Maintaining Joy

Today we're going to talk about joy. This is fun, right? Fun day so far. Um little communion, a little whatever.

We're going to talk about joy. Um you know, so here's the thing. To have joy, you you uh you do a vision board and a mission board. You you focus on your dreams.

You manifest it in your mind. You ask God to help you. And uh you'll have joy. Thank you.

Oh, wait. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. If I take an imperfect me and put me in the center of an imperfect world, how am I going to have perfect joy? Like, that just doesn't work, right?

Can't have it. [sighs] I was crying coming in here today because the church is very focused on the individual. The sermons are very focused on the individual. Um, and you can have happiness focused on yourself as long as everything goes right.

Okay? But as soon as that AC unit breaks or the hot water heater breaks, all of a sudden, anguish, anxiety, worry stress okay? Happiness is temporary. It's dependent on circumstances.

Okay? >> [clears throat] >> There is no way in the course of this life on this planet everything's going to go your way. It's just impossible. Okay?

So your choice is to go after real joy. Okay? A joy that is solid even when things don't go well or happiness. Okay?

And you cannot have real joy focusing on you. It is impossible. Uh, our AC broke this week. Talk about stuff, right?

It did. It broke at Thursday and it took till Saturday before the guy got there, you know. And, uh, Friday because I had to go to work, I just went a little early and did my Bible study there at work because I had AC at work. Um, but uh, Saturday I got up and I'm like, you know what?

There's going to be a time when the electrical grid goes out and this is practice for me, man. Warrior, you know, get get ready, you know? So, I'm doing my Bible study in 85 degree weather upstairs. And I got the hottest room in the house, by the way, because I'm right over the garage, right?

So, I'm just sweating and just, you know, enjoying the Lord. It was great. Acts five. Um, and it did get fixed last night.

Praise the Lord. I've contemplated going to a hotel room if I didn't just so I could get a good night's sleep so I can preach, right? Um, but anyway, uh, it got fixed. So, praise the Lord.

In Acts five, the disciples get arrested. Peter and the disciples get arrested because they're preaching about Jesus and the the the uh Sanhedrin, I guess the Pharisees wanted to kill him. Okay? And Gamal, the um kind of one of the the biggies, okay?

One of the the most respected rabbis stepped up and and convinced him not to. And we're going to pick up the story right there in Acts 5 verse 38. And now I say to you, keep away from these men. This is Gamma.

Let them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing. But it is of if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against God. And they agreed with him.

And when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. and daily in the temple and in every house. They did not cease teaching and preaching about God.

They were beaten. Okay? Some uh some translations say fogged much like Jesus. Okay?

We'll sit there and get sour because we have a headache, right? Oh man, I got a headache. Got to work today. You know, these guys were getting beaten.

We don't even know how much pain that's like. You know that's trust me it's got to be way worse than a headache. Okay. And they were rejoicing.

They were praising God. Obviously they were focused on something different than their themselves, right? Because they were rejoicing in the middle of really pretty pretty serious suffering. All right.

There's something different here. There's something something better than happiness. They're they're able to be joyful even in the midst of a pretty bad route that much of us will never face. Um Acts 16 20 25 20 through 25 similar story.

This time Paul and Silas are arrested for preaching and uh going out there and witnessing. And they brought them to the magistrates. This is uh verse 20 in Acts 16. And they brought them to the magistrates and said, "These men are being Jews exceedingly trouble our city and they teach customs which are not lawful for us being Romans to receive and observe."

Then the multitude rose up together against them. And the magistrates tore off their clothes. What's with tearing off the clothes? Like they were doing that when Jesus was there.

They're tearing off a you know I What's the purpose of that? I I don't >> to me it's kind of silly. But anyway, the magistrates tore off the clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanded the jailer to keep them securely.

Having received such a charge, he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. So prison pretty I imagine it's very like a dungeon, right? It's very wet, cold, damp, and they're in the inner part of it, and they've got shackles on their feet. All right.

