Life-Hack: JOY

Life Hacks: Fruits of the Spirit  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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John 15:11 NLT
I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (, NLT)

 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Introduction: When you’re excited about something

Introduction: When you’re excited about something

a new job
the person who just does food better than you
the crossfitter that can’t stop talking about crossfit
new relationship
You glorify what you enjoy. If you really love something and delight in it and talk about it, because it gives you such pleasure, you make much of it, you exalt it. When God is our deepest pleasure, we display him as our highest treasure, which is why the pursuit of joy is not optional, because the pursuit of God’s glory is not optional. . The fight for joy is not peripheral, because God’s pursuit of his glory is not peripheral
.

1. There are two ways to pursue joy. One will mess you up, the other will set you free.

3 Reasons why my life depends on Joy

Jesus begins to share with his disciples the idea that He is the vine and the Father is the vinedresser
He talks about producing FRUIT as they remain in Him
Fruit that is growing, is pruned
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” (, NLT)
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” (, NLT)

1. It’s God’s idea not ours

Explain:
God’s command is that we find our joy in Him, that we serve Him with Joy
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous. Shout for joy, all you upright in heart. ()
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous. Shout for joy, all you upright in heart. ()
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. ()
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. ()
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.” (, ESV) 47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.” (, ESV)
47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you
God’s people would be judged based not just on THAT they followed God but also on HOW they followed Him.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous. Shout for joy, all you upright in heart. () Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. ()
Why? B/C it was an outward expression of what they actually believed about God.
Illustration Part 1: Taking Tarah on a Date:
Illustration Part 1: Taking Tarah on a Date:
Action: I took her on a date
How: I’m distracted....uninterested…not making eye contact w/ her
I’m distracted....uninterested…not making eye contact w/ her

2. You will find your treasure where you find your joy.

Explain:
Matthew 6:21 NLT
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
I don’t think we have a doctrine problem or a dogma problem…I think we have a DELIGHT problem.
What you DELIGHT in you DWELL on. You spend time on it. You spend money on it. You place a high priority at the expense of other priorities. It’s what we MAGNIFY or GLORIFY in our lives.
You are willing to say YES or NO to things based on where you find your delight.
Illustration: There are 2 ways to pursue Joy

1. There are two ways to pursue joy. One will wreck you the other will set you free.

Making life about stuff so that I feel joy
we think that the solution is to just feel better about me, better about the way I look, better about my height, my weight, my complexion, my hair, my ability. If I could just feel better about me I would be healed. You wouldn’t. You wouldn’t. You wouldn’t be healed. You would have low level, low grade, non-satisfying measures of contentment.

2. You will find your treasure where you find your joy.

Making life about God so that I live joy
Making life about God so that I live joy
You were made to see God, love God, delight in God, be stunned by God. So I am not here to help you feel good about yourself. I am here to help you feel good about God and forget about yourself and give your life away in love to others. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
You were made to see God, love God, delight in God, be stunned by God. So I am not here to help you feel good about yourself. I am here to help you feel good about God and forget about yourself and give your life away in love to others. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

3. When we enjoy God, we honor Him

Explain:

There is a right and a wrong way to pursue joy.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (, NLT)
James

3.

3. When we enjoy God, we honor Him
The devil has had more theologically accurate thoughts about God in the last 24 hours than you will have in a lifetime. Do you believe that? I do. I think he is brilliant. And he knows God inside out and hates what he knows. Satan’s problem is not doctrine. It is delight. Therefore, getting our heads straight won’t save us. And it won’t glorify God by itself. And I hope you know I am really big on doctrine. But I am at this point saying the reason I push joy in God is because all the right thinking about God in the world is not as good as Satan’s thinking about God. He just hates it.
It’s not just that we BELIEVE in God…but that we ENJOY HIM.

How do I anchor my life in Joy?

Comparison and jealousy
Drunkenness and Partying
Hostility
James 2:19 NLT
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

Our thoughts about God are vitally important but so are our actions towards God and enjoyment of God based on those thoughts.
The devil has had more theologically accurate thoughts about God in the last 24 hours than you will have in a lifetime. Do you believe that?
I think he is brilliant. And he knows God inside out and hates what he knows. Satan’s problem is not doctrine. It is delight. Therefore, getting our heads straight won’t save us. And it won’t glorify God by itself. And I hope you know I am really big on doctrine. But I am at this point saying the reason I push joy in God is because all the right thinking about God in the world is not as good as Satan’s thinking about God. He just hates it
Illustration Part 2: Taking Tarah on a Date:
Action: I took her on a date
How: I’m engaged....interested…asking questions...making eye contact w/ her
After All he or Mia talk about is camping.. “My favorite thing is being with you dad.”
What if I don’t desire God like that?
Story: I was on a plane when I saw the Grand Canyon---
What if I don’t desire God like that?
What if I don’t desire God like that?
What if I don’t desire God like that?

Application: How do I anchor my life in Joy?

How do I anchor my life in Joy?
Fight for joy in Christ
What one thing in your life can you change right now that will move you closer to delight in Christ? Delight in others?
Use what God has given you for God’s Glory
Who can help you ask yourself the hard questions about your priorities, relationships, and secret sins as you take a spiritual inventory of your life?
Use what God has given you for God’s Glory
Do something with the gifts you have. How will serving others help save you from focusing on your circumstances?
Find sabbath moments
Make the choic
Find a rhythm of REST for your soul
If I went to the Grand Canyon tomorrow and stood at the edge of the vast expanse in front of me, I doubt that I would be thinking, “I feel really good about ME right now. I’m pretty awesome.” NO!! Because on the edge of the Grand Canyon, as you feel your soul being drawn out into this vast opening...What happens is wonder — awe — which is what you were made for.
If I went to the Grand Canyon tomorrow and stood at the edge of the vast expanse in front of me, I doubt that I would be thinking, “I feel really good about ME right now. I’m pretty awesome.” NO!! Because on the edge of the Grand Canyon, as you feel your soul being drawn out into this vast opening that is not what happens. What happens is wonder — awe — which is what you were made for.

Conclusion: Mirrors in Heaven

Conclusion

Call the Worship Team up to sing...
Heaven will not be a hall of mirrors in which you like what you see. In fact, I just have this suspicion there won’t be any mirrors in heaven, because anything good and beautiful about you will be radiated back to you from the other people that you re loving so much. It just bounces back to you, but mainly it is going to be about Jesus everywhere satisfying your soul.
I think there won’t be any mirrors in heaven, because anything good and beautiful about me will simply be a reflection of who HE is and who HE is in other people. We will all simply be reflecting the goodness and beauty of God and it will cause us to want to serve Jesus and each other more. It will be about Jesus everywhere satisfying my soul. Our JOY will be a natural reaction to His Presence.
Nobody goes to the Grand Canyon to increase his self-esteem, because on the edge of the Grand Canyon, as you feel your soul being drawn out into this vast opening that is not what happens. What happens is wonder — awe — which is what you were made for. Heaven will not be a hall of mirrors in which you like what you see. In fact, I just have this suspicion there won’t be any mirrors in heaven, because anything good and beautiful about you will be radiated back to you from the other people that you re loving so much. It just bounces back to you, but mainly it is going to be about Jesus everywhere satisfying your soul.
Jesus said, “I have come that you would have LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANTLY...”
Jesus said, “I have come that you would have LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANTLY...”
John 15:11 NLT
I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
I want us to take a minute to sing a whole worship song and as we do let’s choose JOY in our worship.
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