Backseat DJs

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.479 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:17.919 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Look, 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.640 I want to preach about joy today and I want 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.360 to get there from a story and then share several 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:27.280 scriptures with you can't tell your story. I just got 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.040 a new car last year. I drove a Nissan Maxima 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:32.960 for ten years before I bought this new car. I 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.280 loved my Nissan Maxima. My car before this Nissan Maxima 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.199 was a Nissan Maxima. That's how much I liked my 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.760 Nissan Maxima. I maximized the Maxima and it was very 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:48.120 good to me. Only thing that I ever remember happening, 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.000 other than the time it cut off in an intersection, 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.680 was that one day I was driving down the road 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.200 a few years ago and my stereo system started doing 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:01.600 strange things. It started skipping around to different tracks without 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:07.400 me telling it too, and the volume kept increasing and decreasing, 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:09.840 and so then I would put it back on the song. 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.800 I wanted to listen to, and I would turn down 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:14.760 the volume or turn up the volume, depending on it 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:20.240 would go both ways without me telling it too, without 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:24.520 me turning the knob, and it happened for about ten 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:27.560 to fifteen minutes straight one day that I was driving, 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.560 and it seemed like my speakers in my car had 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:35.080 a mind of their own. So I thought maybe my 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:40.360 Maxima got a demon, and then I looked in the 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:42.440 backseat and realized it wasn't a demon. It was my 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:47.120 daughter that she had the center console down and I 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.600 never rode back there, so I didn't realize that all 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.240 the years that I've had this car, you can control 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:59.240 the volume and skip tracks from back there. And she 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:02.080 was laughing, and Graham was back there and he was laughing, 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:08.400 and they were controlling something from the back that I 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:13.000 was trying to deal with in the front, and they 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.080 thought it was so funny, and I told him stop 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:18.600 that it's annoying. When I figured out what they were doing, 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.200 two or three minutes later, there goes the volume up 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.280 and down again. There goes track two, track three, track four. Again, 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:30.320 it's on shuffle. And I turned around and said, I'm 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.959 telling y'all stop, I don't like it. It was maybe 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:38.359 cute the first time for you, but it's really driving 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:42.600 me crazy up here. Stop and a few minutes go 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.840 by and it starts happening again. I pulled the car 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.920 over the third time. I pulled the car over the 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:52.640 third time. I'm Providence Road. I said, let me explain 0:02:52.680 --> 0:03:03.839 something to you, I said, Passengers, in this maximum, I'm 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:10.920 the driver. That means I'm the DJ. I get to 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:16.440 choose what comes on this stereo and how loud it 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:22.320 is because the driver gets to be the DJ. I 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.720 want to preach to you for about thirty seven minutes 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:35.040 today about back seat DJs, because I suspect that there 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.760 are some things in your life that are being controlled 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:43.160 from the back seat, that are being controlled at a 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:47.640 level that you're not realizing that they're being controlled. And 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.120 I believe that today God is going to use me 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:54.640 and trust me. I've studied joy has become more important 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.640 to me every year that I've been alive. I feel 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.840 like in my twenties I just cared about accomplishing. In 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.680 my thirties, I've been figuring out, what's the point if 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:07.000 you don't enjoy it? What's the point in doing something 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.280 awesome if you are not in a position to appreciate 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.720 the accomplishment because you constantly need more. And I spent 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.839 my twenties and maybe the beginning of my thirties just 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:22.600 trying to get more, more, more. Sometimes that meant more popularity. 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:26.560 Sometimes that meant more impact. Sometimes that meant more influenced. 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:30.200 Sometimes that meant more money, more resources, more friends, more 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.400 phone numbers, more connections. But lately I've been asking the 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.719 Lord for more joy, and it sent me on a 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.440 scriptural trajectory, and I want to bring you into it today. 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:41.640 Would it be all right if we talked for a 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:48.360 little while today about what's controlling your joy? Amen? I'm excited. 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.960 Do you feel my enthusiasm? James? Chapter one, Verses two 0:04:54.000 --> 0:05:01.120 through four. We'll start here. I believe there are some 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:06.280 things that are destroying your joy that you were unaware of, 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:12.919 and James is going to teach us how to develop joy. 