The Joy Parasites Series

External Parasites.

- Head lice, Leeches & Ticks

- Makes you feel creepy crawly

Internal Parasites .

A parasite is something that exists by taking from another

They sneak in without notice & unexpected taking up residence in or on their host

Hookworm penetrate the skin

- Worms use their teeth to burrow through the intestinal wall and feed on your blood

Roundworms can lay 200,000 eggs a day

- Adults grow to 15 inches long.

- Cause blockage to the intestine

- Abscesses in the liver,

- Hemorrhage the pancreas

Tapeworms may grow to 35 feet long

- Can live ten years inside the persons intestines.

- Some tapeworms can lay as many as one million eggs

- Their bodies are in separate segments with hooks and suction cups on their skull.

Without Parasites .

- No worries

- Life is good

- Full of fun, happiness, & joy

Parasites Are Joy Suckers .

- Have you noticed that we live in a parasitic world?

- Tiny unexpected parasites creep in

- They are not supposed to be part of our life

- Sin comes in little by little bringing destruction

- Money problems, Relationships turn sour, Sickness of heart mind & body

- Wrecking havoc to our lives

James 4:1–4 (AV)

1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

> Matthew 24:12 (AV)

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Wax - goes back to the way candles are made.

A wick is dipped into hot wax

- Then taken out and allowed to cool for a few seconds,

- Now a thin layer of wax.

- Repeated again & again until the wick is buried deep within the wax.

- The same is true with the heart.

- The greatest need in man's life is the removal of sin

- If we take our eyes off Jesus and focus on the evil around us and it's circumstances,

- Layers of negativity harden around our hearts, and the love for God and others waxes cold.

An elusive word in Philippians is JOY.

Isaiah 26:3 (AV)

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

- The joy of the Lord is a thing that every believer ought to enjoy abundantly.

- Joy is not dependent on the circumstances.

Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice."

- Joy is internal and comes from the Lord

- Happiness is external and results from happenings.

- There are parasites that eat away your joy

- Nurse & rehearse the hurt

FOUR PARASITES IN PHILIPPIANS

1.) The Unexpected Parasites s.

Philippians Ch. 1.

Philippians 1:12–13 (AV)

12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

13 So that my bonds (imprisonment, chains) in Christ are manifest (known) in all the palace, and in all other places;

- Circumstances are things that happen,

- When your day does not go right

- Like: mechanical breakdowns, financial strain, health problems, lost articles of importance, etc.

- These parasites frustrate and eat away our joy

- Like wax building a candle our hearts become bitter as our focus is taken off Jesus

God’s Solution To Discouraging Circumstances Is The Single Mind.

Philippians 1:19–20 (AV)

19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Philippians 4:4 (AV)

4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–23 (AV)

16 Rejoice evermore.

17 Pray without ceasing.

18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

19 Quench not the Spirit.

20 Despise not prophesyings.

21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.