Advent Week 3: Joy
If you ask people what they want in life, most will tell you they just want to be happy.
And in our common everyday use of the words happiness and joy, those two are interchangable.
They are both words for the experience of pleasure, well-being and good fortune.
The biblical concept of joy is quite different from our idea of happiness. And that is why it is possible to rejoice regardless of our circumstances.
In this episode, we are looking the secret to experiencing joy—even in the midst of hard times.
DISCOVERIES AWAITING YOU IN THIS EPISODE:
Time codes are in the brackets so you can jump to a particular spot if you want to review something specific.
And since I know there may be times when you would prefer to read the content rather than listen, I’ve provided text below. It is not an exact transcript but it provides you the essentials.
Characterized by Joy
[01:13]
The early church was characterized by joy despite being savagely persecuted.
The apostle Paul wrote a letter so full of rejoicing that it is known as the Epistle of Joy all while he was imprisoned and the recipients were having their property seized, their livelihoods eliminated, and their lives threatened in Philippi?
We see this over and over throughout the New Testament. What equipped these believers to be so filled with joy when their circumstances were so grim?
The author of Hebrews spells out why in 12:2. There he calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Joy, at least as the Bible speaks of it, is a byproduct of choosing where we put our minds.
When God’s people faced hard times, those who focused on the difficulties tended to fall away. Those who focused on God, not the hardships, were strengthened.
Isaiah 40:31 gives a very poetic expression of this truth:
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
Where we direct our thoughts makes all the difference.
[3:31]
Jesus faced the cross because directed his thoughts to God. He trusted God the Father. He trusted that the pain would be transformed into joy.
God would use his suffering to accomplish the purpose of the redemption of God’s people (and all of Creation) from sin and its deadly consequences.
And that is the same reason Paul and the early church were known for there joy in spite of their great suffering.
Filter the Hard Circumstances Through Intentional Thoughts
[4:18]
It wasn’t that they did not suffer. They did. They grieved. They experienced pain. But they filtered their circumstances through very specific thoughts.
As James wrote to God’s people scattered by persecution,
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
This is similar to Paul’s exhortation in Romans 5
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Mindset of the Early Church versus Modern Mindset
[5:49]
Contrast this mindset of the early Christians with the one you’ll find most of us in our culture adopting. We are in a constant pursuit of happiness. That phrase is literally written into the American Declaration of Independence and is claimed to be a universal right granted to us by God.
But this mindset, that we have the right to be happy, can make us so averse to experiencing discomfort that we will run from things God calls us to stand firm in the face of.
If we are focused on pursuing happiness, will we want to make sacrifices? Will we lean in to walk the road of suffering when that is where God calls us to walk? Probably not.
And most of us are not faced with the kind of suffering and persecution the early church endured, and many of our fellow Christians in other parts of the world today endure.
Most of us struggle to sit with mere discomfort because we have become so conditioned to desiring happiness, pleasure and comfort.
My Embarrassing Confession
[7:31]
I’ve been immersed in coaching these past few months. It has been a mind-blowing, eye-opening reality check to intentionally examine my thoughts and what results those thoughts are creating in my life.
I’ve realized how much I’ve been pursuing happiness and comfort rather than calling and self-discipline. I’ve actually realized I’ve become quite the comfort junkie.
When I reviewed my thought downloads and the self-coaching models I’ve run on my most common thoughts these past few months I was shocked. I have to confess, it was not pretty.
I have not been getting the results I want in my health, in my relationships, and in my work because I’m so unwilling to experience discomfort and not have instant gratification and on-going pleasure and ease.
I want to be used by God to serve you and whoever He brings into my circle of influence. I want to make an difference in my circle of influence. I want to leave a legacy that is meaningful and glorifies God. I can’t do that and stay comfortable all the time.
Want To Level Up Your Life AND Have More Joy?
[9:29]
How about you? Do you you want to level up your life, level up your impact in the world?
A pursuit of comfort, pleasure and an all out avoidance of discomfort, suffering and pain will stunt your growth and limit what God can do in and through you. (And me too! I’m speaking this because I need to hear it!)
I am now working hard to manage my mind around choosing this biblical concept of joy rather than happiness.
Joy is available to us even on the hardest of days because it is sourced, not in our pleasure or comfort, but in God Himself.
Joy is produced when we rely on the Holy Spirit to do hard things that are beyond our own abilities to accomplish…that’s why you’ll find it listed among the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.
Choose Joy By Managing Your Mind
[10:16]
But relying on and being obedient to the Holy Spirit is a choice we must make. We must choose to direct our thoughts to God’s abilities, faithfulness, and desire to use us for his purposes.