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:18.640 Very different than discovering joy. Discovering joy means it's waiting 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.159 somewhere and you got to find it. It's waiting in 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.080 your next career move, it's waiting in your next relationship. 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.200 It's waiting somewhere. You're not right now, But James is 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:33.039 going to show us something that may be familiar to 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:35.400 a few of you, but it is very strange if 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.800 you consider what he's actually saying. And I'm going to 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.400 just read those verses, those three verses to you, he says, James, 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:46.799 Chapter one, verus to consider it pure joy, my brothers 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:54.719 and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. That's 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:56.680 not where I was looking for joy. By the way, 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:00.840 that's not what I was praying for, hoping for, asking for. Anyway, 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.560 this is what the Bible says. He said, consider it 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:08.080 pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.000 of many kinds. Because you know that the testing of 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:20.880 your faith produces perseverance, Let perseverance finish its work so 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:26.360 that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.120 I'm glad he's specified because the first thing I want 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.800 to mention to you today, all of these points they 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.839 kind of follow the theme of DJ. So the first 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:42.400 one is the distinction of joy, the distinction of joy 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.000 knowing what it really is, understanding the nature of it. 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.839 And James helps us to do that first bite, helping 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:55.400 us to understand that there are trials of many kinds. 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:58.920 That's what verse two said the old King James Pastor 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:05.159 Mickey preached from said divers trials because I have learned 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:09.720 that we're not all going through the same thing, but 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.440 we are all going through something. And how many know 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:16.680 that there are as many different kinds of trials as 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:21.680 there are different drinks at Starbucks, as there are different 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:26.560 colors of paint at home depot. I found out that 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:31.080 there are trials that are associated with plenty. There are 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.960 trials that are associated with poverty. I always understood the 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:40.880 first one because everybody understands that being broke is a battle. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:47.520 But management of resources can, in its own way, test 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.680 a part of your character that if you're not prepared 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:53.680 to have it tested, it can create a lot more 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:58.680 problems than financial poverty. In fact, financial riches can create 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:03.040 relational poverty if there is not the emotional maturity to 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.720 help us to steward with understanding what we've been given. 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:11.320 I'm appreached today. If y'all come along with you, it's truly. 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:17.440 There's single people trials, there's married people trials. There are 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.480 trials that are associated with loneliness, and there are trials 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:26.000 that are associated with companionship. There are many kinds of trials. 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:29.920 There are many different That's what James is saying. He's 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.560 making a distinction, that there's different kinds of trials, And 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.560 some of us are like, well, can I try a 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.760 different kind of trial? Like can I trade trials? Like 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.920 you're talking about rich people trials, I'd like to try 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.760 those for a little while you're talking about married people trials. 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:47.560 I'd like to try. I think I'd be good at 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.720 those trials. I think I'd be better prepared for those trials. 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:52.600 But we never again, after the year that we had 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:57.280 last year, get to associate joy with status or success, 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:00.440 because we have now seen it. No matter or how 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.840 great your name is in the eyes of people, you 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:06.960 can still want to take your very own life because 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.840 joy is not a product of what people say about you. 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:12.880 Joy is not a product of how people hold you 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:18.960 in esteem or in disregard. And so there's different kinds 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:23.120 of trials. Added to that, most of us don't understand 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:29.080 the distinction between a temptation and a trial. The language 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:33.120 that James uses in this biblical writing, the common Greek 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.640 of his day, allows for both. When he says trials 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:40.000 of many kinds, he could just as easily be referring 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:44.880 to economic hardship or persecution that many of this diaspora 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:48.840 of tribes scattered abroad who were believers in Jesus were experiencing, 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:53.200 or he could be talking about temptation. And it is 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.840 important to know the distinction between the kind of trials 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:01.200 that you will experience in your life, Otherwise you might 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:07.360 spend years blaming the devil for your bad decisions. There 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:11.800 are different kinds of trials. Some of our trials are 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.360 the result of evil in the world, and that results 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:19.360 in all kinds of different warfare that we could study 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.400 for weeks about. Some of our trials are the results 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.760 of things that we did contrary to our inner wisdom. 