Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm excited about what's going to happen in this place today.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
And so y'all ready for the word this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
All right, pull out your notepads and anything that you have,
your smart or dumb phone. We're about to We're about
to see God do something awesome. We're in week five
of a series that we are calling Fruitful, and I'm
thankful for.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
All of the people who spoke while I was out, Sister.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Amberley Beal and our very own Brie Davis and Pastor
Paul Cooper.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
They did an awesome job.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And now we're going to talk about the fruit of
the Spirit that is found in Galatians chapter five, twenty two.
And this is just the anchor scripture for this entire series.
I want you to look at it. It says, but
the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives.
Question who produces this kind of fruit in your life?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Okay? So the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
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.
Can I help you that the Holy Spirit is supposed
to produce something in your life, like when you become
a Christian. It's not just to come and do a
(01:07):
religious duty and come to church and then leave the same.
It's supposed to start getting in you and affecting you
so that it changes in your life. And when I
look at these, you know, I don't know about you,
but I grew up in church. Some people didn't grow
up in church. But I'm gonna give you a secret.
Sometimes you read scriptures that you hear them so much
that they just become cliche, like it's just like the
fruit of spirit, love, joy, peace, And for a long
(01:29):
time I just let those scriptures just go past me,
like you know what I'm saying, Yeah, we want love,
we want peace, we want joy.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
But it ain't really happening.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
But when I really started studying this, God was saying,
I gave you the Holy Spirit so that you could
have practical love in your life. I'm talking about the
love that makes you do something nice for somebody you
don't like.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Like I want it to be practical.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
He wants to give you peace that no matter what
the storm is in your life, that you can be
a to know that everything's gonna be okay. I remember
a story in the Bible where the disciples were on
a boat with Jesus, and all kinds of stuff was
coming at them, and they thought they were about to die.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And guess what Jesus was doing.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
He wasn't up praying, he wasn't up casting out demons.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
He was sleep.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Because he knew he was the Prince of peace. And
he's saying that, why would y'all start tripping when I'm
in your corner? It's because they didn't believe that him
being there would produce practical peace in their storm situation.
And it looks like a bunch of believers today. I
(02:37):
get people coming up to me all the time, Tess.
I'm like, what do you think about the political system,
What do you think about what's happening in office?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
What do you think about.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
The I think it's there, and I think that God's
in control. And so when I see these things, I
don't get all frazzled and messed up over them because
I have the Holy Spirit working on the inside of me,
and he produces the fruit of peace in my life.
(03:03):
See so many Christians that I don't even know if
they believers, because the fruit is not evident when trials come.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
How many y'all know some people.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That say they believe something, but then when it comes
down to it, they don't act like they believe something. Okay,
come on, raise your hands. If you don't raise your hands,
you're that person.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
And this is I'm just playing with you.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
And this is one of the things that I want
God to help. So today we're gonna talk about a
fruit of the spirit that I feel like all of
us need. We're gonna talk about joy. How many people
need some more joy in your life? Come on, some okay,
you need some more joy.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Matter of fact, let's start off by smiling. Everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Just smile, even if you didn't brush your teeth this morning,
just smile. Some of y'all so hateful. Look at y'all
steal mean muggin. It'll be all right, you'll be all
right about the end of the service.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I believe this is one of the fruits of the
spirit that is so powerful because the Bible tells us
that the joy of the Lord will be our and
many of us are, but we don't have the fuel
for strength. You're drained in your work week, you're drained
in your life. You're drained through circumstances and situations. But
He gave you the fuel, which was joy, and many
(04:15):
of us don't know where to get joy.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
We've misplaced it.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And today I want us to see how joy is
supposed to play a major part in our life. Go
to John chapter fifteen, verse eleven. John chapter fifteen, verse eleven.
And this is Jesus talking. And this really is like
an anchor scripture from me, and maybe more than an
anchor scripture, it could be the goal that we want
to reach. We want this goal, and Jesus wants this
(04:37):
goal for all of us.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Look at it. It says I have told you.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
These things Jesus talking so that you will be filled
with my joy. Everybody say, my joy. This is Jesus,
he has a joy. And I can see some of
the disciples because that's who he's talking to, being like
he wants us to be filled with his joy, and
they start looking like this, and then he emphatically says, yes, look,
(05:02):
your joy will overflow. Somebody say, my joy will overflow.
That's the title of today's message. And I want you
to realize that.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
That's what God.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Wants for every person in this place. He wants joy
to overflow in your life. He wants you to be
joyfull or joy full, full of joy. But if we
look at a lot of people's lives, they're not full
of joy.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
They're full of worry.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
They're full they're full of doubt, they're full of anxiety.
And how can we many people being believers work on
the same level of anxiety and pain and frustration as everybody.
And this is what God's saying. I got a key,
but you're missing it. I got something I want.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
To give you. I don't want to give you happiness.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Because happiness is dictated by circumstance. I want to give
you joy, which is something that I only can give,
and it's something that starts from the inside. See, happiness
is one of those things that comes.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
And it goes. I mean some of us, let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Like you wake up happy, then you find out it's raining,
and you have a bad day. You go to a
restaurant and they get your food order wrong, and y'all know,
once they get my food order wrong, I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Tripping and it's a bad day.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
See, happiness goes up and down like a roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Joy is unmovable. Joy is an anchor.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And see a lot of people are trying to find joy,
but they look in the wrong places, so they settle
for happiness.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Hee, this's gonna be good. See.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
See what ends up happening is happiness is a feeling
dictated to me by what is happening externally. But that
is that's busted because I can never control that. I
can't control if my boss acts crazy. I can't control
if my car breaks down. I can't control if I
lose my job. And so if I am only happy
(07:03):
by what happens on the outside, then I am never
in control of.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
My own life.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And that looks like a bunch of people that call
themselves Christ followers. Most of our prayer requests are about
things that we can't control. Most of our attitudes are
about things that happen outside. And God said, I got
something better for you. I got something that will help
you sustain in the middle of any storm. I have
something that will make you smile when things are broken.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I got something.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
They can all leave you and you can still say,
stand there and have joy in your heart. But it
cannot be happiness. It has to be joy, and we're
confused on the definition of that. And so I want
you to understand that as I start studying, I look
up things I get in the dictionary, and I start
(07:51):
trying to figure out what things mean. And I looked
up this word joy, and I was very disappointed in
the one dimensionalness of it. In just Webster's dictionary, this
joy is a feeling of great pleasure in happiness.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
That's all.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
It gave three major components. It's a feeling of pleasure
and happiness. When I begin to weigh that against what
I see in the Bible, that's not enough to make
me still serve God and still have joy in the
midst of hard circumstances. See, I think about people like
(08:27):
Paul and Silas who were chained in jail and had
enough joy to start singing a song.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Now y'all missed it because I don't know about you.
But when i'm mad, I'm not ready to sing a song.
I'm ready to fight. Now.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Some of y'all are holy and perfect and all that
other stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
But when i'm mad, I'm ready to cut somebody out,
y'all fake religious demil.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I'm gonna come to y'all, y'all the real side. But
they had something from the inside that allowed them to say,
bless it be the name of the Lord. They were
able to lift up a song. They were able to sing,
we go from glory to glory to glory, said we
up in these chains will never be the.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Same like they were able.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
But that wasn't because of their circumstance, because they weren't
happy and being chained wasn't pleasurable, and they probably felt bad.
But the Bible tells us they still had joy. And
then it makes me think of people like Job who
lost everything. He lost all of his kids, he lost
(09:45):
all of his land, he lost all of his money.
But when they told him to stand up and curse God,
he was able to stand in joy, not feeling good,
he just lost everything, not being in a pleasurable state
and not even being happy. He probably stood in tears
and said this statement, the Lord give and the Lord
(10:08):
takes away.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Bless it be the name.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
How do you say that after everything you.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Had have been taken away from you? That's not happiness,
that's joy. Everybody say that's joy, and Jesus is saying
I want your joy to overflow. Look at Jesus. Go
to Hebrews twelve two, because this will mess me.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Up when I found it.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
It literally says in the Bible, for the joy set
before him, he endured the cross.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Hold up past the mic.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
You mean the thing that kept Jesus on the cross
from coming down and saying this is just too much
cut eternity.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Hold on. I didn't sign up for all of this
was joy, he said. I stayed on.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
The cross because I knew there was joy set before me.
