How can we maintain joy in our lives?

Nate will read this in the service. Text: Philippians 1:12-26.

Joy is the emotion of salvation. 1 Peter 1:8 tells us this.

1 Peter 1:8 ESV

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

More than anything in this life we should be overfilled with joy to know and have the Lord. But, what I often see as a pastor is that there are so many believers who struggle to experience this joy. Why is that?

-Yes, there are some people who are sad because of overwhelming circumstances.

-Moms are often tired and sleepless because of caring for a child, and find there is a lack of joy.

-Others are dealing with grief or the lost of a loved one.

-And don’t forget that our Enemy the devil will do everything to steal and rob the joy in our lives from us.

But what I have seen as the number one reason that there are some of the most miserable Christians is because they try and live with a foot in both worlds.

They have one eye on heaven and one on earth. They call on the name of Christ, but they still try to find security, satisfaction, pleasure, or fulfillment from this world. They’re riding the fence. And they’re not happy.

Is that you today? Do you need some joy? Today I want us to take a look at how we can maintain joy in our lives. What are some things we should not focus on and what do we need to focus on? Let’s take a look.

1. Don’t focus on the shackles of life!

Philippians 1:12–14 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Paul finds himself shackled to a Roman guard and in prison. But, what is so amazing here church is that the Roman guards didn’t realize that the shackles would release Paul instead of bind him down. In 2 Timothy 2:9 here is how Paul summed this up.

2 Timothy 2:9 ESV

for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

Paul didn’t focus on the shackles. He didn’t complain about being in prison. Instead he used his situation to advance the gospel message. How many times in our lives do we so easily focus on the shackles and difficulties of this life.

-We focus on the shackles of our debt.

-We focus on the shackles of a relationship gone wrong.

-We focus on the shackles of a disease or even virus.

-We focus on the shackles of our present circumstance.

-We focus on shackles of God why me and why now?

So, what should we focus on?

-Joy comes by sharing our faith.

The shackles that bound Paul gave him the chance to have conversations with the lost. Roman historians tell us about what Prison was like. Paul would be shackled to Roman guards 24 hours a day. The shifts would change every 6 hours, and so Paul had the opportunity to witness to 4 different men everyday. Think about what this must have been like for these soldiers. What were they witnessing? They saw Paul pray constantly, he was also talking to these men about their spiritual conditions and finally Paul was writing letters to the churches he had visited and started. I am sure that after a while some of these guards gave their lives to Christ. For many of the Christians in Paul’s day they wanted nothing at all to do with these guards, and yet Paul was able to do something that other Christians could not. Paul found joy in sharing his faith.

I want to challenge you this morning to look at your circumstances as God-given opportunities. God has put you where you are at with the people you are with for a reason. Like Paul we should see these opportunities as furthering the good news of Jesus. We can rejoice at what God is doing instead of looking around and complaining about what God did not do. There is one more thing I need to point out here that is important on what we should focus on.

-Joy comes by encouraging the saints.

Paul’s shackles also gave courage to those who Paul was writing too. Paul could write back this letter to the saints at Philippi and tell them the good news about what was happening and because of that they could find strength and encouragement. As Paul shared his faith in Rome, the believers there could see his excitement and determination to be a faithful witness even in difficult circumstances. And because of this the saints were much more confident and bold to share their faith. Discouraging news can spread quickly but so can encouraging news. Because of Paul’s joyful attitude the believers in Rome and elsewhere could also share their faith.

*My uncle Dave who is a missionary to Turkey has been put in prison on numerous occasions. He has been literally shackled down. However, when he is released he goes right back to sharing his faith about Jesus. He is continuing to share his faith around the world right now. He has a very unique way of not letting things get him down and to have a joy that is contagious.

Our shackles may not be as crazy or difficult as that, but there is no reason why God cannot use us to help others know about God and help us maintain joy in our everyday lives.