This is not a fun time. This is not, you know, your AC goes out. This is like a lot more suffering. And they had been beaten once again with many stripes, it says.

And so look at verse 25. But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. Okay?

In a dark Roman dungeon, joy stays with you. Okay? Joy, it doesn't depend on circumstances. Happiness is fleeting and only stays, okay, if things go your way.

We're coming to a time where tribulation may happen and your life's just not going to be hunky dory. Okay? We need to learn the secret of joy so that we can be joyful no matter what and be a light to the other people that are around us. Okay?

So that it could be said what was said in Nehemiah 8:10 that the joy of the Lord is our strength. So today, here's the key to joy. It's living for Jesus, okay? Not checking off a Jesus box.

I'm not talking about showing up on Sunday, checking off the Jesus box and being good, okay, with your amount of Jesus, okay? It's choosing to die to yourself every day, living for Jesus.

Jesus tells us as much in Luke 9 verse 23 where he says if anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me that is a key secret to a life of joy dying to ourselves and picking up Jesus okay putting imperfect you at the center it's never going to work okay but perfect Jesus at the center of your life that has the potential potential, the only potential to have joy. Okay. So, what does that look like? How do you die to yourself daily and focus only on Jesus?

We need to model Jesus himself. Okay? Not only did Jesus come and teach, he also modeled it for us. Okay?

He lived it. And so, we can see from his actions and from from his words how we too are supposed to live. So, we're going to John 15 9-11. This is such an awesome, awesome verse.

Um, this is the key to joy right here. All right, this verse, you should circle it. You should study it, mull on it, and everything because the more you think about it, the more incredible it is. This is Jesus.

Now, as the father loved me, I also loved you. Abide in my love. How do we abide in his love? He tells us, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I kept my father's commandments and abide in his love."

Okay? So follow me as I follow the Lord. Right? He follow he did whatever God told him to do.

He's telling us to do whatever he tells us to do. And here's the result. These things I've spoken to you that my joy my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. This That's it right there.

Okay? It's abide. You obey his commandments. Follow Jesus.

Follow what he did. He said many times, "I don't say anything except what Jesus except what God tells me to say." Okay? And we need to follow him obeying Jesus's commands just like he obeyed his father.

Okay? Now, before you get confused, this is not works. Okay? Your salvation is set when you repent and you ask Jesus into your heart.

Okay? This isn't doing commandments to try to earn anything. You're already saved. Okay?

But if you want joy, Jesus says the key to that is obeying me, which does mean you'll do some things. You once you get saved, you don't just sit there and then live for you. That's just not how you can have joy. It's impossible to have joy if you're living for yourself.

Impossible. But if you start living for Jesus, there's a chance that you can. If you want joy as a Christian, you cannot get there focusing on you. We must focus on Jesus and obey his commands.

You know, Glenn said something the other day was great. He said, "If you love someone, you don't hurt them." Okay? And sin hurts God because it hurts his people.

Okay? God hates sin. So, we shouldn't sit here and use grace as an excuse to do what we want to do to to to do what the flesh says because sin separates you from God. Sin hurts other people and sin keeps you in bondage.

So, you want to put away the fallacy of the the going too far to the grace doctrine is acceptance of sin and then you're separate from God and that does not lead to joy. Okay? It only leads to bondage. Ask someone who's hooked on drugs.

Sin is bondage, man. It's not freedom. Okay? And um the only way to have joy is to focus on Jesus.

It's impossible if you're all up in your fields um to have joy in Jesus. So the only path is John 15:9-11. Obey Christ's commands just like he obeyed God. What does obeying obeying Jesus look like in all the main areas of our life?

Okay, that's what we're going to break down. I'm not going to just all right, this is the secret. Obey his commands. What does that really look like in the areas of our life?

We're going to start with relationships, right? Because that's such a big part of our life. Relationships with your parents. Got some parents here.