That's not a place of pleasure. That's not a place
of happiness.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
That's not a.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Place of everything's okay. And the reason I'm saying that
is because many of you have been told the lie
and believed the lie. Because everything's not going good, you
can't have joy. But I came here this morning to
change the narrative that God is the one who can
give you joy, and not just a little bit, but
he can make you joy full in the middle of
(11:38):
a hard situation. And so that means we must have
the wrong definition of joy. So I want to give
you a definition of joy because I don't know about you,
but my feelings are fleeting. I mean, they change all
the time. How many people, okay, don't leave me up
here by myself. How many people have felt one way
about something and then maybe six months.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Later a year, you felt different about it.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Okay, some of y'all loved this pair of shoes last
year and hate that same pair of shoes right now,
can't even wear them no more.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
And whatever it is for you, but our feelings are fleeting.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I don't know about you, but what pleases me sometimes
is not always profitable for me.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I love ice cream.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
My waistline hates it. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And happiness is so inconsistent. So we need to find
out what joy is.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Write this definition down because if the only time I
can have joy is when my feelings pleasure and happiness
a line, I'll never find it. I want you to
see this joy is the supernatural delight in the person,
the purposes, the plan, the placement, the provision.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And the people of God.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I know that's a lot of peace, but I want
you to remember see, joy is when you are in
a place. Let me just give you the point. Your
joy will overflow as you discover that joy is not
a feeling. Joy is a heart posture. It's not feeling something.
It's where I have my eyes fixed. And that's why
(13:21):
joy is a supernatural. It's not natural to me. It's
beyond me. It's something that is worked in by the
Holy Spirit. That's why when I spend time with God,
that's when I pray, when I come into his house,
it's something that He begins to work into my life
that lets it be more than natural super natural delight
in knowing that.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
God, He's good. This is how it works in my life.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I say stuff like this, God, You're good, that His
purposes are coming to pass, that he has a specific
plan for my life, that I am placed right where
I need to be, and if I'm off course, his
grace will.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Lead me back to the right path.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Everything I need will be provided when I need it,
and He will give me the right people as community,
accountability and encouragement.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
What are you trying to say, Pastor Mike.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Joy comes from having a fixed perspective on Jesus. It
comes from having your focus on something.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That won't change. Can I help you?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
The reason you haven't been able to find joy is
because your focus changes too much.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
That's why you're.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Only finding happiness because I'm happy by what they're saying
on social media today. I'm happy by the amount of
money I make. I'm happy by this. I'm happy by
this relationship. I'm happy by these drugs. I'm happy by
these people liking me.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
But it has to.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Keep changing because nothing is solid enough to fix your
focus on. And that's why joy cannot come if you
do not have a fixed focus on something that.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Will not change.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
That's why Jesus has to be the center of our life,
because he is the one who is, the one.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Who was, and the one that is is to come.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
But what we do in our twenty first century is
we focus on whatever gives us feelings of pleasure and
happiness at the moment. So when life starts to change
or those things start to change, our happiness begins to change.
And God says, I want to give you something way.
I want to give you the upgrade. I want to
(15:22):
give you the upgrade, the happiness, and you can't find
it nowhere but me. I want to give you joy.
It's that thing that nobody can take from you. I
don't know about you, but I have some old school
people in my house and they used to say stuff
like this. They say, this joy that I have, the
world can't take it. The world didn't give it. You.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
See.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
That was my mama over there correcting me because she
said it all my life. The world didn't give it,
and what's the rest And the world can't take it away.
Anybody else has somebody in their life saying that and
quote it. Okay, the reason they can't take it, it's
because they don't have it. And the reason that they
can't give it is because they don't have it. And
(16:07):
as believers, if we choose to live below joy, if
we choose to let our circumstances dictate how we feel
and why we smile and why we get up and
why we do things, we are no better than anybody
else who doesn't have Jesus. And he said I came
that you might have life, and life to the fool.
(16:27):
He wants your life to be fruitful, joy full, full
of everything. But we have to take advantage of the
promises of God. And so you want your joy to overflow.
You need to know joy is not a feeling. Joy
is a heart posture. Can I break it down to
you because some of you, like okay, pastor Mike, I
kind of get you what you're saying, but I don't
really get it. Let me just break it all the
way down for people like me who are a little remedial.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Joy is a posture of my heart that says two things.
God's got it and I trust him.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Period.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
When the waves of life come and they fire from
me from my job, God's got it, and I trust him.
When they leave me at the altar and we were
supposed to be married, God's got it, and I trust him.
When my investments go down and I suck my whole
savings into it, I have joy because God's got it.
(17:20):
Come on and help me, and I trust him. When
the economy is turned upside down and my children are
acting crazy, I have a faith.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
That stands and says God's got it, and I trust him.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
When my children are faced with sickness, with pain, when
I've lost everything, I have to have a stance that
God's got it and I trust him. That's the only
way you can stay on the cross. That's the only
way you can lose everything and still say Blessed be
(17:52):
the name of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
That's the only way you can be in chains and
still happy. Because you have an.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Anchor that is dropped and the waves may blow, You're
not going under because my anchor is God's got it. WHOA,
and I trust him. Somebody just say it with an attitude.
God's got it, and I trust him. There's a situation
you're going through right now, and it looks bigger than you,
(18:21):
but I promise you it's not because God's got it.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Whoo, and I trust him.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
You've been looking at money situations, you've been looking at
pain in your life. You better square up and tell yourself.
God's got it. Whoa and I trust whoa. Somebody take
a moment and give God a shout of praise. Yeah,
God's got it and I trust him. This sickness is
(18:47):
not bigger than me. This job layoff is not bigger
than me. Who's then, government is not bigger than me.
God's got it and I trust him. That's where joy
comes from.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So a situation can come. But I'm chilling. Are my
feelings hurt? Yeah? Is it uncomfortable? Yeah? Is my happiness
a little up and down? Uh huh? But I still
have joy? Why? Because God's got it? And I trust.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Somebody gonna be walking around your house all week, you
gonna be You're gonna be a.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
God's got it and.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I y'all better stop playing with me because.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I will take off around this church. I am not
even playing. God's got it. I don't care what comes.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
God's got it, and I trust somebody's getting it.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Faith is coming into somebody. God's got it and I
trust it. Ah, Yeah, WHOA. God's got it.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
He's got you, he's got your kids, he's got your family,
he's got your career, he's got your family. God's got it,
and I trust him. Y'all better sit down. I'm only
on point one. I'm only on point one. Y'all better
sit out. I'm only on point one. But when you
remember how God brought you through that situation, and.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
You think back about how He's gonna bring you to.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
This situation, all you can step back and say is
God's got.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
It and I trust.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So when you have that knowing, when you know that,
when you know that, it doesn't matter what comes.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Some of y'all. I can see you college students. I
don't know about tuition him next year. I don't know
if I'm gonna get back day. And you weren't even
supposed to be here this year and God took care
of you, then why are you getting in doubt?
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Now?
Speaker 2 (21:09):
God's got it, and so this is what God wants
for you.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
He wants joy, not happiness, the unmovable thing that when
when you lose the job and when they when you
get incarcerated and they won't give you one. And God said,
I'll make you an entrepreneur. I'll build the business out
of you. I'll take I'll take everything. He's like, I
got you.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And so what happens.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Second point, your joy will overflow as you discover joy
is only Jesus generated. See, this is the problem. Most
people want joy, but they look for it in the
amount of money that they want. They look for it
in a relationship, they look for it in a career.
Some of y'all got more degrees than a thermometer, a
PhD A you in the NBA and the NBA, Like,
(22:03):
do you understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
You got all these degrees, but you still don't have joy.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Cause it's not coming externally, it's coming in turn.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
It's only can come from Jesus.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
So I'm trying to let everybody get the key to
this thing that God wants your.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Joy to overflow.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
But joy is only Jesus generated. We were in John fifteen,
chapter eleven. I want to scoop back up six verses
into chapter five, I mean verse five, and look what
Jesus is saying to him. He's like, yeah, yeah, guys,
I know y'all want to do great things for me,
but I just need you to remember this one thing,
and I'm gonna paint this.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Picture for you.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
He said, I'm the vine, You're the branches. Okay, So
don't get it, don't get it twisted. I'm the source,
and I'll resource you to do what I've called you
to do. See, we got it so twisted. Some of
y'all think you're the source.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
You don't have any ability to make anything happen. You
are just the resource.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
But when you remove yourself from God, you cut all
yourself off from these source.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
You missed it.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
When Jesus is the source, the vine, he says, you,
as my child, are a source, and I will resource
what you need as long as you stay connected to me.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
And so it says, I'm the vine, you're the branches.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
He who abides everybody say, abide, circle that underlining it,
write that tattoo.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
It on your arm. Abide He who abides.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
In me and I am them, bears much fruit, or
becomes joyful or has fullness of joy for.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Without me you can do nothing pause.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I'm like that ain't true. I can do stuff without you.
You can't do anything that lasts. You only can do
temporary things that you.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Have to sustain.