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.120 There are many different kinds of trials, and if you 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:33.160 don't know the difference between a temptation and a trial, 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:37.840 you will try to use the wrong tool on the trial. 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:45.679 Because when tempted, the Bible teaches resistance. When you are 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:51.199 tempted to step outside of the God given means by 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.800 which you've been empowered to meet your God given desires, 0:10:55.280 --> 0:11:01.320 the strategy, the tool, the technique is resistance. When you 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.760 face a trial, however, not a temptation, but a trial, 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:11.200 often the key is not resistance but acceptance. And this 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.320 was important for me to see the distinction because a 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:18.280 lot of times I'm accepting what I should resist and 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:25.160 resisting what I should accept. It is taking me time 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:29.120 to learn the difference, is taking me prayer to learn 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:32.960 the difference. It's taking the other's community to learn the difference. 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:35.080 I'm having to get into the Word of God to 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.600 know the difference so that I can approach my trials 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:41.080 with wisdom. In fact, that's what James one to five says, 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.760 and it's connected to this passage, even though I never 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.520 thought it was. It says, if any of you lacks wisdom, 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.000 you should ask God, who gives generously to all without 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.280 finding fault, and it will be given to you. Now, 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:54.160 if you want to flip the flow this year, just 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:57.840 to James one to five. Instead of asking everybody around 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:01.200 you what you should do, start with the source, Start 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:05.360 with the solution. We're talking about your problems with people 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.680 who are powerless to fix them. It's making you feel worse, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:15.480 it's making them feel worse, and everybody's frustrated. So I 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.880 need the wisdom to make the distinction, to know the 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:22.120 trial that I'm in. God is this one that you 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.360 want me to fight or do you want me to 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:26.920 do what the Parables said to do one time with 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.160 the weeds that were growing up alongside the terars, and 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.680 leave it alone and let you deal with it. There's 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:37.880 a distinction. There's different kinds of trials. Some of the 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:39.679 stuff that I'm dealing with as a parent right now 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:46.800 is just called puberty. You can't cast it out, you 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:52.120 can't annoy it, you can't instruct it. It's a different 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.319 kind of trial. It's just life. Some of the stuff 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.200 I'm dealing with right now is a temptation. Some of 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:00.800 it is, actually, I believe, from the pit of hell. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.800 Not that the devil is like personally a sign to me, 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:08.120 but just some stuff is evil against my purpose. And 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:09.960 don't give yourself too much credit, because a lot of 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.720 us like to think that the devil had nothing better 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:15.520 to do than give us, you know, a flat tire, 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.400 and I think the devil is much busier than that. 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.400 I think a lot of it comes down to distinguishing 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:26.920 the type of trial that I'm in, which helps me 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:35.240 to understand the distinctions between joy and pleasure. Oh, you 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.520 know those little church signs that they do. I think 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:39.000 we should get one. By the way, at elevation the 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:40.719 church signs where they change the letters and they put 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:42.319 up the little quotes. Yeah, I like this. I think 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.040 we should get one. How many vote we get a 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.280 church signed. Let's have our first ever church voted elevation 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:48.800 church vote. We should get a church sign and we 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:50.240 could put stuff up there like this. I saw this 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:54.800 one day. It said no Jesus, no Joy, but it 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:59.280 was felt k n ow Jesus. So the first one 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.280 was no Jesus, you don't have Jesus, you don't have joy. 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:07.880 K and oh Jesus, k and ow Jesus, kN ow joy. 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:12.120 And I thought it's cute, but it's it's not true. 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:15.720 No Jesus, no joy. There's a lot of things you 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:26.400 can enjoy without Jesus. Christy Kreme tastes good whether you're 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:34.600 saved or not. My taste bloods didn't get saved. It's 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.920 fun to talk bad about people whether you're saved or not. 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:41.400 Only differences. And this is important is that the quality 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:45.800 of the joy becomes more important than the quantity of 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:49.120 the joy. You also hear preachers say stuff like this, 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:53.200 God doesn't care if you're happy. He just wants to 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.080 make you holy. And I can't believe how many people 0:14:56.080 --> 0:15:00.760 will say amen to some business like that that you 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.200 would never feel about your own kid. How many parents 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:06.760 do we have in the house, and how many of 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.000 you don't care if your kid is ever happy in 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:16.160 life at all. I'm gonna call child Protective Services on y'all. 