.  Living Hope Fellowship Church...Sermons by the Pastor

GET BACK YOUR JOY!

by Pastor Kevin Badgley  

          Nehemiah 8:10 tells us, “. . . the joy of the LORD is your strength. 

          A lot of people are not happy; they’ve got just enough of God to be miserable!  They wrestle with keeping their joy.

          Some confuse temporary fun with happiness.  You may have fun in the world for a little while, but it’ll wear out your body and your brain.  The devil is a liar and a loser.  How can a loser help you get any joy?

          When you are thankful you are joyful.  When you don't have any joy, you’re grouchy, and you get just like the devil!  If you and God aren't on good speaking terms, everything else is vanity.  “Things” are temporary, short lived, and disappointing. 

          David asked the Lord to restore the joy in Psalm 51:10-13.  He knew that joy was his strength.  If you are born again there ought to be some joy.  If you are filled with the Spirit there ought to be some joy.   Appear someplace in public with a grin on your face, and people think you are hiding something, and they'll ask what you are so happy about.  Things may be falling in pieces around you, but the joy of the Lord gives peace that passes understanding. 

          Well, what are you so happy about?  I'm born again.  I'm filled with the Spirit of God.  Jesus loves me.  I'm free, and no devil owns me or controls me!  I'm going to Heaven soon!             I'm going to take as many with me as I can, but I'm not going to get there with a sour puss.  Don’t backslide and lose your joy, because you’ll be weak, beggarly, and sickly; the joy of the Lord is your strength! 

          Deuteronomy 28:47 says, “Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;”  Verse 48 says, “Therefore shalt thou serve thine en-

emies. . . .”  If the LORD is not your main focal point of joy, then you need to re-examine your salvation!

          Revelations 2:4 says, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”  In Verse 5 it tells us to repent and do our first works.       

          We need to be a happy people, praying through until the devil leaves, the burden lifts, and God comes down in power and the joy of the Lord!

          Do you remember your first love for your girlfriend or boyfriend?  What about the first love you had when you got saved?  If you as a Christian start seeking things out in the world to give you joy - your joy in God is low.  Stay fresh with Jesus, and keep the joy.

          Isaiah 12:3 says, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”  We need to rejoice in the Lord God of our salvation! 

          Psalm 103:2-3 says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;”

          Faith and joy are kin.  When you've got joy that only the Lord can give you, your faith will rise to the greatest of heights.  If you have the Lord but no joy, you are miserable, because you are relying upon emotion. 

          When you've got joy it's not hard to pray for your enemies.  Without joy people are miserable, and miserable people are mean.  People are oversensitive when they lose their joy, and the Bible says anger resteth in the bosom of fools!  (See Ecc. 7:9.)

          Heaven and earth will pass away, but the joy of the will remain forever for them that enter in!  People are hurting all around us, but Jesus Christ always will be the answer. 

          Sinners rarely see Christians with genuine joy - people who keep their smile, keep their tone right, and who keep their attitude right - even in the midst of trouble.  There is a joy from God that will override all sadness, disappointment, and frustration !

          When you sin, the first thing to go is your joy.  Pretty soon you can’t get happy over anything! 

          Having God’s joy means no one can take away your joy and your salvation; they can’t affect your faith.  Romans 3:3 says, “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?”

          If you have Jesus, that’s all the reason you need to be happy.  If everything else is going to hell around you and the most precious thing you know is fading away, the joy of the Lord will still always be your strength. 

          Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

          Let’s pray through until we get the joy back! Let’s go forward for God!

© Living Hope Fellowship, Inc.

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 livinghope@hughes.net