Speaker 5 (23:59):
And some of y'all are so tired of life because
you've been trying to sustain whatever you've tried to build,
and it's wearing you the hell out.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I know this ain't the church for everybody, but I
just had to say it because.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
You look like it.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It's on your face, it's wearing you out, and God
standing back.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Like you you want me to do it? I can.
You know I can do that with my pinky.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Like this ain't this ain't even hard for me. But
as long as you want to do it, I'll let
you do it. Because I'm a gentleman. I only step
in when I'm asked. And today God wants to make
some of your joy fool but you're gonna have to
invite him into it.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
He said, don't forget.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
If you abide me, you will not be able to
sustain without the joy of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
In this one chapter, in these.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Few verses, he mentions that word abide seven to ten
times and seven verses. If you abiding me and my words,
abiding you and if you don't abide in me, He
literally is trying to get a point across.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
I want you to abide. Stay connected. That's what that
word means. It means stay for a long time. Get
with me.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
That's why I don't understand people who try Christianity for
a month.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
I try, I tried to live. Say, I'll try not
to sleep with him. I'll try not to cuse, I'll
try not to do this. I'll try. How long did
you try, baby? Thirty two days?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
And it's just not working. So I went to sling it.
I went to this and I'm saying, no, no, no, no,
no no. What seed have you ever planted that you
kept picking up every day out of the dirt?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Bared fruit? And that's what we do. I'm in church
right now, but I'm not in church now. I'm gonna
serve you.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
But it's my birthday.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Y'all know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So how do you expect to bear fruit but you
won't stay planted? Pull up an orange tree every day,
every month, every year and see how.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Much fruit it gives. But that's why God's saying, just
a bye with me. Stay with me?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
If you mess up, come back, tell somebody the confession sins.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
One to another.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
You're already saved, the salvation is already taken care of.
Your eternity. Is cool, But I don't want you to
live hell on earth and then get escape to heaven.
He's like, I just want you to live this life
I paid for. I already paid for it.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Will you please order or germs? Will you please order
the dessert? Will you?
Speaker 1 (26:42):
It's just like somebody paying for a five star meal
and all you want.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Is the bread.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
It's already paid for, and could you just bring more bread?
They're stak waiting for you when you want bread and ranch.
Take full advantage of the life that God has given you.
(27:13):
And part of that life is being joy full, but
it only is generated by Jesus.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Let me give you a practical step to abiding, just practical.
Read your Bible, Read the Word of God. That's what
you always do that every Sunday. I'm gonna say it
every Sunday from now on because it's.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
The whole thing. Like that's everything. Like you can be
saved and not ever even come here if you just
get your Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to be.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Alive in you. It can change your whole life.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And I started to think about this analogy. It's hard
to be joyful naturally when you're hungry. How many people
get a little attitude when they get hungry. Come on, let's
be attitude. Some of y'all is just evil, like some
of y'all don't talk.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Do not talk to me until I get this mcdouble like,
do not.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Like. There's certain times where I know I just stop
talking to my wife and just slide her some chicken
nuggets because you understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
But then I started thinking.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
About it in the spiritual it's hard to be joyful
when your spirit is hungry.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Let me help you.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
But if we pray over God's word to eat it
at spiritual food, it nourishes, satisfies, and makes us glad.
But some of y'all are so spiritually starving, like you
don't spend time in God's word, and so you can't abide,
And it's hard to be joyful when your spirit is hungry.
I saw this commercial and it reminded me of this,
(28:48):
and I want you to check it out right now.
Check this commercial out. Check this commercial.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Out you now.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I saw this commercial and it preached to me.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Because in the middle of their car ride, the friend says,
every time you get hungry, you turn into a My
question is, every time your spirit is hungry, what do
you turn into. Every time you're spiritually hungry and you
won't feed it the word, you turn into a liar.
(29:55):
You you turn into a lust bucket, is what I
call it.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
That's what I used to be. That's not my bu
that was me.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Every time I don't feed on the word of God,
I turn into somebody who will manipulate the situation. I'll
turn into somebody who's judgmental. And some of you are
sitting around.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Here starving your spirit, man.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
And I'm here to say, like the friend said to you,
every time you get hungry, you turn into it.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
And all you have to do is eat.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
On the Word of God and listen to the tagline
it says. It says, you're not you when you're hungry.
I came to tell you you're not you when your
spirit is hungry, when you're not able to feed on
the word of God, you're not you.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
And some of y'all been walking around saying that's just
how I am, That's just how I am.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Man I say, you're so malnoursed that you think this
is normal. You'll so boliemic out here that if you
ate a Snickers it changed your whole life. If you
read Philippians one time, it waked you up and you said,
I've never met me before, a brand new person.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
You're not you and you're hungry.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
And the tagline says Snickers it's satisfied. I'm gonna steal
that and say the word.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Of God, it's satisfied. I want you to be practically
helped today. That's how you abide.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Look at this and this blessed me when I found
this scripture Jeremiah fifteen sixteen. It says, when I discovered
your words, when I discovered when I uncovered it, I
devoured them. Y'all know, when you're hungry, some of y'all
will eat without breathing.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 1 (31:37):
How many of y'all have eaten food hot because you
were so hungry, like you don't like you're trying to
blow on it and take it in, And do you
understand what I'm saying? But when you're hungry, it doesn't matter.
You'll devour it. And God is saying to some of you,
you need to get in your word. And it might
(31:57):
be hard, and it might be hot, but you need
to take that mug in. Oh, you can go ahead
and give God praise right there.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Now watch how beautifully the word of God works together.
It said, when I discovered your words, I devoured them.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
They are my joy.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Remember what we're talking about. We're talking about having joy
in our life. That our joy would overflow. God said, practically,
if you want joy, you have to know it's Jesus generated.
How do I get close to Jesus?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
How do I abide in him?
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And he said, if you read my word? He said,
it'll be your joy. You read my word, it will
be your joy and your heart's delight. Joy is only
Jesus generated. So let me give you my third point.
Your joy will overflow as you discover your joy is
not an option.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Joy is an outcome.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Joy is not like, oh, I'm going to decide to
be joyful today. No, it's an outcome of things that
you do to get in a place with God.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Let me help you. I'm gonna give you this analogy.
It's a little lengthy, but I want.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
You to hear it. It says, the secret of living
is joy. The secret of joy is being fruitful. The
secret of being fruitful is abiding. The secret of biding
is obeying. And then the secret of obeying is loving,
And the secret of loving is knowing.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Knowing who Jesus.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
You want joy, find Jesus.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
You want joy, know Jesus.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
You need more joy, Get more Jesus, because once you
get to know Jesus, it will help you to love him.
Once you love him, you'll start obeying him. Once you
obeyed him, you'll start abying or staying close to him.
Once you stay close to him, you'll start bearing fruit
like him. And once you start bearing fruit like him,
it'll bring you a lot of joy.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
See. But that's an outcome of knowing Jesus.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
And Pames, Mike, it sounds like you saying the same
thing I really am. I'm just trying to get it
in our hearts and our minds in a different way.
If you want that thing that nobody can steal from you, like,
if you want that thing that's better than.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Happiness, no Jesus, And in the face.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Of hard circumstances and broken situations, you will be able
to stand and people will come up to you and
be like, how are you?
Speaker 2 (34:14):
How are you holding it together? Why are you still smiling?
Why did you even come to help me?
Speaker 1 (34:19):
I know what you're going through. I know you just
lost your job. I know you just failed that test.
I know your family's going through. Like why are you
doing this? And it's not because of you, it's because
of who you know? And when who you know starts
to reflect who you are, you found true joy Psalms thirty,
(34:40):
verse five. This is David talking, and David's real emotional,
He's emo, and David is always in this paradox. He's
always fearful but faithful, safe but scared, hopeful but hiding,
like he's been in these places.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
And this is what he writes.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
For his anger last only a moment, but his favor
lasts the lifetime.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Weeping may last through the night.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
But what joy comes with the morning. I came to
encourage somebody that it may look dark right now, but
this message is your morning, Like this message has been
the thing that God wanted to remind you that I
don't care how dark it is in your life. I
send joy constantly so that you know you always have
(35:33):
a brand new opportunity to experience it. He could have
used the analogy to anything else, but he said, your
joy will come in the morning, because one thing is guaranteed,
no matter how long the night feels like it lasts,
the morning's coming. I came to encourage somebody today that
your joy is not far away. That I know you're
broken and you're downtrodden, and the situation's bad right now,
(35:55):
but joy.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Is coming in the morning.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
But as I start walking this out in my own life,
I found something for me and my life, me and
my wife that kind of gave me a new perspective
on this. The scripture says joy comes in the.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Morning, like with the sun.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
But I found it to be true that many times
joy comes in our mourning. The things that we feel
like we lost, the things that we feel like are
a disadvantage, the things that we feel like in life
(36:36):
are unfair. God somehow turns those situations to an awesome
opportunity to experience joy that doesn't move us by an
outward circumstance. I should be sad, I should be broken,
I should be mad right now, but joy.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Is coming out of this morning. Can I help you
in church?