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:21.440 I ain't no good good father. No, he's a good father, 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:23.480 good gift. So I never got that. And I never 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.240 really understood the distinction between joy and happiness, because like, 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.840 there's not a difference in the Biblical language. It's not 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:33.560 difference like in English we have like phar real happy, 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.040 which is like dancing happy, and then in Hebrew they 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.800 had happy. It's the same word, it's blessed. It's the 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:43.080 same word as joy. When James says counted joy, he 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:48.600 means consider yourself supremely happy literal translation. So we need 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:55.040 to make the distinction, I guess between generic joy and 0:15:55.160 --> 0:16:05.480 Jesus joy because he said verse two, consider it pure joy. 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.440 The way my mind works, if there's such a thing 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:12.160 as pure joy, there must be another kind of joy. 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:14.760 I kind of cheated that a little bit. It's more 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.600 a grammar issue because the literal translation is count at 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:22.160 all joy, so he doesn't say pure joy. I got 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:23.680 a verse for this, though, Let me do it from 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:27.920 a Let me do it from Hebrews chapter twelve. I've 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:33.880 always loved this picture of joy because it helps me 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:43.400 to make a distinction between joy and pleasure. Okay, pleasure 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:47.440 can be associated with joy, but joy is not dependent 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.720 on pleasure. This is the second thing I want to 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.400 talk about. I want to talk about the direction of joy. 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.440 The direction of joy. We're talking about backseat DJs, right, 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:02.160 We're talking about how sometimes we find our joy controlled 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:07.879 by circumstances and situations. But Jesus gives us a picture 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:12.960 that stands contrary to the cultural expectation of joy. And 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:14.480 I promise I'll read the scripture in a minute. But 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:16.760 I just want to tell you so much and don't 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.040 know where to start, where to stop. It's just it's 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.200 all in me today. There seems to be right now 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:26.600 more than there was like when my grandparents. We're thirty 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:31.159 and forty, there seems to be a pressure for us 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:36.240 to always feel pleasure. It's no longer just a desire 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:38.840 that we have that we want to feel good. It's 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.480 almost like the way that social media has constructed our 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:46.960 viewing experiences of other people's lives through the filters of 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:51.840 their most desirable moments. There is something wrong with me 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:56.760 If I am not constantly happy all the time. That's 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:00.959 a problem with me because I am not genetically predisposed 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:04.320 to be happy. I'm just not. I've found that out 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.920 about myself early in life. I am not like one 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:11.920 of you who just finds reasons to smell roses, who 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.399 just finds reasons to be happy. Some of y'all appreciate 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:19.480 the rain, appreciate the sunshine. The rain makes you feel relaxed. 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.040 The sunshine makes you feel active. You can find the 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.479 joy in everything. I am not of your species, and 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:29.400 frankly you make me sick. But joy is something different, 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.280 because the pressure to feel pleasure is part of the 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:38.320 reason why we feel so miserable. And now we are 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:40.840 living in the midst of a generation that thinks that 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:44.239 joy is associated with a feeling in your flesh. And 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.720 it can be, but it doesn't have to be. It's 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.520 important that I say it can bring a feeling, but 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:52.520 it doesn't start with the feeling. This is where we 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.720 flip the flow. Can we flip the flow if anybody 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.639 flipped the flow, it was Jesus. Here he is up 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:02.879 on a cross. Here he is mocked, and his reputation 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:07.160 is beyond repair. Here he is being spat on and 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:11.240 condescended to by the ones that he created. And the 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:14.439 writer of Hebrews, whoever he was, says, we need to 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:21.239 fix Hebrews twelve to two. Our eyes on Jesus, the 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.320 pioneer and perfector, or the author and finisher. Either translation 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:35.120 is acceptable of our faith. H for the joy set 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:42.600 before him, he endured the cross. Now this is where 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:47.919 my message really happens. Okay, what have you set before you? 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:54.639 That is what your joy is connected to what you 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:59.239 have set before you. And I'll break that down the 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:04.680 best that I can. Joy is a point of view. 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:12.480 Joy is a way of looking at things. This helps me. 