Relationships with your your siblings, with your kids, okay? Relationships with uh co-workers and friends. So, we're going to talk about relationships. What does Jesus say about relationships and how to have joy in our relationships?

The next two verses after what we just studied, Jesus tells us. Okay, so this is 15 still, but now we're going to verse 12. This is after he says, "My joy will remain in you and your joy may be full." What's your commandment, Jesus?

This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Now note, greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. Okay, that means Luke 9:23 and and John 15 here, you die to yourself in your relationships.

Okay, that's what the key is is dying to ourel daily and picking up what Jesus says to do, which is to love each other. Okay, what does that look like? So, in your marriage, all right, um you're a guy, you you've had a horrible day at work. You're coming home.

Um there's been so many emotional arguments and all this other stuff all day. You're worn out, man. You don't even want to talk to anybody. You want to come home and lay on the couch.

and you come in the door and your wife's there and she's cooking dinner, but she's clanging the pots and you don't know what that means. You know, there's something wrong. And you're sitting there, man, I just want to lay down, dude. I don't want to have to do this.

Okay. Dying to yourself says you go over to that wife anyway, and you hold her hand and you say, "Talk to me." Don't ask her if anything's wrong. You know something's wrong the way she's acting, right?

You don't have to ask her. that that annoys them actually. Um, you know, you just hold her hand and say, "Talk to me." She'll say, "No, no, no, no."

And then just stay silent for 30 seconds, she'll start talking. Okay? An hour later, she'll be done and things will be better. That's dying to self.

Okay? Um, [laughter] >> you're a wife. You've had a heck of a day. You worked all day, then you came home.

The kids were a nightmare. You guys have done the stuff and now you're laying in bed. The hubby's in bed and you can tell the husband's got some needs. Okay.

And you have a headache. Not faking a headache. You have a legitimate headache. Okay.

You don't feel like doing you know what do you do? Take a breath. Lord, give me strength. And then you instigate it and it changes the whole game.

Okay? That's dying to yourself. Marriages are breaking up and being destroyed because the people are focused on their own needs. Focus on each other's needs, okay?

And and and you'll you'll be strong. Okay? And the other thing is pray. You two pray every day together, right?

Colton, uh his wife Kayla, they pray every day. If you pray together as a couple, the chances of divorce are 0. 003. Did you know that?

0. 003. It's almost 50% if you don't. you.

There's no difference between the world and Christians when it comes to divorce, except for couples that pray together every single day. 0. 003. [snorts] Um, so that's marriage.

What about your kids, man? You've been working all day. You It's been rough. You're tired.

You come home and you're just beat. And you know when you come in the door, the little kids are going to come running out. Daddy, daddy, daddy. Okay.

I used to love that when you guys would do that. They would come running out the door. Daddy, daddy, jump in my arms. It was great.

That was one of the great times. But there were days when you were so worn out, right? But what do you do? Lord, give me strength.

And then you walk in the door because kids spell love T I M. Time. That's it. You just got to spend time with them.

They want to spend time with you. Your girl wants to tell about all the dolls she she decorated that day. The guy wants to just get thrown around on the bed. Okay?

But but they just they just want to hang out with their dad. So you die to yourself and you hang out with them. That's loving in children. What about friends?

Your friend calls you up to move. You know what you're going to do? If you love them, you're going to die to yourself. Because no one likes to help someone move ever.

It's the worst thing in the world. You say, "Yeah, man. I'll be there, buddy. I'll be there.

Tell me what time." And you do it with joy in your heart. That's dying to self. and loving your friend.

Okay. How about your co-workers? You get in the office, there's one pod left of coffee for the curig. Okay.

And you know Jenny Lou is going to be coming in any minute. Okay. And you don't even like Jenny Lou. All right.

She's annoying. She's loud. And but you know if she doesn't get her coffee, she's going to really have a bad day. And you let Jenny Lou have the last pot of coffee.