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I'm going to be very real with you right now,
cause me and my wife have been experiencing this in
our life.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
This is my son, MJ.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
MJ just celebrated his second birthday and he turned two
on the twenty what was it, the twenty sixth of October.
He's the most amazingly cute boy in the world. So MJ,
me and my wife this year have been praying, serving God's,
serving this church, doing everything that we know how to do.
(37:28):
And we noticed that MJ wasn't developing and talking and
doing certain things like Isabella, his older sister.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
And so.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
We went to the doctor and there's like, yeah, he's
not developing and doing things like other children are doing.
He's like, I think he has some developmental delays. And
me and my wife are like, no, not oursling. We prayed,
we fasted, we've cried, We've dedicated him to the Lord.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Not happening. So we took him to.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Some other therapists and some other people in faith, knowing
that God is bigger, knowing that we trust God, and
we got him and he said, we're not sure about it.
He's not old enough to tell yet, but he looks
like he might have some signs of autism. And I
don't know if any parents in this house have ever
(38:21):
been told something has happened to your children or something
that you can't control. But for us, me and my
wife went through a season and are still going through
a season of morning.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Believing and trusting in.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
What God is saying, but knowing that it's not always
a fair situation. And as we celebrate his second birthday
and he's not saying any words yet.
Speaker 5 (38:57):
As he sat there yesterday enjoyed his trucks and.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
And enjoyed as friends and his family being around and.
Speaker 5 (39:15):
Be at my wife, we looked at each other every
time he smiled, and we were so excited.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Because what we thought was the death of a dream
in our life.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
And he may never play football, and he may never
do this, and he may never do that.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
We saw the grace of God.
Speaker 6 (39:39):
At work and a situation where we had to mourn,
and I stood in faith and I told the therapist,
I said, I know what the reports are saying, and
I know we haven't had him testing, and i know
all these other things are happening, but I'm believing God
for a miracles.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Said, I'm believing God for a miracle.
Speaker 5 (40:07):
And then God took me to the scripture that has
helped me through many days.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Because the joy.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Is not coming in the sun that came up. It's
coming in the loss and in the disappointment of something
that I thought. And I'm reckoning and trying to figure out, God.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
What are you doing?
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I served you, I told you i'd serve your people.
I do all this other stuff. But how is this
all making sense? He says, Son, It's not something I'm
doing to you. It's something I'm doing for you. He said,
I'm using your son that carries your same name to
teach you about my faithfulness, to teach you about my grade.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
See, it's not gonna come.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
From the likes on Instagram because he's cute. It's gonna
come from the inside. It's gonna come from you being
connected to me. It's gonna come from you trusting that
I got it, and I have to have the.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Response that I trust you.
Speaker 5 (41:05):
And he took me to James chapter one, verse two,
when it said, dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of
any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for
great joy.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
I never looked at that scripture.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
With much with much faith, because nothing had happened to
me that hit me to my court like this, But
it changed my perspective on how I was looking at
the situation because God knew it what was gonna happen.
And so if God didn't put James Chapter one, verse
two in the Bible for anybody else, he put it
in there for me because he said, Michael, don't worry
(41:47):
when troubles of any kind come your way.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
I want you to.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Change your perspective. And I want you to consider it
an opportunity for your joy to grow, for your joy
to be fool, for you to be joy fool.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
For there to be fruit to come out of this.
He said.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
For you know, when your faith is tested, and it
has been, he said, your endurance has the chance to grow.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
So then he tells you, Mike, it's gonna be okay.
Let it grow.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Don't fight it, don't deny it, don't try to act
like his hands. The enemy tried to get me not
to share it, to think that people will label my
son and all this other stuff, and God said, just
let it grow. He said, I'm gonna get the glory
out of this. I'm gonna do a miracle behind this.
I'm gonna be the one that is high and lift
it up, and I'm gonna be the one to get
(42:41):
the glory. But you gotta know that your joy is
not external, that your joy is internal, that it comes
from me, and I got it, and you have to
trust me.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
So let it grow. For when your.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete,
needing nothing.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
I can see how that works.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Now, because I give anything for my son to say words,
you wouldn't have to give me no more clothes. And
God said, when I work this miracle on your behalf,
you're gonna see that the things that you think are
really important are not important at all.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
That's how Paul in silence.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
They had been in jail before, they had been shipbreaking
discourging that Jesus got Paul got that so many times
it was usual. So when they did death threats and
all this stuff, it didn't.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Affect his joy.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
He said, because I've been through things that should have
taken my joy. But my joy is not external.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
It comes from Jesus.
Speaker 5 (43:55):
Today, I don't know what the enemy has been trying
to tell you about your life, but you have so
much to be joyful about.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
You abide and you stay.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Connected to him. That's the only thing that's kept me
in this time.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
That's the best messages that I've preached, those things that
you said, pastor you're preaching.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
I've been going through crap in the background, trying to
hold onto my faith. But I knew God had it.
And so when you.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Come and see me, or you see me laughing or
anything that's not happiness because my situation's not the best,
but it's joy that comes from the inside. And the
world didn't give it. Autism didn't give it, sickness didn't
give it, and it can't take it away.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
God, I worship you. I dare somebody to just thank
God for who he is, for what he's doing. I
guess somebody to get joyful if.
Speaker 1 (44:53):
You would just remember who God is and how he's
been so good.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
God, we trust you because you got it.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
God, our pray over every person under the sound of
my voice, who the enemy has tried to steal their joy,
who we've tried to be convinced that it's too bad.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Father.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I thank you God that we take a posture of
knowing who you are.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
Father God.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
I thank you Father that our joy will begin to overflow.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Father God, that we.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Will begin to keep our minds stayed on you, Father God,
and you will do something in our life that doesn't
come from the external, Father, but it comes from the internal.
Be it what comes, Father God, I don't care. I
have faith in you. I believe you are good, and
we as the church will serve you and trust you,
and we will have joy. Our smile will not be
(45:44):
because of our circumstance.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Our smile won't.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Be because of our feeling, but it will be because
you are a good father, and we are connected to you,
and we trust you, and You've got it in Jesus' name. Somebody,
give God a shout of praise in this place. Come on,
give God a shout of praise in this place, the
(46:08):
God who makes us fruitful.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Hey, bring me that water real quick.
Speaker 1 (46:14):
I want to show you this. Don't cut the tape yet.
I just need everybody to see this. I was gonna
go without it, but just bring it out.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
See.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
This is what I want you to understand real quick.
The last point I want to give you right now
is that your joy will overflow. Sit down two minutes, please,
And I'm following the spirit right now because somebody needs
to see this. It says your joy will overflow when
you change the concentration, when you change what you're concentrating on. See,
(46:44):
this is what life looks like. This is you remember that?
Speaker 2 (46:46):
John?
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Can you put that John fifteen eleven scripture up real quick,
because I just want to teach this with an example,
real quick, John fifteen verse eleven. And it says, I've
told you these things so that you will be filled
with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. This is
your joy, okay. But the thing about my joy is
that I can't control what life throws at me. I
(47:10):
don't know what is going on, and I don't know
that God may have some situations that he allows into
my life to throw some some disappointment, some frustration, some hurt.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
I can't control that. So what is it doing? Past?
Speaker 1 (47:35):
The night is starts affecting my joy? And where I
was clear, I start.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
To look a little blue. But put the scripture back
up there.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
The scripture tells us that now this is your joy,
but I want to fill you with my joy.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Can you bring me out jesus joy. Please see Jesus'
joy is clear and Jesus' joy is full. This is
the difference, though.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
See there's a concentration of blue dye that is in
here that has overtaken the amount of trust and purity
and clarity that was in here. But when we change
our concentration to the Word of God. See, you've been
focused on how blue it is, and God says, focus on.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
How big I am.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
You've been focused on how it's affected you, and God saying,
focus on how I can affect it. And when you
start pouring the Word of God in our faith overflows.
But as it overflows, it takes out everything that's It
takes out every Somebody better rejoice with me and our
our joy begins to over flow. I dare you, if
(48:47):
you're in this place, to begin a shot under God
with the voice of triumph, that He's taken everything that's
been blue in your life, and he's gonna take your joy,
and he's gonna overflow, and everything that's not like him
is coming out. Hear me when I tell you change
(49:10):
the concentration. The only reason joy was restored was because
the concentration changed. There was less die and more water,
there was less worry, there was more word, and.
Speaker 2 (49:31):
It changed the concentration.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Don't ever forget that God through Jesus wants to give
you his joy, and your joy will overflow.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
Amen. Give God a shot of praise in this place.