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:15.840 I don't know about you, but it sets me free 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:22.879 from feeling the need to feel a certain way. We 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:27.400 got so many people quitting their jobs because they're unhappy 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:33.600 and not really understanding that sometimes joy is not the 0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:40.199 absence of sadness or the presence of the spectacular. And 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:42.280 all we need to look at is that one verse 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:47.760 where it says that Jesus for the joy that was 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:51.919 set before him. I want to use that as a 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:56.959 picture for a moment. He set joy before him, so 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.000 in order to endure the cross, that's the next part, 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:06.520 enduring the cross scorning as Shane, he didn't find joy 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:12.400 in the event. He found joy in the guaranteed outcome 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:19.120 of the event. He did not find joy in the 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.320 feeling of hanging on the cross. It wasn't like because 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:25.160 he was the son of God that the nails, you know, 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:29.440 transcended the laws of pain and the material laws of 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:34.400 the universe. It was just as painful, but because of purpose. 0:21:35.240 --> 0:21:38.800 You understand, it's very different to go through pain with 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:46.800 purpose than pain without purpose. It's the difference between Graham 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:50.159 jumping on my back he's only ninety pounds and me 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:52.719 not knowing that he's gonna jump on my back and 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:56.120 me feeling like every disc just slipped like I'm seventy 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:59.200 three years old in my lower back. And the difference 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:02.320 between me putting ninety pounds on the bar to squat it. 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:05.120 If I do it on purpose, it's a warm up weight. 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:07.800 If I don't expect it, it might take me down 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:13.719 to the ground. Same weight. But what I was ready 0:22:13.800 --> 0:22:18.280 for when Jesus hung on the cross. He wasn't surprised 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:22.199 by the shame. He wasn't surprised by the suffering. He 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:26.720 wasn't surprised by the pain. He wasn't surprised by the jeering. 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:31.760 He wasn't surprised by their saliva. He wasn't surprised by 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:41.040 the blood. Joy is a focus before it's a feeling. 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:46.399 If you came to church just to hear that, I 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:51.919 promise you got your gas money's worth. Joy is a 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:57.879 focus before it's a feeling. And so while we're chasing 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:02.680 a feeling called joy, God has given us the ability 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:09.120 to choose not our feelings. You ever tried to choose joy? 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:12.320 I saw it on Pinterest. I tried it. It sucked, 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:15.359 it didn't work. Then I felt guilty because I couldn't 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:18.080 find joy, and it made me feel less joy. So 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:21.199 now I'm in a joyless pit of joylessness. It is 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:29.200 cyclical joylessness and shame is the difference between choice and consequence. 0:23:33.840 --> 0:23:37.800 Joy is a choice, really because some of the trials 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:41.240 that people go through are actual mental illness, and it's 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:42.920 kind of hard for them to just feel happy because 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:46.679 they got a good parking space and no matter how 0:23:46.760 --> 0:23:48.919 much you tell them to feel happy, be happy, you know, 0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:55.000 be happy, feel happy, counter blessings. James doesn't say counter blessings. 0:23:56.440 --> 0:23:59.160 This is in a nursery rhyme. It's a Bible scripture. 0:24:00.200 --> 0:24:04.480 He said, count it all joy. He said, learn how 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:12.120 to flip. You might not know this statement, but there's 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:21.600 a there's a statement in financial terms, it's an income statements. 0:24:21.600 --> 0:24:24.040 It's got your your income on one side, your expenses 0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:29.080 on another. James says, if you can learn to put 0:24:29.119 --> 0:24:32.280 some of the stuff in the income column that you 0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:35.560 thought was an expense, some of the stuff in the 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:38.960 blessing column that you thought was a burden. If you 0:24:38.960 --> 0:24:42.280 can flip the flow, you actually have more joy than 0:24:42.320 --> 0:24:46.040 you're aware of. But you're not gonna get it by 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:49.480 praying for a feeling. You're going to get it by 0:24:49.520 --> 0:24:53.600 making choices. Joy is not a choice. In fact, the 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.080 worst way that I can get more joy is to 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:59.840 focus on getting more joy. The best way to st 0:25:00.240 --> 0:25:03.240 being happy is to ask yourself the question am I happy? 0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:06.320 And see? I don't remember my grandparents ever talking about this. 0:25:06.359 --> 0:25:08.560 If they did, I don't remember it. I never remember 0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:11.880 my grandmother my grandfather talking about are we really happy. 0:25:12.200 --> 0:25:16.160 They didn't think like that. There wasn't feeds and scrolling. 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:18.880 There wasn't. There wasn't all this other stuff to make 0:25:18.920 --> 0:25:22.400 them feel unhappy at a moment's notice. There wasn't. There 0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:26.520 wasn't an infinite supply of unhappiness in their pocket in 0:25:26.560 --> 0:25:31.600 the form of a device. They didn't have that, So 0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:37.320 they focused on something else. What was it? What is 0:25:37.359 --> 0:25:41.679 it that brings joy? If I focus on it, I 0:25:41.720 --> 0:25:46.399 know it is not. It's not looking around, how are 0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:49.040 they doing? What do they think? Where'd they go on vacation? 