Refuse to Lose Your Joy

Joy to the World

Isaac Watts is credited with writing this hymn, though it has been discovered that it was actually a collaboration of three people. For many years, it was Hymn #246 in the United Methodist Hymnal. is often credited for this song, but Watts actually first wrote many of the phrases in his 1719 book, “The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament “ It was much like a commentary, in that Isaac Watts paraphrased and commented on the book of Psalms, and presented the whole work as an illustration of how the Psalms of King David point to the New Testament writings of the Apostles. Watt’s inspiration was . About 100 years later, Lowell Mason, a prominent American composer in the early 1800’s, set the poem to Handell’s “Messiah”, and named it “antioch”. It has morphed over the years, and there are several versions out now. What is true for all of them, is the William Billings method of arranging a “fuging tune” was applied, which is similar to singing in a “round”. The music can be played and sung, in a weave of melodies and voices which are heavenly. Let’s go ahead and read

Psalm 98

Psalm 98:1–9 NASB95

O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.

Let’s read Psalm

I can see where Watts drew the parallels to the message of the New Testament.

King David knew Joy, because he knew Sorrow

David learned in his life, that his joy came from God. David learned how to praise God even while being persecuted. Some of you may have noticed the bookstore as you came into the building this morning. We’ve begun to stock a few copies of books which I’ve found to be pivotal in helping people understand the context and meaning of scripture and it’s application to living today. Now, I’ve read all of these, some of them many times. One of the books out there is a study of what the scriptures teach regarding how to handle persecution. In the book, extensive study is given to the way in which three different biblical kings handled having “spears” thrown at them. King David was hunted, more than once in his life, and he had a lot of spears thrown at him. I’m not going to give away the whole book, you’ll have to read it for yourself. I would encourage you to pick up a copy on amazon, or perhaps an audio book, and see what the word says about how to handle having spears thrown at you. The part that applies to today’s sermon, is the realization that David knew sorrow, which helped him to appreciate true joy. Without bad, it is harder to recognize good. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by the dark around us, that we fail to see how dark it has truly become, until a light is turned on.

Things that steal Joy

As PEOPLE it can be easy to allow this darkness or negativity to creep into our lives. I want to speak through a few areas where it is important that we refuse to allow circumstance, and others, to rob us of our joy.

John 10:10 NASB95

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

I’m not the type of preacher who will stand on the pulpit and blame the enemy for every bad thing in life. Nor, am I blind to the goals of the fallen. Flip Wilson in the 60’s and 70’s gained a lot of fame for his comedy sketches where he’d often say, “the devil made me do it”. As comical as that may be....don’t give the enemy any more credit than he deserves. We trap ourselves in a cycle of blame, where everyone else is at fault....except us. Let’s dive into a few dangerous areas where people can lose their joy.

Difficulty

When the going gets tough, we get grumpy. Isn’t that how the saying goes? No? Well, here’s reality number one, in tough times…it is very easy to allow the joy to get shaded or even crowded right on out of our lives. Morale gets shot, when the tough stuff starts getting piled on. Paul wrote to the people in Phillipi when they were in a difficult time, and their Joy was fading. Let’s read about that:

Philippians 4

Philippians 4:6–7 NASB95

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sounds good, right? That’s a pretty rockin’ verse…we probably even have a banner with that verse on a wall around here somewhere. I bet there are bumper stickers with that printed on it. Paul wasn’t done with his thoughts though. You see, the first part doesn’t necessarily work without the second part, let’s read that:

Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8–9 NASB95

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Practice these things, and God’s peace will be with you. I’m going to come back to these…but I’m not done listing the ways that your Joy can be compromised.

Criticism

Does anyone LIKE being criticized? Certainly not. Even when we know inside, that we aren’t doing things as well as we could....it is still hard to hear someone else say those words. But is it really the words, that stole our joy? No. It’s our own insecurity, that ROBS the correction from attaining its intended purpose. When the new temple was being built in Ezra, there was dissension because what was being built wasn’t as grand as what Solomon had built before. Let’s read it:

Ezra 3:10–13 NASB95

Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord according to the directions of King David of Israel. They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Ezra 3:

If you read on, in the next chapter (4), some outsiders come and want to help with the rebuilding of the temple. The leaders were wise, and they recognized that these “helpers” weren’t really there to help. THey didn’t have the same goals and methods, and the leaders of Israel, politely turned them away. Guess what they did....? These outsiders hired lawyers, and brought legal trouble, which greatly discouraged the builders. We can read that portion:

Ezra 4:4–5 NASB95

Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 4:

The account goes on, that this persecution lasted for decades.

Gossip

Negative talking, deceptive political maneuvering, backstabbing....these are all tools of the enemy, but he isn’t the one doing them.

James 4:11 NASB95

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

This not only robs the joy of the person doing it…but the people it is happening against.