I'm excited about what's going to happen in this place today.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
And so y'all ready for the word this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
All right, pull out your notepads and anything that you have,
your smart or dumb phone. We're about to We're about
to see God do something awesome. We're in week five
of a series that we are calling Fruitful, and I'm
thankful for.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
All of the people who spoke while I was out, Sister.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Amberley Beal and our very own Brie Davis and Pastor
Paul Cooper.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
They did an awesome job.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And now we're going to talk about the fruit of
the Spirit that is found in Galatians chapter five, twenty two.
And this is just the anchor scripture for this entire series.
I want you to look at it. It says, but
the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives.
Question who produces this kind of fruit in your life?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Okay? So the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
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.
Can I help you that the Holy Spirit is supposed
to produce something in your life, like when you become
a Christian. It's not just to come and do a
(01:07):
religious duty and come to church and then leave the same.
It's supposed to start getting in you and affecting you
so that it changes in your life. And when I
look at these, you know, I don't know about you,
but I grew up in church. Some people didn't grow
up in church. But I'm gonna give you a secret.
Sometimes you read scriptures that you hear them so much
that they just become cliche, like it's just like the
fruit of spirit, love, joy, peace, And for a long
(01:29):
time I just let those scriptures just go past me,
like you know what I'm saying, Yeah, we want love,
we want peace, we want joy.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
But it ain't really happening.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
But when I really started studying this, God was saying,
I gave you the Holy Spirit so that you could
have practical love in your life. I'm talking about the
love that makes you do something nice for somebody you
don't like.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Like I want it to be practical.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
He wants to give you peace that no matter what
the storm is in your life, that you can be
a to know that everything's gonna be okay. I remember
a story in the Bible where the disciples were on
a boat with Jesus, and all kinds of stuff was
coming at them, and they thought they were about to die.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And guess what Jesus was doing.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
He wasn't up praying, he wasn't up casting out demons.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
He was sleep.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Because he knew he was the Prince of peace. And
he's saying that, why would y'all start tripping when I'm
in your corner? It's because they didn't believe that him
being there would produce practical peace in their storm situation.
And it looks like a bunch of believers today. I
(02:37):
get people coming up to me all the time, Tess.
I'm like, what do you think about the political system,
What do you think about what's happening in office?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
What do you think about.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
The I think it's there, and I think that God's
in control. And so when I see these things, I
don't get all frazzled and messed up over them because
I have the Holy Spirit working on the inside of me,
and he produces the fruit of peace in my life.
(03:03):
See so many Christians that I don't even know if
they believers, because the fruit is not evident when trials come.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
How many y'all know some people.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That say they believe something, but then when it comes
down to it, they don't act like they believe something. Okay,
come on, raise your hands. If you don't raise your hands,
you're that person.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
And this is I'm just playing with you.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
And this is one of the things that I want
God to help. So today we're gonna talk about a
fruit of the spirit that I feel like all of
us need. We're gonna talk about joy. How many people
need some more joy in your life? Come on, some okay,
you need some more joy.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Matter of fact, let's start off by smiling. Everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Just smile, even if you didn't brush your teeth this morning,
just smile. Some of y'all so hateful. Look at y'all
steal mean muggin. It'll be all right, you'll be all
right about the end of the service.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I believe this is one of the fruits of the
spirit that is so powerful because the Bible tells us
that the joy of the Lord will be our and
many of us are, but we don't have the fuel
for strength. You're drained in your work week, you're drained
in your life. You're drained through circumstances and situations. But
He gave you the fuel, which was joy, and many
(04:15):
of us don't know where to get joy.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
We've misplaced it.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And today I want us to see how joy is
supposed to play a major part in our life. Go
to John chapter fifteen, verse eleven. John chapter fifteen, verse eleven.
And this is Jesus talking. And this really is like
an anchor scripture from me, and maybe more than an
anchor scripture, it could be the goal that we want
to reach. We want this goal, and Jesus wants this
(04:37):
goal for all of us.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Look at it. It says I have told you.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
These things Jesus talking so that you will be filled
with my joy. Everybody say, my joy. This is Jesus,
he has a joy. And I can see some of
the disciples because that's who he's talking to, being like
he wants us to be filled with his joy, and
they start looking like this, and then he emphatically says, yes, look,
(05:02):
your joy will overflow. Somebody say, my joy will overflow.
That's the title of today's message. And I want you
to realize that.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
That's what God.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Wants for every person in this place. He wants joy
to overflow in your life. He wants you to be
joyfull or joy full, full of joy. But if we
look at a lot of people's lives, they're not full
of joy.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
They're full of worry.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
They're full they're full of doubt, they're full of anxiety.
And how can we many people being believers work on
the same level of anxiety and pain and frustration as everybody.
And this is what God's saying. I got a key,
but you're missing it. I got something I want.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
To give you. I don't want to give you happiness.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Because happiness is dictated by circumstance. I want to give
you joy, which is something that I only can give,
and it's something that starts from the inside. See, happiness
is one of those things that comes.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
And it goes. I mean some of us, let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Like you wake up happy, then you find out it's raining,
and you have a bad day. You go to a
restaurant and they get your food order wrong, and y'all know,
once they get my food order wrong, I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Tripping and it's a bad day.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
See, happiness goes up and down like a roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Joy is unmovable. Joy is an anchor.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And see a lot of people are trying to find joy,
but they look in the wrong places, so they settle
for happiness.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Hee, this's gonna be good. See.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
See what ends up happening is happiness is a feeling
dictated to me by what is happening externally. But that
is that's busted because I can never control that. I
can't control if my boss acts crazy. I can't control
if my car breaks down. I can't control if I
lose my job. And so if I am only happy
(07:03):
by what happens on the outside, then I am never
in control of.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
My own life.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And that looks like a bunch of people that call
themselves Christ followers. Most of our prayer requests are about
things that we can't control. Most of our attitudes are
about things that happen outside. And God said, I got
something better for you. I got something that will help
you sustain in the middle of any storm. I have
something that will make you smile when things are broken.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I got something.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
They can all leave you and you can still say,
stand there and have joy in your heart. But it
cannot be happiness. It has to be joy, and we're
confused on the definition of that. And so I want
you to understand that as I start studying, I look
up things I get in the dictionary, and I start
(07:51):
trying to figure out what things mean. And I looked
up this word joy, and I was very disappointed in
the one dimensionalness of it. In just Webster's dictionary, this
joy is a feeling of great pleasure in happiness.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
That's all.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
It gave three major components. It's a feeling of pleasure
and happiness. When I begin to weigh that against what
I see in the Bible, that's not enough to make
me still serve God and still have joy in the
midst of hard circumstances. See, I think about people like
(08:27):
Paul and Silas who were chained in jail and had
enough joy to start singing a song.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Now y'all missed it because I don't know about you.
But when i'm mad, I'm not ready to sing a song.
I'm ready to fight. Now.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Some of y'all are holy and perfect and all that
other stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
But when i'm mad, I'm ready to cut somebody out,
y'all fake religious demil.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I'm gonna come to y'all, y'all the real side. But
they had something from the inside that allowed them to say,
bless it be the name of the Lord. They were
able to lift up a song. They were able to sing,
we go from glory to glory to glory, said we
up in these chains will never be the.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Same like they were able.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
But that wasn't because of their circumstance, because they weren't
happy and being chained wasn't pleasurable, and they probably felt bad.
But the Bible tells us they still had joy. And
then it makes me think of people like Job who
lost everything. He lost all of his kids, he lost
(09:45):
all of his land, he lost all of his money.
But when they told him to stand up and curse God,
he was able to stand in joy, not feeling good,
he just lost everything, not being in a pleasurable state
and not even being happy. He probably stood in tears
and said this statement, the Lord give and the Lord
(10:08):
takes away.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Bless it be the name.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
How do you say that after everything you.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Had have been taken away from you? That's not happiness,
that's joy. Everybody say that's joy, and Jesus is saying
I want your joy to overflow. Look at Jesus. Go
to Hebrews twelve two, because this will mess me.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Up when I found it.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
It literally says in the Bible, for the joy set
before him, he endured the cross.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Hold up past the mic.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
You mean the thing that kept Jesus on the cross
from coming down and saying this is just too much
cut eternity.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Hold on. I didn't sign up for all of this
was joy, he said. I stayed on.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
The cross because I knew there was joy set before me.
