TO DO WHAT:
To preach the good News
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
The gospel is GOOD NEWS
IN THE GOOD NEWS there is a POWER
THAT POWER is SALVATION – Soteria
Activated by Believe.
You are where you are today because of what you believe. For some people Klerksdorp to far to drive for church. For some it is to late. For some like you it is a joy to celebrate two years of grace.
In THIS GOSPEL (Good News) Our rightstanding is revealed. Paul we believe therefore we speak.
Rightstanding – gives us the abilty to speak.
David writes about the JOY OF YOUR SALVATION
We have got to understand that "the joy of the Lord is the Church’s strength." Part of the problem is Satan. The old Devil is "the accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10).
In that role, he strives to snatch peace and joy from our souls.
He works hard to discourage us by whispering lies into our spiritual ears. Perhaps, you have heard him whisper to your soul, saying: - You’re no good. - God’s not pleased with you and He never will be. - You are a spiritual loser. - You have so many faults and weaknesses, you’ll never be able to successfully live the Christian life. - You’ll never be able to please God. - You have screwed-up so many times, He is not going to continue to forgive you. - You might as well give-up because you’ll never make it. - You don’t have a chance in reaching Heaven. - You are going to hell and you know it.
WELL THIS WHAT COUNTER ACT FOR THAT
Rom 5:5 In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
The Message
It is not about me
You can hear this sermon and stay the same. You might identify with some of the things I experienced and go unchanged. Do not. When you hear somebody else story – learn what you can and apply it. It has not been my motivation to think how everybody that reads this book or hear my testimony in the years to come that they will have to go through “tough things” so they could also learn.
No, allow God’s spirit to use this life story to help you shape yours.
Max Lucado wrote a book years ago with the topic – “It is not about me”. I read it and preached it. But the silent adventure taught me that when I focused on my comfort and my own feelings – real or not. Justified or not. It lead me just to my own miserable self. When the staff on one of the wards did not perform as they should and nearly lost me because of their negligence, my family and I had every right to be angry with them. But the lesson I failed over and over – when I focus on ME – I loose my joy, my peace, my right standing and my comforter – God the Holy Spirit.
Listen and read what Peter wrote
1 Pet 5:8-9 NIV Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
There are other people who had it worst of. Others who are facing now more difficult circumstances than I would and have ever faced. We do not always know about them because they did not tell their story. So realize that you are not the only person on planet earth, brothers and sisters throughout the world go through the same kind of sufferings. Does this make it easier? No, it just gives perspective and underline that this journey life’s lessons are that it is not about me.
My emotions – which make me a mere human and mortal – actually led me more in turmoil. The Word of God therefore is that which helps to bring clarity in my soul life. Read the word, or if you cannot read it, listen to it, or let somebody read it to you. But let the Word of God bring discernment in your life.
Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
•For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word of God – not the word of Oprah or Dr Phil- is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edge sword to bring that division between your soul man and your spirit. The Word is to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. To expose them. So the word is able to become a mirror in which I am able to bring discernment on my focus. Who is the centre of my life?
Lesson 10 – it is not about me, but all about Him and those He has graced me to journey life with.
So what other scripture do we know about JOY and the JOY of the LORD?
JAMES 1:
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
NKJV
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
NLT

A Lesson for life:
Do not loose hope, do not give up, surround yourself with hopeful things
i.e. Scripture, pictures.
Like I wrote earlier. When you face a crisis or success read the Word of God. If you cannot read it, listen to it. If you cannot listen to it let somebody read it to you. Even when you are asleep – your spirit never sleeps. This is the lesson on why the word is so important to me.
Eph 2:2 You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience.
“3 THINGS I CAN BE THANKFUL FOR IN ANY SITUATION”
1. Rejoice that I am “in Christ”. – “…in Christ Jesus.” • Thank God for the salvation I’m in not the situation I’m in. • What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Paul uses this phrase throughout his writings in the New Testament. • My Salvation is permanent. My situation is temporary. • Even when you’re “in trouble” you’re “in Christ”. – Romans 8 • Even when you’re “In over your head” you’re “in Christ”. – Romans 8 • Even when you’re “in pain” you’re “in Christ”. – Romans 8 • Even when you’re “in despair” you’re “in Christ”. – Romans 8 2. Rejoice that I am “in God’s will”. – “…for this is God’s will for you…” • The situation may not be God’s will but my reaction can be God’s will. • Painful situations are inevitable, but a negative disposition is optional. • God cares not only about WHAT you’re going through but HOW you’re going through it. • Is the negative situation souring my disposition? 3. Rejoice that I am “in God’s thoughts and prayers”. – “…God’s will for you…” • I am never off God’s mind. He is continually thinking about me and praying for me and working for, in and through me. • Is there ever a moment when God is not thinking about me? If there is never a moment God is not thinking about me, then He is thinking about me all the time, in everything. If God is thinking about me in everything, then I don’t have to worry about anything. • If God is thinking about me, how He will take care of me, how he will help me, how he will provide for me, how He will strengthen me, then that means I don’t need to. • If God is thinking about me so much I don’t need to think about myself as much.
I can leave that to God and trust Him instead of worry about myself in this situation. • This is an issue of trust, of faith in God.
