Lighten Up?
Opening Video: Patch Adams Joy
Have you ever know or seen someone so wound up they were fixing to burst?
It can be a sad sight. Have you been in that place where you were so stressed out or wound up that you lost all your joy?
Are you living with Joy in your life or you letting your life dictacte your level of happiness?
Do you want to know how to live a life that is filled with Joy even in rough times.
Did you know that there is a difference between Joy and Happiness.
I know they seem to be the same thing, but they are not.
Happiness and joy 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 speaks of joy over 330 times.
Happiness is mentioned just 26 times.
As you can see Joy is talked about a whole lot more in the Bible.
So how do we Lighten up, well we have to tear down the joy killers in our life and connect with the joy giver.
Big Idea: Tear down the joy killers and connect with the joy giver!
If we want to live this life in Joy we have to learn how to overcome the wall that try to block or steel our Joy.
Gal 5:22-24 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. NLT
1) To tear down the Joy killers we have to deal with Unfilled Expectations
A. Life isn’t going the way you expected it to.
Maybe your marriage, career, the kids, financially, relationship wise, job, and maybe with where you are in life in general.
One thing is for certain; life is full of uncertainty.
B. Discontentment can become a joy killer.
Phil 4:12-14 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. NLT
Notice Paul uses the word here “secret”. There’s a mystery about it. Also, he had to “learn” to live with unfilled expectations.
C. We have to learn to be content with whatever and where ever we are in life.
Story: EVERYTHING I NEED “I have everything I need for joy!” Robert Reed said. His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. Strips of Velcro hold his shirts together. His speech drags like a worn out audiocassette.
Robert has cerebral palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduate with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at St. Louis Junior College or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.
I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, “I have everything I need for joy.”
His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy. SOURCE: Max Lucado.
E. Contentment isn’t having everything we want, but being satisfied with what we do have.
2) To tear down the Joy killers we have to get rid of Unresolved conflict
A When we allow unresolved conflict to go on, our joy disappears.
What happens is our emotions boil over and we become consumed with our conflict and it puts a barrier between us and God.
B. 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. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. NIV
C. Part of dealing with Unresolved conflict is allowing Christ’s love to flow through us.
D. 1 Cor 13:5c “it keeps no record of wrongs.” NIV So if we keep a record of each other’s mistakes, we squash the joy right out of our lives.
Short story on Perceptive: I heard a story about a girl who went off to college. She didn’t write very often, but on this one occasion she wrote her parents. When they got the letter they were elated. But when they opened it, it read,
"Dear mom & dad, I would have written sooner but all my stationery burned up when the dormitory burned down." Then she went on to say, "Please don’t worry. I found this good friend, & I have been living with him now for the last 3 months. And mom, I think you ought to know that he is such a good friend that we have decided to get married. And oh, by the way, you’re going to be grandparents soon."
After she had written all that, she signed her name & then added a P.S. "Please disregard all the above. The dormitory did not burn down. I am not living with a man. I am not going to get married. And I’m not pregnant. But I did get an ’D’ in History."
3) To tear down the Joy killers we have to deal with Unconfessed Sin
A. Unconfessed sin is the #1 killer of joy.
1. Sin can and will drive your joy away
B. When sin is in your life it brings problems, even if at first it appears to be great.
C. Sin brings problems because it separates us from the Joy giver!
Isa 59:2a But there is a problem — your sins have cut you off from God. NLT
D. Our joy is directly related to our closeness with God.
We have to tear down the joy killers and reconnect with the joy giver!
Heb 12:2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven. NLT
Gal 5:22-24 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. NLT
Closing Story: The book “Will Daylight Come?” by Richard Hoefler, illustrates the truth, that forgiveness frees and unforgiveness enslaves.
A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let it fly. The stone hit its target.
The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of, Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed her duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you! I wondered how long you would let Sally make you a slave.”
(Leadership Magazine, Christianity Today, Inc., To Illustrate: Forgiveness by Steve Cole; Leadership 1983, pg. 86.)
Conclusion:
Do you have some unsatisfied expectations that have led to a spirit of discontentment? If so, determine to do whatever it takes to learn the secret of being content. When you do, you’ll begin to experience joy, even in the small things of life. Confess your discontentment to Him.
Are you dealing with some unresolved conflict? If so, confess it to God and make plans to resolve it.
Do you have unresolved sin in your life that is blocking your Joy? Then let’s go to the Joy maker Himself and ask forgiveness. Then we can receive the Joy that will be with us no matter the circumstances.