When we manage our minds to focus on the joy set before us, we can do hard things. And God will transform our weakness into a showcase for His strength.
Is It Selfish to Want to Make a Big Impact?
[10:51]
I was talking to a client today who was struggling with the concept of allowing herself to set a big goal.
Was it right to want to accomplish something extraordinary? Was that selfish? Was that self-centered?
Got Questions? Ask Me!
[11:13]
I’m going to address those questions and any you have around this topic (or any other topic) in more depth tomorrow over in The Oasis.
So join me in The Oasis at 11 am Central time this Friday for my FB Live or catch the replay. And if you have other questions you want me to address, post those in the group or email me with your questions.
Choosing Joy Helps You Live Out Your Purpose
[11:45]
For now, I want to reflect on the purpose for which God created us.
In Genesis 1:26-28, God spells out our purpose:
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
That is a pretty audacious purpose. We’re going to talk more over in The Oasis tomorrow about this purpose.
The Impact of One Man Choosing Joy in WWII
[12:28]
But before I wrap up, I want to share with you the impact one young man made in this world because he chose joy in the midst of unbearable circumstances.
And by choosing joy he not only endured but made a lasting impact on those in his immediate circle of influence but his impact is still rippling out across the years those of us who can be inspired by his writings.
His name is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a young pastor in Germany during Hitler’s reign of terror.
Bonhoeffer was a member of the resistance and he publicly called the church in Germany to resist Hitler, to not conform, compromise, and capitulate to the evil mandates.
Below is an excerpt from a letter he wrote to his friends during the Advent season of 1942.
A few months after he penned these words he was arrested and sent off to a Nazi prison and later to a concentration camp — where he would be killed just weeks before the war ended.
He wrote this letter to friends who, like him, were striving to live obediently in the face of great hardships and temptations.
After informing his friends of the deaths of several of their band of brothers, he said,
This joy, which no one shall take from us, belongs not only to those who have been called home but also to us who are alive. We are one with them in this joy, but never in melancholy. How are we going to be able to help those who have become joyless and discouraged if we ourselves are not borne along by courage and joy? Nothing contrived or forced is intended here, but something bestowed and free.
Joy abides with God, and it comes down from God and embraces spirit, soul, and body; and where this joy has seized a person, there it spreads, there it carries one away, there it bursts open closed doors.
A sort of joy exists that knows nothing at all of the heart’s pain, anguish, and dread; it does not last; it can only numb a person for the moment. The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable. It does not deny the anguish, when it is there, but finds God in the midst of it, in fact precisely there; it does not deny grave sin but finds forgiveness precisely in this way; it looks death straight in the eye, but it finds life precisely within it.
…Some among us suffer greatly because they are internally deadening themselves against so much suffering, such as these war years bring in their wake. One person said to me recently, “I pray every day that I may not become numb.” That is by all means a good prayer.
And yet we must guard ourselves against confusing ourselves with Christ. Christ endured all suffering and all human guilt himself in full measure — indeed, this was what made him Christ, that he and he alone bore it all. But Christ was able to suffer along with others because he was simultaneously able to redeem from suffering. Out of his love and power to redeem people came his power to suffer with them.
We are not called to take upon ourselves the suffering of all the world; by ourselves we are fundamentally not able to suffer with others at all, because we are not able to redeem. But the wish to suffer with them by one’s own power will inevitably be crushed into resignation. We are called only to gaze full of joy at the One who in reality suffered with us and became the Redeemer.
Full of joy, we are enabled to believe that there was and is One to whom no human suffering or sin is foreign and who in deepest love accomplished our redemption. Only in such joy in Christ the Redeemer shall we be preserved from hardening ourselves where human suffering encounters us.5
My Prayer and Hope for You
[18:05]
I’m so grateful that Dietrich Bonhoeffer chose to show up in a big way and choose joy. His choice mattered then and still matters and impacts us today.
I have no idea what you face right now. I don’t know if you are listening to this podcast in comfort and ease or trials and tribulation.
Whatever your circumstance, I pray you will choose not to numb yourself, not to pursue happiness and comfort at the expense of impact and obedience.
I am asking God to help us, you and me both, to empower us by His Spirit to live lives of purpose. That we will be willing and able to experience discomfort and even suffering if that is what is necessary to bear God’s image faithfully and be good stewards of the blessings He has given us with which to bless others.
Let’s Continue This Discussion…
[19:18]
I hope you’ll join me in The Oasis as we take this discussion deeper. You can join the group by visiting agapesoulspa.com/facebook.
And now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (see Romans 15:13)
May you choose joy, my friend. And allow God to make an amazing impact on your circle of influence through you. Be blessed!
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