That's not a place of pleasure. That's not a place
of happiness.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
That's not a.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Place of everything's okay. And the reason I'm saying that
is because many of you have been told the lie
and believed the lie. Because everything's not going good, you
can't have joy. But I came here this morning to
change the narrative that God is the one who can
give you joy, and not just a little bit, but
he can make you joy full in the middle of
(11:38):
a hard situation. And so that means we must have
the wrong definition of joy. So I want to give
you a definition of joy because I don't know about you,
but my feelings are fleeting. I mean, they change all
the time. How many people, okay, don't leave me up
here by myself. How many people have felt one way
about something and then maybe six months.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Later a year, you felt different about it.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Okay, some of y'all loved this pair of shoes last
year and hate that same pair of shoes right now,
can't even wear them no more.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
And whatever it is for you, but our feelings are fleeting.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I don't know about you, but what pleases me sometimes
is not always profitable for me.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I love ice cream.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
My waistline hates it. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And happiness is so inconsistent. So we need to find
out what joy is.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Write this definition down because if the only time I
can have joy is when my feelings pleasure and happiness
a line, I'll never find it. I want you to
see this joy is the supernatural delight in the person,
the purposes, the plan, the placement, the provision.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And the people of God.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I know that's a lot of peace, but I want
you to remember see, joy is when you are in
a place. Let me just give you the point. Your
joy will overflow as you discover that joy is not
a feeling. Joy is a heart posture. It's not feeling something.
It's where I have my eyes fixed. And that's why
(13:21):
joy is a supernatural. It's not natural to me. It's
beyond me. It's something that is worked in by the
Holy Spirit. That's why when I spend time with God,
that's when I pray, when I come into his house,
it's something that He begins to work into my life
that lets it be more than natural super natural delight
in knowing that.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
God, He's good. This is how it works in my life.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I say stuff like this, God, You're good, that His
purposes are coming to pass, that he has a specific
plan for my life, that I am placed right where
I need to be, and if I'm off course, his
grace will.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Lead me back to the right path.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Everything I need will be provided when I need it,
and He will give me the right people as community,
accountability and encouragement.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
What are you trying to say, Pastor Mike.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Joy comes from having a fixed perspective on Jesus. It
comes from having your focus on something.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That won't change. Can I help you?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
The reason you haven't been able to find joy is
because your focus changes too much.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
That's why you're.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Only finding happiness because I'm happy by what they're saying
on social media today. I'm happy by the amount of
money I make. I'm happy by this. I'm happy by
this relationship. I'm happy by these drugs. I'm happy by
these people liking me.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
But it has to.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Keep changing because nothing is solid enough to fix your
focus on. And that's why joy cannot come if you
do not have a fixed focus on something that.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Will not change.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
That's why Jesus has to be the center of our life,
because he is the one who is, the one.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Who was, and the one that is is to come.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
But what we do in our twenty first century is
we focus on whatever gives us feelings of pleasure and
happiness at the moment. So when life starts to change
or those things start to change, our happiness begins to change.
And God says, I want to give you something way.
I want to give you the upgrade. I want to
(15:22):
give you the upgrade, the happiness, and you can't find
it nowhere but me. I want to give you joy.
It's that thing that nobody can take from you. I
don't know about you, but I have some old school
people in my house and they used to say stuff
like this. They say, this joy that I have, the
world can't take it. The world didn't give it. You.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
See.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
That was my mama over there correcting me because she
said it all my life. The world didn't give it,
and what's the rest And the world can't take it away.
Anybody else has somebody in their life saying that and
quote it. Okay, the reason they can't take it, it's
because they don't have it. And the reason that they
can't give it is because they don't have it. And
(16:07):
as believers, if we choose to live below joy, if
we choose to let our circumstances dictate how we feel
and why we smile and why we get up and
why we do things, we are no better than anybody
else who doesn't have Jesus. And he said I came
that you might have life, and life to the fool.
(16:27):
He wants your life to be fruitful, joy full, full
of everything. But we have to take advantage of the
promises of God. And so you want your joy to overflow.
You need to know joy is not a feeling. Joy
is a heart posture. Can I break it down to
you because some of you, like okay, pastor Mike, I
kind of get you what you're saying, but I don't
really get it. Let me just break it all the
way down for people like me who are a little remedial.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Joy is a posture of my heart that says two things.
God's got it and I trust him.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Period.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
When the waves of life come and they fire from
me from my job, God's got it, and I trust him.
When they leave me at the altar and we were
supposed to be married, God's got it, and I trust him.
When my investments go down and I suck my whole
savings into it, I have joy because God's got it.
(17:20):
Come on and help me, and I trust him. When
the economy is turned upside down and my children are
acting crazy, I have a faith.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
That stands and says God's got it, and I trust him.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
When my children are faced with sickness, with pain, when
I've lost everything, I have to have a stance that
God's got it and I trust him. That's the only
way you can stay on the cross. That's the only
way you can lose everything and still say Blessed be
(17:52):
the name of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
That's the only way you can be in chains and
still happy. Because you have an.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Anchor that is dropped and the waves may blow, You're
not going under because my anchor is God's got it. WHOA,
and I trust him. Somebody just say it with an attitude.
God's got it, and I trust him. There's a situation
you're going through right now, and it looks bigger than you,
(18:21):
but I promise you it's not because God's got it.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Whoo, and I trust him.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
You've been looking at money situations, you've been looking at
pain in your life. You better square up and tell yourself.
God's got it. Whoa and I trust whoa. Somebody take
a moment and give God a shout of praise. Yeah,
God's got it and I trust him. This sickness is
(18:47):
not bigger than me. This job layoff is not bigger
than me. Who's then, government is not bigger than me.
God's got it and I trust him. That's where joy
comes from.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So a situation can come. But I'm chilling. Are my
feelings hurt? Yeah? Is it uncomfortable? Yeah? Is my happiness
a little up and down? Uh huh? But I still
have joy? Why? Because God's got it? And I trust.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Somebody gonna be walking around your house all week, you
gonna be You're gonna be a.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
God's got it and.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I y'all better stop playing with me because.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I will take off around this church. I am not
even playing. God's got it. I don't care what comes.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
God's got it, and I trust somebody's getting it.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Faith is coming into somebody. God's got it and I
trust it. Ah, Yeah, WHOA. God's got it.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
He's got you, he's got your kids, he's got your family,
he's got your career, he's got your family. God's got it,
and I trust him. Y'all better sit down. I'm only
on point one. I'm only on point one. Y'all better
sit out. I'm only on point one. But when you
remember how God brought you through that situation, and.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
You think back about how He's gonna bring you to.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
This situation, all you can step back and say is
God's got.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
It and I trust.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So when you have that knowing, when you know that,
when you know that, it doesn't matter what comes.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Some of y'all. I can see you college students. I
don't know about tuition him next year. I don't know
if I'm gonna get back day. And you weren't even
supposed to be here this year and God took care
of you, then why are you getting in doubt?
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Now?
Speaker 2 (21:09):
God's got it, and so this is what God wants
for you.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
He wants joy, not happiness, the unmovable thing that when
when you lose the job and when they when you
get incarcerated and they won't give you one. And God said,
I'll make you an entrepreneur. I'll build the business out
of you. I'll take I'll take everything. He's like, I
got you.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And so what happens.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Second point, your joy will overflow as you discover joy
is only Jesus generated. See, this is the problem. Most
people want joy, but they look for it in the
amount of money that they want. They look for it
in a relationship, they look for it in a career.
Some of y'all got more degrees than a thermometer, a
PhD A you in the NBA and the NBA, Like,
(22:03):
do you understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
You got all these degrees, but you still don't have joy.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Cause it's not coming externally, it's coming in turn.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
It's only can come from Jesus.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
So I'm trying to let everybody get the key to
this thing that God wants your.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Joy to overflow.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
But joy is only Jesus generated. We were in John fifteen,
chapter eleven. I want to scoop back up six verses
into chapter five, I mean verse five, and look what
Jesus is saying to him. He's like, yeah, yeah, guys,
I know y'all want to do great things for me,
but I just need you to remember this one thing,
and I'm gonna paint this.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Picture for you.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
He said, I'm the vine, You're the branches. Okay, So
don't get it, don't get it twisted. I'm the source,
and I'll resource you to do what I've called you
to do. See, we got it so twisted. Some of
y'all think you're the source.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
You don't have any ability to make anything happen. You
are just the resource.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
But when you remove yourself from God, you cut all
yourself off from these source.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
You missed it.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
When Jesus is the source, the vine, he says, you,
as my child, are a source, and I will resource
what you need as long as you stay connected to me.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
And so it says, I'm the vine, you're the branches.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
He who abides everybody say, abide, circle that underlining it,
write that tattoo.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
It on your arm. Abide He who abides.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
In me and I am them, bears much fruit, or
becomes joyful or has fullness of joy for.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Without me you can do nothing pause.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I'm like that ain't true. I can do stuff without you.
You can't do anything that lasts. You only can do
temporary things that you.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Have to sustain.