0:25:49.240 --> 0:25:51.520 Where's your thinking? Where's he going on? What's she wearing 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:55.120 when she is? What do they think about me? That's 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:59.600 not gonna do it, he said for the joy set 0:25:59.640 --> 0:26:03.840 before him. So I can't be looking all around and 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:07.879 expecting to have joy. I can't be judging my situation 0:26:08.440 --> 0:26:11.639 according to other people's calling and expect to have joy. 0:26:12.720 --> 0:26:15.959 I can't be judging my gift compared to other people's 0:26:16.040 --> 0:26:19.159 talent and expect to have joy. I know is so 0:26:19.280 --> 0:26:22.679 cliche because we say it every week, but nothing destroys 0:26:22.760 --> 0:26:27.399 joy like comparison. The life you've got some of you 0:26:27.440 --> 0:26:30.560 would be so enjoyable if only you didn't do this 0:26:30.600 --> 0:26:35.720 while you were living it. If only you didn't do this. 0:26:36.040 --> 0:26:37.800 I mean, it's hurting my neck just to do it. 0:26:37.840 --> 0:26:40.560 To illustrate to you, imagine what is doing to your soul. 0:26:42.240 --> 0:26:46.240 You can't have joy that way. It is destroying your joy. 0:26:46.920 --> 0:26:50.480 You're praying for more joy, and yet you are destroying 0:26:50.560 --> 0:26:54.080 the joy God has given you, the joy of your salvation, 0:26:54.680 --> 0:26:58.120 the joy of your calling, the joy of your assignment. 0:27:00.600 --> 0:27:05.879 God give me more joy. Well, it's a decision not 0:27:06.000 --> 0:27:09.600 to have joy. That's the worst way to get joy, 0:27:09.400 --> 0:27:13.879 the decision of what I'm going to focus on. And 0:27:13.920 --> 0:27:16.960 I can't get it like this. And I definitely can't 0:27:17.000 --> 0:27:21.280 get it like this looking at what's behind me. I 0:27:22.200 --> 0:27:25.520 can't look back. Remember when God called Moses at the 0:27:25.560 --> 0:27:27.679 burning bush and he said his name, he said, I 0:27:27.720 --> 0:27:33.800 am not I was. Remember he said, I am not, 0:27:33.960 --> 0:27:37.800 I will be. There's something to that. There's something to that. 0:27:38.840 --> 0:27:42.720 It's echoed by David in Psalm sixteen. He says, in 0:27:42.760 --> 0:27:47.600 your presence is the fullness of joy. Presence. Everybody say 0:27:47.600 --> 0:27:51.560 that word presence. The gift of joy is found in presence, 0:27:52.640 --> 0:27:55.639 But that doesn't mean in church. That's not what it 0:27:55.680 --> 0:27:58.639 means to say, in God's presence is the fullness of joy, 0:27:59.040 --> 0:28:01.880 because God would never limit his presence to a building. 0:28:02.720 --> 0:28:05.199 It doesn't mean when you're doing everything right, then you're 0:28:05.240 --> 0:28:08.120 gonna feel happy, because God is not going to reward 0:28:08.160 --> 0:28:10.560 you based on behavior. That's not the good news of 0:28:10.600 --> 0:28:13.840 the Gospel. The Gospel is for sinners. The Gospel is 0:28:13.920 --> 0:28:16.280 for the weak. The Gospel is for the lame, The 0:28:16.280 --> 0:28:18.800 gospel is for the broken, The Gospel is for those 0:28:18.840 --> 0:28:21.520 who feel ashamed. That's not what it means. In your 0:28:21.840 --> 0:28:26.040 presence is fullness of joy. That means joy can only 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:29.239 really come to my life when I am focused on 0:28:29.280 --> 0:28:34.720 what God is doing in this moment. And I cannot 0:28:34.760 --> 0:28:37.959 focus on what God is doing in this moment in 0:28:38.000 --> 0:28:40.640 my life if I'm consumed with what He's doing in 0:28:40.680 --> 0:28:44.920 somebody else's or if I'm still in regret and bitterness 0:28:45.000 --> 0:28:48.520 about what happened three years ago, or three months ago, 0:28:49.040 --> 0:28:52.120 or even three minutes ago. A lot of our lack 0:28:52.160 --> 0:28:55.880 of joy is really not about possession. It's about position. 0:28:56.720 --> 0:29:01.200 What I mean is this, He set joy before him. 0:29:01.480 --> 0:29:05.560 It's not a question of God's presence. His presence is everywhere. 0:29:05.840 --> 0:29:08.520 It's not a question of God's presence. You don't have 0:29:08.600 --> 0:29:11.080 to ask him to be with you. He already is. 0:29:11.480 --> 0:29:15.320 It's not about God's presence, It's about yours. Are you 0:29:15.560 --> 0:29:20.080 present in this moment? Are you present in this trial? 0:29:20.560 --> 0:29:25.520 Are you present in this worship service? Well, if you 0:29:25.560 --> 0:29:44.120 are giving praise for a second, we need this lesson friends, family, brothers, sisters, brethren, sister, 0:29:44.240 --> 0:29:49.000 and mother's, father's children. We can't go to a concert 0:29:49.080 --> 0:29:56.600 anymore without trying to capture it, and I can't enjoy 0:29:56.680 --> 0:30:04.640 it because I'm too busy trying to post it. Kids 0:30:04.640 --> 0:30:08.120 do something cute? Capture it? Well, you can't, but you're 0:30:08.120 --> 0:30:11.480 also gonna kill it. There is no quicker way to 0:30:11.640 --> 0:30:14.640 kill your kid's cuteness than trying to capture it. I 0:30:14.720 --> 0:30:17.600 swear demons come out when you start trying to capture 0:30:17.600 --> 0:30:19.880 stuff to post it. God knows your heart and he 0:30:19.960 --> 0:30:21.880 sends something to your iPhone I don't know, and it 0:30:21.880 --> 0:30:27.160 shoots beams into your children and they start. Can I 0:30:27.200 --> 0:30:29.560 show you a picture real quick. I don't like to 0:30:29.600 --> 0:30:32.560 be too indulgent in these sermons, but show my family off. 0:30:32.600 --> 0:30:34.960 But this is just a quick picture of us on 0:30:35.040 --> 0:30:43.000 vacation before Christmas. Look at that here's another picture. I'll 0:30:43.000 --> 0:30:50.200 show you a couple just so you can see. I'm 0:30:50.200 --> 0:30:52.440 gonna tell you something that you wouldn't see if I 0:30:52.480 --> 0:30:56.320 put those on Instagram. Go back to the first one again. Please, 0:30:57.640 --> 0:31:01.560 that one looks happy, right, and go to the other one. 0:31:02.040 --> 0:31:04.840 Can go to the other one. That one looks sad. 0:31:05.960 --> 0:31:10.680 Let me take something that's not my sad face. M hm. 0:31:11.520 --> 0:31:16.480 That's my RBF. That's my resting Bible face. That's my 0:31:16.640 --> 0:31:21.920 really blessed face. That's my focus face. That's when I 0:31:22.000 --> 0:31:27.400 was getting the sermon flip the flow at TGI Friday's 0:31:28.640 --> 0:31:34.920 in the Miami International Airport in the d concourse. I'm 0:31:34.920 --> 0:31:38.680 happy the other one put the other one out. I 0:31:38.760 --> 0:31:43.680 was so mad at Abby. That was the seventeenth time 0:31:43.720 --> 0:31:46.760 I've tried to take a selfie of us, and I 0:31:46.800 --> 0:31:48.760 wanted to throw her in the ocean by the time 0:31:48.840 --> 0:31:56.400 it was over. Not in a playful way. Let's see. 0:31:57.000 --> 0:32:00.480 I'm just trying to get us in this series to 0:32:00.520 --> 0:32:04.560 start take it down, start looking beneath the surface and stuff, 0:32:06.920 --> 0:32:12.040 to stop looking at the surface of stuff, and to stop, 0:32:12.440 --> 0:32:16.000 you know, discerning. I found out that you can miss 0:32:16.080 --> 0:32:20.000 joy because you're looking all around you can misjoy because 0:32:20.000 --> 0:32:22.920 you're looking behind you. But here's the thing, you can 0:32:22.960 --> 0:32:25.280 also miss joy because you're trying to look too far ahead. 0:32:28.480 --> 0:32:32.120 It's an equal danger. And some of you, while I 0:32:32.200 --> 0:32:34.080 was preaching the part about looking around, you're like, nah, 0:32:34.080 --> 0:32:35.800 I'm good, bro, I'm like fifty three. I don't do 0:32:35.840 --> 0:32:37.640 that anymore. And when I was telling my looking back, 0:32:37.640 --> 0:32:39.640 you're like, yeah, I already dealt with my stuff back there. 0:32:39.760 --> 0:32:43.120 It's fine. But what you do is you look so 0:32:43.400 --> 0:32:48.560 far forward like I was doing the other day driving 0:32:48.600 --> 0:32:51.320 that new car I told you about, and I can't 0:32:51.320 --> 0:32:54.600 get anywhere without a GPS. What it embarrass you for me? 0:32:54.640 --> 0:32:56.160 If I told you I was going to my mom's 0:32:56.200 --> 0:32:59.360 house in town and was following the GPS, that's how 0:32:59.400 --> 0:33:02.040 bad my son of direction is. This true story. And 0:33:04.080 --> 0:33:09.400 I slammed into the back of another car because I 0:33:09.520 --> 0:33:15.120 was looking three turns ahead and not looking three feet ahead. 