Okay, that's dying yourself. And you know what's neat is that's a beacet moment. You actually get rewards in heaven for the good things you do when no one's looking. Don't tell Jenny Lou you left the last one for her because then you ruined your your reward.

Okay? If you don't tell them, you get rewards at the PEMA seat. Okay? How cool is that?

So that's how that's what it means. And with all of these groups, sprinkle a lot of encouragement, okay? Because people need encouragement. They really do.

Even I do. If you're cranky and you don't want to encourage, die to yourself. Encourage them anyway. All right?

It's and and when you do that, you will have more loving relationships. Be willing to lay down your life. Not one time any man. Well, we're made to be protectors.

So, if a gun goes off, a guy might jump in front of the the the bullet just out of reflex reaction. Okay. However, to die to yourself every day for the spouse, for the whatever is way harder because now you're killing your flesh. Okay?

And it's critical that you do that. You're rewarded with good relationships, love, but also living for yourself in spite of others leads to poor relationships and loneliness. God's way leads to joy. Love God, obey him, love others, and you'll have joy.

Okay, you get it? Work. How about work? Onethird of your life is work.

One-third. Eight hours a day, there's only 24. So that's oneird of your life, right? Is work.

How do you have joy in your work? What does that look like? People say, "Well, if you find something you love." Well, that's great if you do.

If you can find something you love, but even then, you better apply yourself because if you don't, you'll soon not love it so much. So you have to once again obey Jesus. Joy does not depend on your circumstance. You can be in a job you don't like and still have joy.

You can Okay, joy exists even in a Roman prison. Your work's not that bad. Okay, it's not Roman prison bad. So how did Jesus work?

What did he say to do? And what does he model? What he said about work in John 5:17? He said, "My father has been working until now and I have been working."

So the father's always working and he too needs to be working. What was his work? He tells us in Luke 4 uh 18 and 19, this is another hot passage. Um this is like his mission statement and Jesus is basically saying, "Yes, his destiny was the cross, but this is what he was going to do every day."

And and as we read it, think about what you know of Jesus as you've studied him. And it really is what he did every day. The spirit of the Lord is upon me. This is Luke 4:18.

The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Now, when you look through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that's pretty much what he did morning to night. He walked around healing people teaching preaching talking about salvation, talking about the the Lord, right?

That's all he did. That was his work and he did it all day from sunrise to sun up. So the question is are you working in a similar matter? Okay.

When you go to work, do you spend time on reals? Okay. Or s search or or or shopping on Amazon. com while you're being paid to do your work just because you got it done early.

Okay. Are you are you are you giving that employer a full eight hours? If you're self-employed, are you getting up at noon to go in and put in a few hours or are you getting up really early? Okay.

And going out there and working hard. Jesus worked from sun up to sun down. The key to joy is actually working hard. The Bible says, "Whatever your hand finds to do," Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."

And it doesn't like it if if you don't like it. That's immaterial. You're supposed to work your job with all your might for when you're paid, you're there. When you're a uh self-employed person, you're God is your employer.

Okay? He's watching. You got to work the way he tells you to work. I don't like my job.

Okay? Um I give out debt and I don't believe in debt. Okay? So, I deal with people that are dealing with money issues.

It's very stressful for them. It's very whatever. It's not the easiest job in the world. Back in '08 when my my business crashed, I tried to get a job anywhere and everywhere.

God would not open any door. This was the only door he left open. So, for better or worse, this is where God has me. It's not for me to tell God what I want.

See, that's that's we say just cast a vision board or cast this or cast that and we'll do whatever we want. No. Where does God want you? Okay.

If God wants me here, then I have to be an obedient worker here. Would I rather be a pro golfer? Heck yes. That's that's a great job, right?

And you can work it into your 50s, 60s with no problems, you know. Um that would be great. There's no chance I'll ever be a pro golfer no matter how hard I try. Right, Josh?

It's bad. Okay, it's bad. All right, Josh would have a chance. I have no chance.