Speaker 5 (23:59):
And some of y'all are so tired of life because
you've been trying to sustain whatever you've tried to build,
and it's wearing you the hell out.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I know this ain't the church for everybody, but I
just had to say it because.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
You look like it.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It's on your face, it's wearing you out, and God
standing back.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Like you you want me to do it? I can.
You know I can do that with my pinky.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Like this ain't this ain't even hard for me. But
as long as you want to do it, I'll let
you do it. Because I'm a gentleman. I only step
in when I'm asked. And today God wants to make
some of your joy fool but you're gonna have to
invite him into it.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
He said, don't forget.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
If you abide me, you will not be able to
sustain without the joy of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
In this one chapter, in these.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Few verses, he mentions that word abide seven to ten
times and seven verses. If you abiding me and my words,
abiding you and if you don't abide in me, He
literally is trying to get a point across.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
I want you to abide. Stay connected. That's what that
word means. It means stay for a long time. Get
with me.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
That's why I don't understand people who try Christianity for
a month.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
I try, I tried to live. Say, I'll try not
to sleep with him. I'll try not to cuse, I'll
try not to do this. I'll try. How long did
you try, baby? Thirty two days?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
And it's just not working. So I went to sling it.
I went to this and I'm saying, no, no, no, no,
no no. What seed have you ever planted that you
kept picking up every day out of the dirt?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Bared fruit? And that's what we do. I'm in church
right now, but I'm not in church now. I'm gonna
serve you.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
But it's my birthday.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Y'all know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So how do you expect to bear fruit but you
won't stay planted? Pull up an orange tree every day,
every month, every year and see how.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Much fruit it gives. But that's why God's saying, just
a bye with me. Stay with me?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
If you mess up, come back, tell somebody the confession sins.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
One to another.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
You're already saved, the salvation is already taken care of.
Your eternity. Is cool, But I don't want you to
live hell on earth and then get escape to heaven.
He's like, I just want you to live this life
I paid for. I already paid for it.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Will you please order or germs? Will you please order
the dessert? Will you?
Speaker 1 (26:42):
It's just like somebody paying for a five star meal
and all you want.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Is the bread.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
It's already paid for, and could you just bring more bread?
They're stak waiting for you when you want bread and ranch.
Take full advantage of the life that God has given you.
(27:13):
And part of that life is being joy full, but
it only is generated by Jesus.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Let me give you a practical step to abiding, just practical.
Read your Bible, Read the Word of God. That's what
you always do that every Sunday. I'm gonna say it
every Sunday from now on because it's.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
The whole thing. Like that's everything. Like you can be
saved and not ever even come here if you just
get your Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to be.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Alive in you. It can change your whole life.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And I started to think about this analogy. It's hard
to be joyful naturally when you're hungry. How many people
get a little attitude when they get hungry. Come on, let's
be attitude. Some of y'all is just evil, like some
of y'all don't talk.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Do not talk to me until I get this mcdouble like,
do not.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Like. There's certain times where I know I just stop
talking to my wife and just slide her some chicken
nuggets because you understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
But then I started thinking.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
About it in the spiritual it's hard to be joyful
when your spirit is hungry.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Let me help you.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
But if we pray over God's word to eat it
at spiritual food, it nourishes, satisfies, and makes us glad.
But some of y'all are so spiritually starving, like you
don't spend time in God's word, and so you can't abide,
And it's hard to be joyful when your spirit is hungry.
I saw this commercial and it reminded me of this,
(28:48):
and I want you to check it out right now.
Check this commercial out. Check this commercial.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Out you now.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I saw this commercial and it preached to me.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Because in the middle of their car ride, the friend says,
every time you get hungry, you turn into a My
question is, every time your spirit is hungry, what do
you turn into. Every time you're spiritually hungry and you
won't feed it the word, you turn into a liar.
(29:55):
You you turn into a lust bucket, is what I
call it.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
That's what I used to be. That's not my bu
that was me.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Every time I don't feed on the word of God,
I turn into somebody who will manipulate the situation. I'll
turn into somebody who's judgmental. And some of you are
sitting around.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Here starving your spirit, man.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
And I'm here to say, like the friend said to you,
every time you get hungry, you turn into it.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
And all you have to do is eat.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
On the Word of God and listen to the tagline
it says. It says, you're not you when you're hungry.
I came to tell you you're not you when your
spirit is hungry, when you're not able to feed on
the word of God, you're not you.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
And some of y'all been walking around saying that's just
how I am, That's just how I am.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Man I say, you're so malnoursed that you think this
is normal. You'll so boliemic out here that if you
ate a Snickers it changed your whole life. If you
read Philippians one time, it waked you up and you said,
I've never met me before, a brand new person.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
You're not you and you're hungry.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
And the tagline says Snickers it's satisfied. I'm gonna steal
that and say the word.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Of God, it's satisfied. I want you to be practically
helped today. That's how you abide.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Look at this and this blessed me when I found
this scripture Jeremiah fifteen sixteen. It says, when I discovered
your words, when I discovered when I uncovered it, I
devoured them. Y'all know, when you're hungry, some of y'all
will eat without breathing.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 1 (31:37):
How many of y'all have eaten food hot because you
were so hungry, like you don't like you're trying to
blow on it and take it in, And do you
understand what I'm saying? But when you're hungry, it doesn't matter.
You'll devour it. And God is saying to some of you,
you need to get in your word. And it might
(31:57):
be hard, and it might be hot, but you need
to take that mug in. Oh, you can go ahead
and give God praise right there.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Now watch how beautifully the word of God works together.
It said, when I discovered your words, I devoured them.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
They are my joy.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Remember what we're talking about. We're talking about having joy
in our life. That our joy would overflow. God said, practically,
if you want joy, you have to know it's Jesus generated.
How do I get close to Jesus?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
How do I abide in him?
Speaker 1 (32:30):
And he said, if you read my word? He said,
it'll be your joy. You read my word, it will
be your joy and your heart's delight. Joy is only
Jesus generated. So let me give you my third point.
Your joy will overflow as you discover your joy is
not an option.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Joy is an outcome.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Joy is not like, oh, I'm going to decide to
be joyful today. No, it's an outcome of things that
you do to get in a place with God.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Let me help you. I'm gonna give you this analogy.
It's a little lengthy, but I want.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
You to hear it. It says, the secret of living
is joy. The secret of joy is being fruitful. The
secret of being fruitful is abiding. The secret of biding
is obeying. And then the secret of obeying is loving,
And the secret of loving is knowing.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Knowing who Jesus.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
You want joy, find Jesus.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
You want joy, know Jesus.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
You need more joy, Get more Jesus, because once you
get to know Jesus, it will help you to love him.
Once you love him, you'll start obeying him. Once you
obeyed him, you'll start abying or staying close to him.
Once you stay close to him, you'll start bearing fruit
like him. And once you start bearing fruit like him,
it'll bring you a lot of joy.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
See. But that's an outcome of knowing Jesus.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
And Pames, Mike, it sounds like you saying the same
thing I really am. I'm just trying to get it
in our hearts and our minds in a different way.
If you want that thing that nobody can steal from you, like,
if you want that thing that's better than.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Happiness, no Jesus, And in the face.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Of hard circumstances and broken situations, you will be able
to stand and people will come up to you and
be like, how are you?
Speaker 2 (34:14):
How are you holding it together? Why are you still smiling?
Why did you even come to help me?
Speaker 1 (34:19):
I know what you're going through. I know you just
lost your job. I know you just failed that test.
I know your family's going through. Like why are you
doing this? And it's not because of you, it's because
of who you know? And when who you know starts
to reflect who you are, you found true joy Psalms thirty,
(34:40):
verse five. This is David talking, and David's real emotional,
He's emo, and David is always in this paradox. He's
always fearful but faithful, safe but scared, hopeful but hiding,
like he's been in these places.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
And this is what he writes.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
For his anger last only a moment, but his favor
lasts the lifetime.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Weeping may last through the night.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
But what joy comes with the morning. I came to
encourage somebody that it may look dark right now, but
this message is your morning, Like this message has been
the thing that God wanted to remind you that I
don't care how dark it is in your life. I
send joy constantly so that you know you always have
(35:33):
a brand new opportunity to experience it. He could have
used the analogy to anything else, but he said, your
joy will come in the morning, because one thing is guaranteed,
no matter how long the night feels like it lasts,
the morning's coming. I came to encourage somebody today that
your joy is not far away. That I know you're
broken and you're downtrodden, and the situation's bad right now,
(35:55):
but joy.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Is coming in the morning.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
But as I start walking this out in my own life,
I found something for me and my life, me and
my wife that kind of gave me a new perspective
on this. The scripture says joy comes in the.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Morning, like with the sun.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
But I found it to be true that many times
joy comes in our mourning. The things that we feel
like we lost, the things that we feel like are
a disadvantage, the things that we feel like in life
(36:36):
are unfair. God somehow turns those situations to an awesome
opportunity to experience joy that doesn't move us by an
outward circumstance. I should be sad, I should be broken,
I should be mad right now, but joy.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Is coming out of this morning. Can I help you
in church?
