How to Live a Joy Filled Life

Series: “How to Make it Through Tough Times”

Part 5

"How to Live a Joy Filled Life"

Pastor Jerry

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When you woke up this week and heard the news about the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, what did you feel? Shocked? Scared? Sad? We live in a time of unprecedented struggle and upheaval. Lately, the world seems to be lurching from one crisis to another. We’ve been experiencing a global pandemic, battling political and social turmoil, natural disasters and now we face economic uncertainty from a war on European soil for the first time since WW2. How can you have joy in the midst of crises? It is no wonder that the daily news kills the joy for many of us. The world is in desperate need of massive doses of joy. You need joy in your life. You have a fundamental emotional need for joy in your life. Life without joy is overwhelming. overburdened, and oppressive. Studies have actually shown that the more joy we have in our lives, then we are more productive, more energetic, more creative, and the more Peace we have in our life! For several weeks we’ve been in this series on “How to Make it Through Tough Times.” That includes your need for joy. In fact, one of the names for God in Psalms 43 in the Hebrew language is El Simchathgali which means “I am the God of exceeding joy.”   When you talk about joy, you have to go to the book of Philippians – it only has four chapters. But 16 times in four chapters, Paul says “Rejoice.”  The amazing thing is Paul didn’t write this book when he was on vacation. He was in prison in Rome waiting to be executed. In the darkest days of his life he writes the most positive book in the Bible. He gives us his six secrets to having joy. To help you remember them I’ve put them in an acrostic J-O-Y-F-U-L. Six joy-builders. If you practice these six things in your life, you will find more joy. J – JETTISON ALL REGRETS ABOUT MY PAST “Jettison” means “to throw overboard, to abandon as worthless, to discard, to eliminate, to get rid of.”  Paul says if you want to enjoy life, there are some things you’ve got to get rid of because they are overburdening your life. We all have regrets. Everybody’s got skeletons in the closet because nobody’s perfect. The only problem with regret is, you cannot change your past, it just makes you miserable. We get stuck in “if only….” Regretting is just a waste of time. So, What do you do?  The Bible says forget it. How can you do that? You can forget it because God does. The Bible says that when we come to Christ and confess our sins, He takes those sins and throws them in the deepest parts of the oceans. The Bible says, “Their sins will I remember no more.”  If God can forget your mistakes and your sins, He can help you do it too. The starting point of joy is to let go of the past. Jettison all regrets – the grief, the grudges and the guilt. O – OMIT ALL WORRIES ABOUT MY FUTURE If you’re going to enjoy the present, you must omit all worries about your future. You cannot be joyful and worried at the same time. The more you worry about something, the bigger it gets in your mind. Worry is just as useless as regret. You can’t change the past. And, you can’t change the future. Paul says in Philippians 3:13 “One thing I do is forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead.  Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.”  Here’s his alternative: you can either worry or you can pray. If you are praying you don’t have to worry. So Paul says if you want to be filled with joy, forget the past and don’t worry about the future and just focus on right now. God has a plan for your life. Instead, pray. Y – YIELD MYSELF TO GOD’S PURPOSE. A third thing that kills joy in life is having no real purpose at all. We all need a cause greater than ourselves in which to live for. That is what brings us joy. Living for yourself does not bring joy.  When Paul is writing this letter, he has literally lost everything. He’s living in a dungeon in Rome in chains. They’ve taken away everything from him, no ministry, no freedom. But there is one thing that they could not take away from Paul – his purpose in life. Paul says in Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ.” I live for Christ. In 2 Timothy, he says “My only purpose in life is to please Him.” If you want to have a joy-filled life, you need to get in line with God’s purpose for your life. Romans 6:13 “Give yourselves completely to God – every part of you – to be tools in the hand of God to be used for His good purpose.”  I dare you to pray the most dangerous prayer: “Use me.”  God is looking for people who will yield themselves to His purpose. F – FOCUS ON WHAT’S GOOD As you know, life is filled with ups and downs. We have mountains and valleys, good times and bad times. Of course you have a choice, which are you going to focus on. It is your choice every day. Even on your worse day, life is good. Even on your worse day, you have it better off than many people in this world. You can choose to focus on what is good. Paul says in Philippians 4:8 “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”  Where do you get a list of things like that? Radio? TV? News? No. But there is one place you can count on – God’s word. The more you fill your mind with this book, the more positive and joyful you’re going to be. Fill your mind every day with God’s word. Paul says if you want to have joy, the fourth joy builder is to focus on what is good. Paul practiced this himself. Even when he was in prison, he had every reason to be bitter and complain. He’s ill, old, in prison unjustly to be executed. Paul says, “I have yielded myself to God’s purpose. I’m focusing on what’s good.” It’s a choice.  U – USE MY LIFE TO HELP OTHERS Paul was joyful because he was unselfish. He invested his life in others. If you want to have continuous joy in your life, here is the secret. Give your life away in helping others. Stop focusing on your problems and aches and pains and start focusing on helping others. The more you give your life away, Jesus said, the more you find it. The more unselfish you become, the more joyful a person you’re going to be. Philippians 4:1 he says “Dear brothers and sisters, I love you and I long to see you for you are my joy and the reward for my work.”  Paul’s joy was the people he had invested his life in. Paul’s joy were the people he cared about, that he’d led to Christ, that he’d helped grow. In Philippians 3, Paul says, “For me, living means opportunity for Christ and dying, well, that’s better yet.  But if living will give me more opportunities to win people to Christ, then I really don't know which is better, to live or to die. Sometimes I want to live and at other times I don’t, for I long to go and be with Christ. But the fact is, I can be of more help to you by staying.”  How could death possibly be of benefit to Paul? Paul says, “Either way I win.  On earth, my purpose is to live for God.  When I die, I get to go be with God.”  He has a purpose for living and he has a purpose for dying. Do you? Paul’s last joy-builder… L – LEARN TO BE CONTENT Philippians 4:11 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”  It wasn’t natural; he had to learn it. Paul’s life was not easy. It was very difficult. 2 Corinthians 11 Paul tells us a little of his biography. He says, “I’ve … been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, three times … shipwrecked….I’ve been in constant danger. … often gone without sleep and food. …. In spite of all this, no matter what happens, rejoice. In all situations rejoice in the Lord.  Always rejoice.” He says “I’ve learned to be content.”   Bottom line: Joy is a decision. You are as joyful as you choose to be. You can choose to be joyful because there are many things you can be joyful about. God is saying, if you learn to be content and you choose to make the right decision, you can be joyful.  How can you be joyful when everything is wrong in my life?” Two reasons: I can always be joyful no matter what happens because I know God is in control. Paul says “I’m going to keep on being glad for I know that … the Holy Spirit helps me, this is all going to turn out for my good.”  God’s in control of it all, God will use it for my good. God will give me the power that I need. So what am I worried about? Nothing! Granted, this isn’t the way that Paul had planned it. He wanted to share God’s love with all the Roman Empire. Instead he has his hands and feet shackled, he’s in a dungeon for two years. Not only that, he did something else while he was in prison. He wrote most of the N.T. We wouldn’t have the N.T. If he’d gone out, traveling all over. Paul had a plan but God had a better plan. Paul said, I trust God’s plan better than my own. also know that God’s going to write the final chapter. “I am sure that God who began the good work within you will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ comes back again.”  God has your best interest at heart. Therefore no matter what happens, you can be joyful. Because what He starts, He finishes.  (The second reason you can always be joyful) You were made to know God. You were made to have a relationship with Him. You were made for His purpose and you were made to share the love of Christ with other people. Do that and you will have joy. That is the secret.