But in my field, no one shows up before 10 o'clock. It's amazing. I can't. When I call on business brokers and realtors, none of them are there before 10.

So, I get there early. I've already got a couple hours head start on all of my competition. And and it's no wonder why I'm number one at what I do. Okay?

And when you do something well, it becomes kind of fun. may not have been what you wanted to do your whole life, but it fed my family. Okay? And and there is joy in obeying God.

When I'm doing something, I know God has me there and I'm doing it hard as if I'm honoring him. I feel his pleasure. You want to feel his pleasure when you're working. Okay?

And the only way to do that is to honor him by doing it the way he modeled for us and told us to do. Even though it's a tough business and I don't like it, I have joy because God is faithful. Joy. Living for Jesus.

Dying to self is the key to joy. You got it? Are you getting that? All right.

How about money? This is where it gets fun. One of the reasons Jesus talks so much about money is because it's such a control thing for people. Okay.

It's one of the hardest things to give up and give to the Lord. Um, but I will tell you this. I don't even have to know your situation. If you are in control of your money, it doesn't matter how much you make.

You have worry, anxiety, and stress. You think if I make enough money, it won't. Uh-uh. John D.

Rockefeller was the wealthiest person of his time. Okay? Wealthier than most countries. That's how wealthy he was back in the early 1900s.

By the end of his days, he couldn't even drink a glass of milk because his stomach had so much ulcers and stuff from all his worry of of how to keep all of his money contained. Okay? Making a lot of money doesn't take away money worries. Okay?

Trusting God with your money and allowing him to take it, that is where you can have um rest. I I had a a worker, no I had a friend did really well, made tons of money, uh had so much money, and then she sold her company and had all this more money, okay? More money than she need knows what to do with. And she was an investor in our fund, okay?

And she controlled her money just like most people do. and she invested in in this one deal and and rather than go by my system, she wanted to like take control of everything. And so I let her because she was putting up all the money in that particular deal. And uh and then things started going bad.

Of course, then I got blamed, right? Even though she was in control, but there was no chance of her losing her money. Okay? And I'll never forget and and the amount that we're talking is insignificant in the span of all of her her wealth.

And uh there's this one point where she's freaking out. I'm like, "Listen, it's only money." She goes, "But it's my money, Brian." And the the the abject fear in her voice, I'll never forget the way it sounded.

And it just was very clear, you absolutely cannot have joy if you're controlling your money. You cannot. Jesus said in Matthew 22:21, he's holding up a coin and he says, "Render therefore to Caesar what is Caesars's and to God what is God's." People focus on that regarding paying taxes.

But what does God say about money? God says he gets the first fruits. Malachi 3 verses 8 through 10. Going to read them now for you.

Will a man rob God? This is God speaking now. Yet you have robbed me. But you say, "In what way have we robbed you?

In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse. For you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse.

Then there may be food in my house. And try me now in this." Some versions say, "Test me in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room to receive it. The tithe that he's talking about here is the first 10%.

God wants the first fruits. Now, people will say when they teach on it, they'll say, "Well, that's the Old Testament. You know, we're above the law. That doesn't count anymore."

All right. First off, if you love someone, you want to know about them, right? The Old Testament is all about Jesus. You may not think so, but when you start reading it and you see it's all about Jesus, why would you skip that?

Why would you want to skip the Psalms like and Proverbs like Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd? Well, let's just throw it all away because we're under the new grace now. But the New Testament does talk about the tithe. Hebrews 7 talks about it.

Matthew 23:23, Jesus affirms, it's one of the few times he compliments the Pharisees. He tells them, "It's good that you're tithing. You should do that. Just don't forget about love.

So Jesus is coming. And since he was perfect and kept the law, we know then that Jesus also tithed because he kept the law. He was perfect. So he couldn't have done it.

Now Paul says to be a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7. But you've got to understand the the context of that. Okay.

The tithe was the minimum baseline. He was he had just gotten an offering. A church had raised an offering of extra money above the tithe that they sent to him. And he's saying you should be cheerful when you give your offerings.