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I'm going to be very real with you right now,
cause me and my wife have been experiencing this in
our life.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
This is my son, MJ.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
MJ just celebrated his second birthday and he turned two
on the twenty what was it, the twenty sixth of October.
He's the most amazingly cute boy in the world. So MJ,
me and my wife this year have been praying, serving God's,
serving this church, doing everything that we know how to do.
(37:28):
And we noticed that MJ wasn't developing and talking and
doing certain things like Isabella, his older sister.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
And so.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
We went to the doctor and there's like, yeah, he's
not developing and doing things like other children are doing.
He's like, I think he has some developmental delays. And
me and my wife are like, no, not oursling. We prayed,
we fasted, we've cried, We've dedicated him to the Lord.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Not happening. So we took him to.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Some other therapists and some other people in faith, knowing
that God is bigger, knowing that we trust God, and
we got him and he said, we're not sure about it.
He's not old enough to tell yet, but he looks
like he might have some signs of autism. And I
don't know if any parents in this house have ever
(38:21):
been told something has happened to your children or something
that you can't control. But for us, me and my
wife went through a season and are still going through
a season of morning.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Believing and trusting in.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
What God is saying, but knowing that it's not always
a fair situation. And as we celebrate his second birthday
and he's not saying any words yet.
Speaker 5 (38:57):
As he sat there yesterday enjoyed his trucks and.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
And enjoyed as friends and his family being around and.
Speaker 5 (39:15):
Be at my wife, we looked at each other every
time he smiled, and we were so excited.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Because what we thought was the death of a dream
in our life.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
And he may never play football, and he may never
do this, and he may never do that.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
We saw the grace of God.
Speaker 6 (39:39):
At work and a situation where we had to mourn,
and I stood in faith and I told the therapist,
I said, I know what the reports are saying, and
I know we haven't had him testing, and i know
all these other things are happening, but I'm believing God
for a miracles.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Said, I'm believing God for a miracle.
Speaker 5 (40:07):
And then God took me to the scripture that has
helped me through many days.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Because the joy.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Is not coming in the sun that came up. It's
coming in the loss and in the disappointment of something
that I thought. And I'm reckoning and trying to figure out, God.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
What are you doing?
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I served you, I told you i'd serve your people.
I do all this other stuff. But how is this
all making sense? He says, Son, It's not something I'm
doing to you. It's something I'm doing for you. He said,
I'm using your son that carries your same name to
teach you about my faithfulness, to teach you about my grade.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
See, it's not gonna come.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
From the likes on Instagram because he's cute. It's gonna
come from the inside. It's gonna come from you being
connected to me. It's gonna come from you trusting that
I got it, and I have to have the.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Response that I trust you.
Speaker 5 (41:05):
And he took me to James chapter one, verse two,
when it said, dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of
any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for
great joy.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
I never looked at that scripture.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
With much with much faith, because nothing had happened to
me that hit me to my court like this, But
it changed my perspective on how I was looking at
the situation because God knew it what was gonna happen.
And so if God didn't put James Chapter one, verse
two in the Bible for anybody else, he put it
in there for me because he said, Michael, don't worry
(41:47):
when troubles of any kind come your way.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
I want you to.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Change your perspective. And I want you to consider it
an opportunity for your joy to grow, for your joy
to be fool, for you to be joy fool.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
For there to be fruit to come out of this.
He said.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
For you know, when your faith is tested, and it
has been, he said, your endurance has the chance to grow.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
So then he tells you, Mike, it's gonna be okay.
Let it grow.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Don't fight it, don't deny it, don't try to act
like his hands. The enemy tried to get me not
to share it, to think that people will label my
son and all this other stuff, and God said, just
let it grow. He said, I'm gonna get the glory
out of this. I'm gonna do a miracle behind this.
I'm gonna be the one that is high and lift
it up, and I'm gonna be the one to get
(42:41):
the glory. But you gotta know that your joy is
not external, that your joy is internal, that it comes
from me, and I got it, and you have to
trust me.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
So let it grow. For when your.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete,
needing nothing.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
I can see how that works.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Now, because I give anything for my son to say words,
you wouldn't have to give me no more clothes. And
God said, when I work this miracle on your behalf,
you're gonna see that the things that you think are
really important are not important at all.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
That's how Paul in silence.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
They had been in jail before, they had been shipbreaking
discourging that Jesus got Paul got that so many times
it was usual. So when they did death threats and
all this stuff, it didn't.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Affect his joy.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
He said, because I've been through things that should have
taken my joy. But my joy is not external.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
It comes from Jesus.
Speaker 5 (43:55):
Today, I don't know what the enemy has been trying
to tell you about your life, but you have so
much to be joyful about.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
You abide and you stay.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Connected to him. That's the only thing that's kept me
in this time.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
That's the best messages that I've preached, those things that
you said, pastor you're preaching.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
I've been going through crap in the background, trying to
hold onto my faith. But I knew God had it.
And so when you.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Come and see me, or you see me laughing or
anything that's not happiness because my situation's not the best,
but it's joy that comes from the inside. And the
world didn't give it. Autism didn't give it, sickness didn't
give it, and it can't take it away.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
God, I worship you. I dare somebody to just thank
God for who he is, for what he's doing. I
guess somebody to get joyful if.
Speaker 1 (44:53):
You would just remember who God is and how he's
been so good.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
God, we trust you because you got it.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
God, our pray over every person under the sound of
my voice, who the enemy has tried to steal their joy,
who we've tried to be convinced that it's too bad.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Father.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I thank you God that we take a posture of
knowing who you are.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
Father God.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
I thank you Father that our joy will begin to overflow.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
Father God, that we.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Will begin to keep our minds stayed on you, Father God,
and you will do something in our life that doesn't
come from the external, Father, but it comes from the internal.
Be it what comes, Father God, I don't care. I
have faith in you. I believe you are good, and
we as the church will serve you and trust you,
and we will have joy. Our smile will not be
(45:44):
because of our circumstance.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Our smile won't.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Be because of our feeling, but it will be because
you are a good father, and we are connected to you,
and we trust you, and You've got it in Jesus' name. Somebody,
give God a shout of praise in this place. Come on,
give God a shout of praise in this place, the
(46:08):
God who makes us fruitful.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Hey, bring me that water real quick.
Speaker 1 (46:14):
I want to show you this. Don't cut the tape yet.
I just need everybody to see this. I was gonna
go without it, but just bring it out.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
See.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
This is what I want you to understand real quick.
The last point I want to give you right now
is that your joy will overflow. Sit down two minutes, please,
And I'm following the spirit right now because somebody needs
to see this. It says your joy will overflow when
you change the concentration, when you change what you're concentrating on. See,
(46:44):
this is what life looks like. This is you remember that?
Speaker 2 (46:46):
John?
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Can you put that John fifteen eleven scripture up real quick,
because I just want to teach this with an example,
real quick, John fifteen verse eleven. And it says, I've
told you these things so that you will be filled
with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. This is
your joy, okay. But the thing about my joy is
that I can't control what life throws at me. I
(47:10):
don't know what is going on, and I don't know
that God may have some situations that he allows into
my life to throw some some disappointment, some frustration, some hurt.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
I can't control that. So what is it doing? Past?
Speaker 1 (47:35):
The night is starts affecting my joy? And where I
was clear, I start.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
To look a little blue. But put the scripture back
up there.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
The scripture tells us that now this is your joy,
but I want to fill you with my joy.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Can you bring me out jesus joy. Please see Jesus'
joy is clear and Jesus' joy is full. This is
the difference, though.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
See there's a concentration of blue dye that is in
here that has overtaken the amount of trust and purity
and clarity that was in here. But when we change
our concentration to the Word of God. See, you've been
focused on how blue it is, and God says, focus on.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
How big I am.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
You've been focused on how it's affected you, and God saying,
focus on how I can affect it. And when you
start pouring the Word of God in our faith overflows.
But as it overflows, it takes out everything that's It
takes out every Somebody better rejoice with me and our
our joy begins to over flow. I dare you, if
(48:47):
you're in this place, to begin a shot under God
with the voice of triumph, that He's taken everything that's
been blue in your life, and he's gonna take your joy,
and he's gonna overflow, and everything that's not like him
is coming out. Hear me when I tell you change
(49:10):
the concentration. The only reason joy was restored was because
the concentration changed. There was less die and more water,
there was less worry, there was more word, and.
Speaker 2 (49:31):
It changed the concentration.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Don't ever forget that God through Jesus wants to give
you his joy, and your joy will overflow.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
Amen. Give God a shot of praise in this place.
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