CATCHING THE SPIRIT OF JOY

Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 4:4

One of the interesting Proverbs in the Bible speaks about the connection between good health and a joyful life. It is found in:

Today, medical experts validate the truthfulness of these words. Dr. Donald W. Black, a leading psychiatric researcher from the University of Iowa, wrote an article about laughter in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Here are some of his significant comments:

"Laughter could be the simplest, cheapest and certainly the most enjoyable way to improve your health. It affects so many different organ systems. Besides the obvious sounds, quaking, brightening and sparkling of the eyes, increased blood flow, muscle contractions and tears, laughter also appears to promote profound physiological changes that affect hormones, the immune system and endogenous opiates, better known as the brain’s natural morphine. Like sleep, laughter may serve some essential role that is not yet understood".

Of course, laughter happens when a person is happy. Unfortunately, in our stress-filled world, laughter is often absent in the lives of so many people. In fact, what we would commonly see are people trying to fake a laugh to act happy before others. Despite all the abundance in material possessions, many are still struggling to be really happy. Because of this, many still feel like losers, rather than winners.

When you go to the Bible, you will realize that God does not want us to just live a happy life, He wants us to live a joyful life. There is definitely a big difference between the two.

Psychology Today once polled 52,000 Americans and asked them what happiness meant to them. For some, happiness was simply paying the bills, finding a mate, having children, raising a family, having a good job, financial security, or good health. Obviously, most people consider happiness to be having the right circumstances develop in your life.

You see, the word happiness comes from the old English word happ, which literally means “chance.” It corresponds to the Latin fortuna, which means “luck.” These words suggest that if things happen the way we want them to happen, then we are happy. But if they do not happen the way we want, we are unhappy.

However, when the Bible speaks of joy, it’s deeper. It is internal, and not just dependent on chance or circumstances. Most importantly, joy is an attitude based on a choice. Let’s rediscover this attitude, and learn how we can practice it:

I    THE BASIS OF JOY:

To grasp the real meaning of joy, you have to know where apostle Paul was when he commanded the believers in Philippi about rejoicing in the Lord always.

Pastor Joel Osteen in his, Your Best Life Now, appropriately described Paul’s situation:

Paul was incarcerated in a tiny prison cell not much bigger than our small bathroom. Some historians and Bible commentators believe that the sewage system of that day ran right through one of the dungeons he was imprisoned.

How can he rejoice? Well, the apostle uses the phrase "In the Lord", to point us where our joy can come from. There are two applications of this phrase:

A. Rejoice in His Grace:

In the text, Paul brings a special connection between joy and grace. Charis is the Greek word for Grace, while Chara is the Greek word for Joy. Perhaps it is best to say that Charis should produce a sense of Chara in us. It should be foundational to the believers that every thought of grace should produce joy in us.

This was certainly the occasion, when the angel proclaimed the message of Christ’s birth to the shepherds, he was in great joy knowing that an amazing grace was about to be revealed in Christ.

We can always rejoice when we recognize the abundance of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ. Make sure you have found the forgiveness of God in Jesus because the ultimate grace comes from Him. Relationship with Jesus is the key to a joyful life.

B. Rejoice in Our Knowledge:

How can Paul rejoice in his situation, when things don’t seem to be going well? I believe another secret lies in what he knew. Listen to these words:

Looking at these verses, Paul knew without a shadow of doubt that His almighty God can use all his situations in life to shape and mold him to become more useful for the kingdom.

We should never take for granted the assurances with have come to learn in the Bible, they provide us with a deep sense of hope, and allow us to enjoy even our most difficult situations.

II   THE BARRIERS OF JOY:

If we want to experience God’s joy in our lives, we must also watch out for joy killers. The apostle Paul, after he gave the command to rejoice mentioned two sins that can rob us of the Holy Spirit’s joy.

A. Worry:

Worry, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, is the number one problem in America. More than 10,000 people from different walks of life were interviewed, and their responses were fed into computers and checked against criteria for some 13 different mental disorders. They concluded that one adult in eight suffers from anxiety at the present time, and that one in five is so disturbed as to require professional help in his or her lifetime.

Paul exhorts us to pray, rather than worry. God is always with us willing to help us, if we let him.

In the same way, Jesus talking about worry reminded us that if God is willing to care for little birds, how much more us, His most precious creatures.

B. Discontent:

In order to understand discontent, we have to know what contentment is. Contentment is the disposition of the mind in which one is satisfied with what he owns. For this person, he lacks absolutely nothing.

We can never be truly happy in life without contentment. Paul in our text says that this attitude is something he has learned or he has developed. Usually, discontent leads to two more problematic sins: greed and envy. These will easily take away the joy we have left.

If you are wise, you know that more does not necessarily mean better. Even if the grass is greener on the other side, , that just means it grows faster and is more difficult to cut.

III  THE BLESSING OF JOY:

Joy can bring so many blessings in our lives. It can even provide us the strength we need so we can cope with all the challenges we have. The great Old Testament leader, Nehemiah knew the benefit of it. He said it could give us strength.

What is amazing is that even in the business world today, a joyful disposition can be a real plus. Dale Carnegie said that the expression you wear on your face is far more important than the clothes you wear.

So, if you want to be a real winner in this life, be joyful. Allow the Holy Spirit to produce this attitude in you.