All right. [sighs] The Old Testament, the New Testament amps up everything from the Old Testament. The Old Testament says do not murder. Jesus says if you even think a bad thought, angry thought towards your person, you've committed murder.

Amped it up. Old Testament says don't commit adultery. Jesus says if you even look with a at a woman with lust in your eyes, it's adultery. Amps it up.

The Old Testament says give 10%. Paul says, "When you're giving above and beyond your 10%, be cheerful doing it." Okay? It's taught wrong.

Preachers will sit there and teach, "Well, you just give God what you feel like giving." Let me ask you something. Who's in control of the money when you determine how much you're going to give God? Who's in control?

You are. That preacher is teaching to take the eyes off of Jesus and put them on ourselves. And that's false doctrine. It's false.

It's wrong. Great great guy might be a great guy, but he got that one wrong. That's wrong. Any preaching that takes you away from Jesus and onto us is wrong.

That is a good amount of the preaching that happens today. If you're not tithing, I guarantee you're going to worry about money. something's gonna happen and the AC breaks down or something like that and it doesn't. You're you're still trying to control your money.

You pay your bills, you do what you want to do, and then you give God what's left over. Living for God, you pay him first, then you pay all your bills, and you still have money to go and do the same things. Your lifestyle won't change if you give 10%. It won't.

It won't change at all. But what'll change is your trusting God. Money and time is a litmus test in living for Jesus. Most people in this church do not tithe.

Okay? There's a few people that are consistent, a few people that'll give in some, and the rest don't. And I teach on the tithe, man. I do.

And I model it for everybody. I mean, you see how much money I give away, and I never lack. And I don't make that much money. You think I do because of how much I give away, but I don't.

God just pours abundantly out. Um, listen man, the third seal, okay, in Revelation, there's going to be inflation. If you do the math to the Daenerius and the court, it's about 200 bucks for a loaf of bread. How much, Carryan?

How much is a loaf of bread right now? Five bucks, huh? About five bucks. Okay.

She does the shopping for me. I know. I don't know. Um, but so 200 bucks for a loaf of bread.

That's 40 times more. Using those same numbers, right now it's four bucks a gallon. That's going to be $160 for one gallon of gas. How are you going to control and manipulate and get yourself stuff paid on that?

How you gonna how you going to run your money when that's the case? Okay. I don't worry about it, though. I'm faithful and I know God is going to take care of it.

How is he going to take care of it? I don't know. That's it's up to him. He's got to figure that out.

Okay, I'm faithful with my money. He says he'll be faithful to me. So, I don't have to worry about it. I know it's going to be covered.

I don't know how. And I don't even have to worry about it. Do you get it? But if you're worrying about it because you're trying to control everything, you have very few people in this room will be able to hang because that's just so much.

160 bucks for just one gallon of gas. Drive to the quick trip, you got to get more gas. I mean, it's like it's like crazy. So I share all this to share that you've got to obey Jesus if you want joy.

Okay? You have to obey him in regards to your money, in regards to your work, in regards to your relationships. Did I lose it? In regards to your relationships.

If you want to have joy, it's the only way for joy. How about time? All right. The litmus test I said was money and time.

How did Jesus spend his time? He gave God the first fruits. Look at Mark 1 verse 35 through 38. Now in the morning, heaven risen a long while before daylight.

So daylight's like 6:30. So it's a long while before daylight. It's probably 4 in the morning, right? Which is when I get up, too.

Um a long while before daylight. He went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed. Now, you don't have to necessarily get up at 4 in the morning. He had a big task in front of him.

All right? But you should give God the first fruits of your day just like Jesus did. We have to model what Jesus did. Obey me in these things.

And Jesus says we have to love God by obeying him. And we put him first. Do you hit the snooze button? Hit the snooze button.

and then like 3 minutes before you got to get to work, rush around, rush around, then you're running, cutting people off in traffic to get to work on time. That's not how Jesus would prefer you do it, Todd. It's better to wake up and spend a little bit of time with them. All right?

