The Fullest Possible Joy

Philippians 1:4

John 15:9-12 “9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”

The Roots of Joy

Me:

The struggle is real

There is a lot of heartache in this world

i. I will be honest it weighs on my heart

ii. I even have my own struggles

iii. I chose Philippians because I am an optimistic kind of person

iv. God chose it because he knew that the world is full of heartache

We:

2. The Stress of Life

a. The most stressful life events

i. Death of a loved one. Separation or divorce. Getting married. Workplace stressors. Chronic illness or injury

ii. Sometimes life just seems to crumble down around us.

b. Paul was in prison

i. Not a happy place

ii. Yet his heart was filled with joy

c. The Greek word joy is (chara)

i. The meaning is this

1. An inner gladness

2. A deep seated pleasure

3. E.g. The joy of salvation – being filled with the Spirit

d. The joy of the of the world is not the same.

i. The joy of the world is a temporary pleasure

ii. There is this nagging feeling of incompleteness, something lacking, some unfilled thing, a missing ingredient.

iii. There is no sense of assurance, no confidence, never satisfied

iv. Not only that by we are acutely that something can always go wrong.

v. That some crisis is just a phone call away

vi. Some hardship will show up Monday morning

vii. Who’s there now

e. Hear this, the Joy found in the Lord is lifelong, permanent, enduring

John 15:11 (NCV) — 11 I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.

John 15:11 NCV

11 I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.

ii. How can we have this “fullest possible joy”?

God:

3. Real Joy “Chara Joy” is found only in the Father

a. It is possessed by the Father and given by the Father

i. Its roots are not in earthly or material things or cheap triumphs.

ii. It is God’s very own Joy

iii. We draw from that deep well

b. There is a formula

i. John 15:9–12 (NLT) — 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain(Abide, dwell) in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

John 15:9–12 NLT

9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

ii. It’s all about Love

You: action

4. The fullest possible joy

a. Simple in theory – Lifelong practice

i. Love Jesus – We got that down sort of

1. It’s a love relationship

2. Daily love relationship

3. What if you treated your spouse like you treated Jesus?

4. So do you really love Him?

5. “Remain(abide, dwell) in my love.”

ii. Obey my commandments

1. “just as I obey my Father’s commandments”

2. This is your example to follow

3. What was the commandment?

iii. Love each other

1. “This is my commandment”

2. What’s the greatest commandment?

3. The second is like it!

b. Simple in theory – Lifelong practice

i. There are so many roadblocks on this path

ii. Gal 5:19-21 has the list

iii. Begin with that simple step of building a relationship with Jesus

iv. Be a follower not a fan

Just image:

5. Having a rough day?

a. Draw from that deep well

i. It’s the “fullest possible joy”

ii. It’s deep and overflowing love for Jesus and each other

iii. I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in heart where?