0:33:19.960 --> 0:33:22.080 And it might be destroying your joy. Not that you're 0:33:22.160 --> 0:33:25.800 like comparing, or not that you're regretting, but maybe you're 0:33:25.880 --> 0:33:30.440 just trying to get so far out there, you know, 0:33:30.520 --> 0:33:34.320 like my retirement is down, you're twenty four, it'll catch 0:33:34.360 --> 0:33:41.000 back up. It's a lot of time, you know, But 0:33:41.040 --> 0:33:44.160 for those of us who need to plan, he didn't 0:33:44.160 --> 0:33:49.200 say in your plans this fullness of joy. And you 0:33:49.200 --> 0:33:52.320 can't even really affect the future from anywhere but the present, 0:33:53.720 --> 0:33:59.800 and it's alwayted energy. So this is my year of presence, 0:34:00.080 --> 0:34:03.040 trying to figure out what it means to find fullness 0:34:03.040 --> 0:34:06.480 of joy in God's presence. And in order to find 0:34:06.480 --> 0:34:09.279 fullness of joy in his presence, I have to bring 0:34:09.800 --> 0:34:14.640 my presence to my real life, not my presence to 0:34:17.560 --> 0:34:23.040 some imaginary scenario, but the real life that God has 0:34:23.080 --> 0:34:27.000 given me right now. And you know what's great about it. 0:34:27.120 --> 0:34:29.400 Let's go to Psalm sixteen for just a moment, and 0:34:29.440 --> 0:34:32.080 I promise I'll start closing this. Are you enjoying this 0:34:32.160 --> 0:34:37.759 teaching today? Is this blessing your life? Touch somebody and 0:34:37.800 --> 0:34:44.320 say this is my happy face? Because I was focused. 0:34:44.360 --> 0:34:46.759 I was happy because I was focused. The other one, 0:34:46.800 --> 0:34:48.440 I was trying to show something to the world that 0:34:48.520 --> 0:34:50.680 wasn't real. I was thinking maybe I could get some 0:34:50.880 --> 0:34:52.960 likes on this, and so I wasn't focused on what 0:34:53.040 --> 0:34:54.960 was right in front of me. But Jesus, for the 0:34:55.120 --> 0:35:00.000 joy set before him, endured. He didn't enjoy the cross 0:35:00.040 --> 0:35:05.000 us he endured the cross because of joy set before him. 0:35:05.040 --> 0:35:07.240 And now I want to give you the whole sermon. Okay, 0:35:07.480 --> 0:35:09.800 here's the sermon in a sentence. Hadn't you been preaching 0:35:09.840 --> 0:35:11.960 for thirty five minutes? Yeah, but I hadn't said anything yet. 0:35:12.040 --> 0:35:16.879 Here's the sermon in a sentence. You cannot choose joy. 0:35:17.040 --> 0:35:23.399 You can only choose your priorities, and your priorities control 0:35:23.680 --> 0:35:29.120 your joy. You can't choose joy anymore than you can 0:35:29.239 --> 0:35:33.759 just you think you can choose joy. It's like trying 0:35:33.800 --> 0:35:38.160 to choose the weather. What you can choose is your priority, 0:35:38.680 --> 0:35:45.280 and your priorities will ultimately control your joy. Psalm sixteen. 0:35:45.320 --> 0:35:47.279 Put it on the screen for me verse when I 0:35:47.280 --> 0:35:50.760 started verse five, Please, the Lord is my chosen portion. 0:35:50.920 --> 0:35:54.640 See the word chosen. It means I have decided to 0:35:54.800 --> 0:35:59.160 make God the most important thing in my life. I 0:35:59.200 --> 0:36:01.200 don't want to leave that to abstract because what does 0:36:01.200 --> 0:36:03.440 that mean? Read the Bible first thing every morning? Maybe, 0:36:03.440 --> 0:36:06.480 but it means more than that His will is what 0:36:06.600 --> 0:36:11.279 I want. His ways are higher than my waves. So 0:36:11.440 --> 0:36:14.200 the Lord Yahweh, the Great, I am the ever present 0:36:14.239 --> 0:36:17.000 help in time of trouble. He is my chosen portion. 0:36:17.440 --> 0:36:19.880 I've looked at everything else that this world offers me 0:36:19.960 --> 0:36:22.719 to enjoy, and yes, I can enjoy things that aren't 0:36:22.760 --> 0:36:28.160 necessarily spiritual, but I do not need them to survive. 0:36:29.040 --> 0:36:32.440 And I will not attach my joy to a temporal 0:36:32.520 --> 0:36:39.640 pleasure anymore because I tried that. I tried that. I 0:36:39.800 --> 0:36:42.919 cheered for the Clemson Tigers when they were three and eight, 0:36:44.840 --> 0:36:48.759 and when they won the second national championship in the 0:36:48.840 --> 0:36:53.200 last few years, people were coming up to me saying congratulations. 0:36:54.160 --> 0:36:59.239 I was like, for what, I enjoyed the game. I 0:36:59.320 --> 0:37:05.360 watched the game. I mean I liked it. I enjoyed 0:37:05.360 --> 0:37:10.080 the forty four to sixteen victory. But I didn't need 0:37:10.200 --> 0:37:16.399 college boys in Spandex to give me a reason to live. 0:37:16.520 --> 0:37:21.560 That is not my priority. I can't invest my joy 0:37:21.880 --> 0:37:25.000 in what people I don't know do with an oblong 0:37:25.080 --> 0:37:28.359 object made out of pigskin converted into leather with some 0:37:28.400 --> 0:37:34.560 stitches for four fifteen minute increments, It's the wrong priority. 0:37:34.719 --> 0:37:37.160 I enjoyed it, but my joy is not in it. 0:37:43.640 --> 0:37:46.959 Last week, I told you something very powerful about your heart. 0:37:47.400 --> 0:37:50.920 I said, when you know where it comes from, you 0:37:51.000 --> 0:37:54.200 know how it comes out. When you know where it 0:37:54.280 --> 0:37:57.160 comes from, you know how it comes out. This is 0:37:57.160 --> 0:37:59.319 what I want to tell you this week. Where it 0:37:59.360 --> 0:38:09.000 comes from determines when it runs out. This is the 0:38:09.040 --> 0:38:13.000 source of your joy. The way you can know that 0:38:13.160 --> 0:38:19.640 is what are my priorities. Psalma said, The Lord is 0:38:19.680 --> 0:38:23.440 my chosen portion. And here's something Jesus said that I've 0:38:23.440 --> 0:38:25.560 been thinking about all week. I've been meditating on this. 0:38:26.080 --> 0:38:28.919 He said, Abide in me my words. Abide in you. 0:38:28.920 --> 0:38:31.759 You bear much fruit. Sometimes you're going to get cut on, 0:38:31.880 --> 0:38:34.719 but you'll never be cut off. If you abide in 0:38:34.800 --> 0:38:36.759 me and my words, abide in you, there will be 0:38:36.800 --> 0:38:40.560 a constant flow of joy. Like the vine and the branches. 0:38:40.800 --> 0:38:42.840 You're going to have what you need. The joy is 0:38:42.880 --> 0:38:45.640 going to flow from a place of your rest and 0:38:45.680 --> 0:38:48.120 trust in me, not in your own effort, and not 0:38:48.239 --> 0:38:50.319 in just certain things that happen. If they happen, is fine, 0:38:50.320 --> 0:38:52.560 But don't confuse the icon with the cake. Abide in 0:38:52.600 --> 0:38:55.000 me my words, Abide in you. Many says something in 0:38:55.080 --> 0:39:00.440 John fifteen eleven. Please I have told you this so 0:39:00.520 --> 0:39:04.480 that my joy may be in you, and that your 0:39:04.640 --> 0:39:09.520 joy may be complete. The Lord said, a lot of 0:39:09.560 --> 0:39:17.440 us are settling for partial joy, partial joy, and we 0:39:17.480 --> 0:39:21.080 equate joy with the absence of sadness. Joy is not 0:39:21.080 --> 0:39:24.480 the absence of sadness. If it was, Jesus couldn't have 0:39:24.520 --> 0:39:27.560 had it on the cross. He said, I want my 0:39:27.800 --> 0:39:31.239 joy to be in you, but you've got to own 0:39:31.280 --> 0:39:34.800 it because to just say, well, Jesus is my joy, 0:39:35.520 --> 0:39:38.319 it doesn't really get to the heart of why we 0:39:38.360 --> 0:39:44.120 could know Jesus and still not no joy, because it's 0:39:44.120 --> 0:39:48.200 a decision. When I give the wrong things too much 0:39:48.680 --> 0:39:54.960 priority in my life, then those priorities control my joy. 0:39:55.560 --> 0:40:02.040 If my priority is recognition, then RECOGNI mission controls my joy. 0:40:02.840 --> 0:40:06.640 When people recognize me, I will feel happy about it. 0:40:07.000 --> 0:40:14.480 If my priority is recognition. If my priority is convenience, 0:40:15.600 --> 0:40:21.000 then when something is inconvenient, the inconvenience will steal my joy. 0:40:21.560 --> 0:40:24.200 But it really didn't steal my joy, did it? Because 0:40:24.320 --> 0:40:32.040 I let it