Um, living for yourself cannot bring joy. It can bring happiness for a time only until bad things happen and then your emotions and and depression and all that other stuff. That's why I'm so grieved over the way the church is spinning all the messages towards you and how you can do better and how everything is better um if you focus on you. The only way this whole life works is if you focus on Jesus.

My checkbook and my time, my calendar show that that I live for Jesus. But that doesn't mean bad things won't happen. Okay? I had the AC break last week.

I had um in relationships I've been divorced, okay? Which is about as bad as it gets in relationships. In money, I had the '08 crash happen, okay? So, bad things do happen, but you're able to have joy in the midst of them because you God's in control.

You're not in control. It can bring an ease and and a lack of I'm not worried about the future. I'm not worried about money. I'm not worried about um my job.

I'm not worried about what happens if my job falls apart in the fourth quarter. God's going to cover it some way. Maybe something else. I don't know.

I'm just not worried about it because God's all I have to do is wake up each day, die to myself, pick up what Jesus tells me to do, and live that day doing just what Jesus told me to do. If you have a job, you do it the way Jesus told you to do. If you're in relationships, you do it the way Jesus told you to do. The secret to joy is living for Jesus.

the the church today is focusing people on themselves and that's never going to lead to joy. So, we've got a whole generation of Christians that are that are kind of lost. They're they're not ready for when the tough times come because they only can have happiness while they're around other people singing and dancing or or wherever. But as soon as the tough times come, you see no difference between the average Christian when bad stuff hits than than than an unsaved person.

And there should be a difference. We should have joy regardless of it. Joy, real go joy regardless of circumstances comes from living for Jesus. Stop setting your sights on temporal things.

You can't take money with you. You can't take stuff with you. Okay? Focus on the eternal.

There is a bema seat judgment that happens and we get rewarded for the things we do in the body. Good. Okay. So, do good things to people by putting them above you.

Dying to self is killing the flesh. Picking up your cross daily and living for Christ is living in the spirit. If you live for yourself and you don't deny yourself, but you embrace the flesh, the fruit of that is anxiety, worry, stress, anger, doubt, fear. Okay?

But if you die to yourself and you live for Jesus, the Holy Spirit is Jesus's rep inside of you. It's his representative inside of you. And that spirit is growing. And you know what the fruits of the spirit are?

love joy joy joy peace kindness goodness, patience, gentleness, all good stuff, all good things if we live for Jesus. So, as the band comes up, I'm going to ask you, what about you? As we talked about these things today, is there an area of your life that you're trying to control? Are you trying to control your relationships by controlling people around you?

Are you trying to control your money? Are you trying to control your time? You will never have joy as long as you are the center. It's the great lie of the grace movement.

Unless Jesus is first in all areas of your life, you can't have joy. We were created by God for God. And it just doesn't work without him. It just doesn't work without Jesus, man.

It just doesn't. The only way to have joy is in him. And I want you guys to have joy. I want us to have joy even when things are tough because we're counting on Jesus and we know we're doing our part.

Okay? And so I ask you, what area is God not first in your life? During this song, [music] I want you to think about it and lay that down. Hurry up and lay it down because guess what?

You're not promised tomorrow. Okay? Lay it down. Time is short.

Wherever you're not putting God first, [music] I pray I pray you start doing that today. And let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you. I thank you for these beautiful people here.

I thank you for your love. I thank you for your grace. I'm [music] sorry, Lord, that the church today doesn't put you first. Lord, I I I uh I hate it.

I hate it for you. Um because you've done everything for us and and uh you love us so much. And when we focus on ourselves, we're just kind of telling you to back off. And that's just wrong.

So Lord, I pray that you will convict in this room today. your Holy Spirit will move, not guilt conviction love um moving us towards being more like Jesus. Lord, that's the desperate cry of our hearts today in Jesus name. Amen.