Selective sharing of a story, that is…not the whole story, with the intentions of gaining sympathy over a fabricated hurt. That’s called deceptive political maneuvering. It’s souring the jury, and it’s a false way to live.

So what do we do? How do we discern what is right, how do we keep our own joy intact?

Pray

Start here. I’m not joking. You start here, with prayer. You ask God to reveal truth to you, and you ask God give wisdom. We have the Holy Spirit, who guides and instructs us in these matters, IF you open your heart, close your mouth, and listen to Him.

In Christianity one of the ways that we consider who to follow, or which direction we should go…is to look for fruit. When I say fruit, I mean true health. Not fabricated fruit, that you have not seen for yourselves. No one should ever have to tell you what fruit they produce. When you look at the peaches in the store, you shouldn’t need to look at the label to see what they are. Has anyone ever tried shopping for fruit like that in places outside of Anchorage and Fairbanks? We like to joke a lot about our fruit…and salad mixes. They come pre-rotted so you don’t have to wait. Well our produce departments do their best to move the products anyway....they stack the nice stuff on top, and put the rotten stuff underneath. People when you are not sure which bag to pick, look on the inside. If someone is guarding their bag, and won’t let you look on the inside before you make a decision....they’re probably hiding something.

I work in the real estate world, and often my company is asked to evaluate properties for a lender who has never been to Alaska. This always makes me happy, because I get to help someone potentially make their dream come true. So Lydia and I get asked as people of high reputation, and licenses which certify this, to go to these properties and businesses and evaluate the health. We’re asked to evaluate the health of the building, the business, the intended use of the property, and the overall soundness of the decision to lend. We use a broad spectrum of experience and mathematical skills, coupled to analysis to determine a large number of conclusions which help decisions to be made. Some buildings, and some businesses just don’t pass the smell test, and I often find that these people who are representing their property and business to be something it isn’t…won’t let you look closely on the inside. They’ll invent a lot of elaborate ways to keep us from seeing things. But my wife is very smart, and very good…and the numbers never lie. I never have trouble seeing the outward evidence that may be hiding to the inexperienced eye. I will use tools, like a drone, to fly high up and see the big picture. God sees the big picture, and the Holy Spirit is a really good mathematician.

Focus on Purity

Philippians 4:8 NASB95

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Focus on things that are honorable, purity, things of excellence and things that have a good reputation. Once you’ve passed on the bag with rotten fruit, stop thinking about that bag of rotten fruit! Paul says to keep your focus on the things and people who have proven excellence and who are worthy of praise. Find good people, and do life with them. Do not allow your joy to be stolen. Has anyone ever heard the phrase, “Your problems can’t become my problems” or “Your emergency is not my emergency”? They can sound calloused, and out of context…they absolutely are. Let me present them in a different way. Whenever we’re operating in a potentially hazardous environment, like high up in a low-oxygen environment. If something goes wrong, the first step in an emergency is ALWAYS to make yourself safe first. Even before you slip an oxygen mask onto your child, you must put yours on first. You’ll never save the second child, if your focus is on the first one and not ensuring that you are healthy enough to save both. Does that make sense?

In combat medicine, often the first step in saving someone in a life threatening situation, is to get them out of the situation first. We hate to move people who are injured, but if the more imminent threat to life is the situation, you have to remove the person from the situation or all life saving measures will be in vain.

I work in the real estate world, and often my company is asked to evaluate properties for a lender who has never been to Alaska. This always makes me happy, because I get to help someone potentially make their dream come true. So Lydia and I get asked as people of high reputation, and licenses which certify this, to go to these properties and businesses and evaluate the health. We’re asked to evaluate the health of the building, the business, the intended use of the property, and the overall soundness of the decision to lend. We use a broad spectrum of experience and mathematical skills, coupled to analysis to determine a large number of conclusions which help decisions to be made. Some buildings, and some businesses just don’t pass the smell test, and I often find that these people who are representing their property and business to be something it isn’t…won’t let you look closely on the inside. They’ll invent a lot of elaborate ways to keep us from seeing things. But my wife is very smart, and very good…and the numbers never lie. I never have trouble seeing the outward evidence that may be hiding to the inexperienced eye. I will use tools, like a drone, to fly high up and see the big picture.

I keep circling back to truth

Core Values

In the Air Force we have 3 primary core values, Integrity First, Excellence in all we do, and Service before Self. I’ve seen what happens when those values are not upheld. I can generally train excellence, and I can teach the value of and proper application of service before self…but I can’t work with an airmen who doesn’t have integrity. As followers of christ, we have a value system as well. Love is our primary value.

Restoring Joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found,

Our whole world was affected by the original curse, the failure at the garden of eden. Let us be committed to rising above the curse, and refusing to let sin, and sorrow, and trials (thorns) prevent us from enjoying His blessings. Joy to all the world, as our King has come! Truth, and grace (love) are the ways of the savior, who rules the world.