Find Your Joy and Share it with Others
Updated: Aug 29, 2022
Dear Heavenly Father, as we rise to meet each new day, please let us be filled with Your spirit. We praise You for this day and Your purpose for it. Help us to embrace and enjoy the life you’ve given us to live. Reset our agendas as we sit in Your presence. Bless our minds to remember and embrace the freedom, hope, joy and peace we have in Christ.
We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.
This is our second lesson in this study of Philippians, and we are still on our search for Joy. Deb asked us to think about these five ways we can see joy at work in our lives and how we can share that joy with others.
Joy in Seeing God’s Hand:
God’s hand is always moving, meaning He is always at work, in our lives because God is sovereign over all life. God’s sovereign reign extends from the rise and fall of kings and nations to the very numbering of our days and hairs on our heads. God’s hands are always moving for the believer’s ultimate good. This does not mean that all things that happen to a believer are good in themselves, but that God works them all together for good. This can be difficult to understand until we realize that the ultimate good for a believer is not external earthly comfort but internal conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. Two of the most important ways in which we can see God’s hand move in our lives are through His Word and His Spirit. It is by His Word and Spirit that we are called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and will one day be glorified!
Read: Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 21:1, Job 12:23, Psalm 77:14
Joy in Seeing Others Proclaim Jesus:
The church, the body of Christ, is called to proclaim the gospel until Christ comes again. It is he who forgives us in baptism and feeds us at his table. As disciples of Christ, we are all called to conform our lives to his by living in a loving community with others. We exist to proclaim Jesus to all those who are in need of a savior and empower believers to walk in the authority of Jesus Christ. Our witness cannot be in word only. We can’t settle for articulate expressions or elegant ideas. We must embody what we proclaim. There must be evidence in our lives of the truth we proclaim when we tell people the kingdom is available to them. In other words, we must BE disciples if we are going to MAKE disciples. We need to remind them that they can live an abundant, powerful life overflowing with the joy and love of Jesus!
Read: Romans 1:16, Matthew 24:14, Luke 24:47
Joy in Answered Prayer:
God hears our heartfelt praying, and his answers exceed our asking. God reveals himself as one who loved me and gave Himself up for me. The joy we feel when God answers our prayers is a joy that can only be found in a life centered on Jesus Christ–that is what discipleship is all about. That is what asking the Father in Jesus’ name is all about—asking with Christ at the center of our lives!
Read: Eph. 3:20, John 16:24, Mark 11:24
Joy No Matter What!
Finding joy in all circumstances sounds easier than it actually is, and when someone tells you to choose joy, it can make you feel worse. But joy is rooted in who God is. It’s not fleeting or based on circumstances. Worldly possessions, accomplishments, even the people in our lives, are all blessings that make us happy and fuel joyfulness. However, the Bible teaches that the source of all joy is Jesus. The Word made flesh to dwell among us, to navigate difficult situations in the absence of happiness while sustaining our joy.
Read: Romans 15:13, Psalm 37:4, Psalm 94:19
Joy in Unity and in Suffering:
Joy is a by-product of serving others, of sharing good. It is not a result of anything we do, our good deeds, or doing our work well. We feel joy when we have unity.
Unity is encouraging one another.
Unity is comforting one another.
Unity is agreeing with one another.
We have unity in our suffering. Jesus sees us, and our pain matters to Him. He’s experienced the suffering of humanity first-hand through walking the earth. He knows that whatever it is we are struggling with was going to happen—and He knows how it’s going to end. The things we are going through will equip us with life skills like patience, compassion, and a deeper understanding of the suffering of others. So, we have unity with each other’s pain.
Read: James 1:2-3, 1 Peter 4:13, Psalm 94:19