drive and whatever is driving the car 0:40:32.120 --> 0:40:36.040 gets to DJ. So the Lord told me in preparing 0:40:36.040 --> 0:40:40.640 this message that we've got some back seat DJs that 0:40:40.719 --> 0:40:46.759 have been controlling our joy, our feelings, our finances, our 0:40:46.840 --> 0:40:53.320 bank accounts, our status, our standing, our situations. And today 0:40:53.880 --> 0:40:55.880 God wants you to tell some of the things in 0:40:55.920 --> 0:40:57.840 your life that have been controlling your joy from the 0:40:57.840 --> 0:41:01.840 back seat. You are not my God, you are not 0:41:02.080 --> 0:41:06.080 my vine, you are not my source, and you don't 0:41:06.120 --> 0:41:09.759 hold my joy. Joy is something deeper than how I 0:41:09.800 --> 0:41:13.000 feel about it. Joy is something deeper than what I 0:41:13.120 --> 0:41:16.359 post about. Joy is something deeper than the way it 0:41:16.400 --> 0:41:22.000 feels right now, I am setting joy before me. I'm 0:41:22.040 --> 0:41:26.000 resetting my warnings. Now. When I do that, my joy 0:41:26.080 --> 0:41:29.600 flows not from what it is, but from who God is. 0:41:29.640 --> 0:41:36.960 To me. This is the duration of joy. And when 0:41:36.960 --> 0:41:39.560 my joy is running out, give me my point, my 0:41:39.640 --> 0:41:43.520 last point. The duration of joy is because it's coming 0:41:43.560 --> 0:41:49.759 from the wrong place. Where it comes from determines when 0:41:49.800 --> 0:41:58.560 it runs out. And I wonder, where's your joy today. 0:41:59.320 --> 0:42:02.080 I had to study this hard because I struggle to 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:08.479 enjoy my life. I really love my family, I really 0:42:08.520 --> 0:42:11.560 love my church. I love what I get to do. 0:42:12.600 --> 0:42:16.000 It's a blessing and a privilege. But I have to 0:42:16.000 --> 0:42:18.279 admit to you that sometimes I have been guilty of 0:42:18.400 --> 0:42:23.440 enduring something that God has given me to enjoy, and 0:42:23.600 --> 0:42:28.160 every time it happened, it was because of my priorities. 0:42:29.719 --> 0:42:32.480 Your priorities control your joy. You can try all you 0:42:32.560 --> 0:42:36.800 want to be happy, happy, happy, and the quick hit stuff, 0:42:38.400 --> 0:42:42.200 the quick fixed stuff. It'll get you through the next 0:42:42.239 --> 0:42:47.319 few hours, but where it comes from determines when it 0:42:47.360 --> 0:42:50.799 runs out. There is a well that never runs dry. 0:42:52.480 --> 0:42:55.920 There is a joy. There is a deep, abiding sense 0:42:55.920 --> 0:42:58.040 of joy that is available to us that we have 0:42:58.120 --> 0:43:01.560 not been accessing. And what we're praying for more of 0:43:02.800 --> 0:43:05.320 God is waiting for us to order our lives around. 0:43:07.080 --> 0:43:09.160 My joy is too important for me to leave it 0:43:09.239 --> 0:43:12.680 up to whether or not today goes well, or whether 0:43:12.880 --> 0:43:15.200 or not they speak to me, or whether or not 0:43:15.280 --> 0:43:18.760 it turns out well. Is too important. I can't afford. 0:43:18.880 --> 0:43:22.279 I'm getting older now. I'm not a twenty five year 0:43:22.280 --> 0:43:26.520 old anymore. I'm a distinguished thirty eight year old full 0:43:26.560 --> 0:43:29.960 of wisdom, and I can't afford to just give my 0:43:30.080 --> 0:43:34.279 joy away just any time. I can't afford to have 0:43:34.320 --> 0:43:38.360 these back seat DJs just change in the temperature of 0:43:38.400 --> 0:43:40.560 my life. I can't. I can't afford to just let 0:43:40.600 --> 0:43:44.680 my emotions control my joy. So I want to pray 0:43:44.680 --> 0:43:46.960 for people today. Play something more interesting, that's boring. I 0:43:47.000 --> 0:43:49.160 want to pray for people today is just one chord. 0:43:49.840 --> 0:43:53.440 Pray for people today who have allowed your joy to 0:43:53.520 --> 0:43:57.840 be controlled by something other than the priority of God's 0:43:57.880 --> 0:43:59.959 presence in your life, and you want me to pray 0:44:00.120 --> 0:44:02.640 for you to experience a vital connection to God in 0:44:02.680 --> 0:44:05.080 the coming six days until we meet again. Please stand 0:44:05.080 --> 0:44:06.480 if you want me to pray for you about that. 0:44:08.440 --> 0:44:12.800 I've been allowing my joy to be connected to things 0:44:12.840 --> 0:44:16.640 that can't sustain me. There's so much more that I 0:44:16.640 --> 0:44:18.480 wanted to share with you, but I feel like I 0:44:18.560 --> 0:44:20.800 was able to present this word to you on a 0:44:20.880 --> 0:44:32.400 level that if you can just receive that much of it, 0:44:32.480 --> 0:44:37.000 So flip it instead of going, Lord, I need more joy, 0:44:38.200 --> 0:44:40.040 like it's gonna come raining down in the form of 0:44:40.120 --> 0:44:51.719 candy pellets. Instead of praying, God, give me the wisdom 0:44:53.560 --> 0:44:56.680 to when things come in my life to count it joy, 0:44:57.040 --> 0:45:00.440 to consider it joy because I know that the testing 0:45:00.520 --> 0:45:05.560 of my faith produces patience. Teach me God to set 0:45:05.800 --> 0:45:09.480 joy before me like Jesus did, like the Psalmist did. 0:45:09.520 --> 0:45:11.080 He said, the Lord is ever before me. He is 0:45:11.080 --> 0:45:12.879 on my right hand. I will not be shaken in 0:45:12.920 --> 0:45:15.920 your presence. Is the fullness of joy. And watch this 0:45:17.040 --> 0:45:22.719 at your right hand, pleasures forevermore, not the kind to 0:45:22.800 --> 0:45:24.600 come and go, not the kind that leave you feeling 0:45:24.680 --> 0:45:27.239 worse afterwards. Not the kind that leave you sick afterwards, 0:45:27.440 --> 0:45:29.080 not the kind that make you feel bad about it, 0:45:29.120 --> 0:45:35.760 shameful about it afterwards, perpetual pleasantness in the presence of God, Father. 0:45:35.840 --> 0:45:39.320 I thank you for each person who you brought here today. 0:45:40.400 --> 0:45:46.560 Maybe they've been in that season of mourning you are in. 0:45:46.719 --> 0:45:50.080 I in mourning. Thank you that your word says that 0:45:50.160 --> 0:45:54.279 weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes with 0:45:55.040 --> 0:45:58.000 the morning. And we bless you because what that means 0:45:58.040 --> 0:46:00.360 to us today is that in everything that is happening 0:46:00.400 --> 0:46:03.640 in our life right now, there is an opportunity for joy. 0:46:04.360 --> 0:46:06.680 I confess to you before these people, God that I 0:46:06.760 --> 0:46:10.120 need this message more than anybody who heard it. I'm 0:46:10.160 --> 0:46:13.880 preaching this today God because sometimes in my life I 0:46:13.920 --> 0:46:17.719 have set things before me that had no place being 0:46:17.760 --> 0:46:21.239 my priority, and every time I did, I was disappointed. 0:46:21.760 --> 0:46:25.640 And every time I did, I got a hit, but 0:46:25.680 --> 0:46:30.160 it didn't fix anything. So this week, would you show 0:46:30.239 --> 0:46:34.640 us what's truly important. Would you help us to see 0:46:34.760 --> 0:46:40.160 our lives with the wisdom that only you provide. Help 0:46:40.239 --> 0:46:44.640 us to understand that joy does not come from better circumstances. 0:46:45.840 --> 0:46:50.160 Joy does not come from human acclaim. Joy comes from 0:46:50.719 --> 0:46:55.239 ordered priorities. We want to seek first your kingdom. We 0:46:55.280 --> 0:46:58.000 want to know what matters to you, and we thank 0:46:58.040 --> 0:47:02.000 you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I hope 0:47:02.000 --> 0:47:04.440 you enjoyed the podcast today. If you did, there are 0:47:04.480 --> 0:47:06.560 just a couple things I'd love for you to do. 0:47:06.800 --> 0:47:10.320 Number One, subscribe to our show. That way, the most 0:47:10.320 --> 0:47:13.719 recent episode will always be in your feed, waiting for you, 0:47:14.080 --> 0:47:17.279 ready when you are. And Secondly, if this ministry has 0:47:17.320 --> 0:47:19.680 impacted you and you'd like to help us continue to 0:47:19.719 --> 0:47:22.160 reach others, you can click the link in the description 0:47:22.560 --> 0:47:25.040 and you can give now and I'll see you next 0:47:25.040 --> 0:47:27.239 time on the Elevation Podcast