2. Don’t focus on the critics of this life!

Philippians 1:15–19 ESV

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,

Now, most of us would assume the Paul was generally a really likable guy. So, how could there be people who could come against Paul, and even afflict him? What was happening here is that there were some churches that were divided. What were they divided about??? Well, there were some churches like Paul who were preaching Christ sincerely, wanting people to be saved. However, there were also churches that were preaching insincerely for their own selfish purposes. They were probably bringing into their teaching legalism that had to do with certain Jewish customs and laws like food and circumcision. These were included in their teaching to force the Gentiles to add things to their faith that did not need to be added. They were trying to make things more difficult for Paul and could have caused Paul envy and strife. Paul’s aim here was that no matter what he would glorify Christ and get people to follow Jesus. His critics aim was to promote themselves and get others to follow them. So, what does our focus need to be?

-Focus on the salvation of Christ.

We don’t have to look at our critics as difficulties in this life! We can look at the critics and the people that come against us as another opportunity to tell people about Jesus. Paul was able to rejoice, not in the selfishness of his critics, but in the fact that Christ was still being preached. Paul did not have an envious heart even though it might have been easy for him to feel this way. But it didn’t matter one bit to Paul that some people came against him, all that mattered to Paul was that people were hearing about Jesus and Jesus was changing lives.

There was a story told about George Whitefield, the influential evangelist of the First Great Awakening. Whitefield decided to hand the reigns of leadership of the Methodist movement over to John Wesley because the movement was in danger of being divided over allegiance to either Whitefield or Wesley. Whitefield’s followers urged him to take back his position of leadership. They warned him that his name would be forgotten because of what he had done. He replied by declaring, “My name?” Let the name of Whitefield perish if only the name of Christ be glorified.

John the Baptist said it this way in John 3:30

John 3:30 ESV

He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Criticism is very hard to take. If you are a leader or in a certain position you understand this very well. Criticism is really hard when you are facing difficult circumstances like Paul was being in jail. So, how in the world was Paul able to find joy in the face of the critics? He knew that Jesus would deliver him. (This meant that God had given him salvation) Paul didn’t depend on anything else. He had no resources or anything else to physically help him. Paul was depending on the generous resources of His God through the Holy Spirit which ministered to him often. Paul was doing everything he could through the strength of the Spirit to advance and defend the gospel.

3. Don’t focus on the hardships of this life!

Philippians 1:20–26 ESV

as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

When we look at Paul’s current circumstances we see what he is up against. He is in prison and is facing charges that could bring about his death. Paul has no idea what the days may bring even though hardships are very real. Paul realized that his body was not his own and that he has been put on earth to live for the Lord. I am sure that there were many believers watching how Paul would respond to his current circumstances. How many times do we forget that even unbelievers are watching our lives? People are watching to see how we as believers respond and act as we face hardships. They can see Christ magnified in our lives and understand that He is with us through those difficult times. What is truly amazing here church is that Paul was not afraid of life or death. Either way, he was going to do whatever it took to magnify Christ in his body. And this is why he had such joy.

A few weeks ago we looked at Acts 16 and saw into the lives of several individuals that Paul met at Philippi and that the Lord changed. Remember Lydia, the slave girl who was possessed and finally the jailer. These individuals were all slaves to the ways of life that men and women so choose to follow after. The apostle Paul had see the dysfunction in it and had also witnessed the joy that comes when the gospel overpowers it. So, this is why Paul can say with confidence ‘To live is Christ,’ because for Paul there was no other option!!! What do we need to focus on then?

-Focus on the greatness of God.

Paul’s great passion in life was that Christ be seen as great. Paul understood that this is why God created us and saved us. Paul shows us and even tells us that Christ is going to be magnified in his body whether by life or death. Christ is the most valuable thing in all the world. Paul is explaining in both cases - life and death- how Christ is going to look great. If I live I will do everything to make Christ great and if I die I will be with him.

No, matter how we look at it, nothing can steal our joy if we desire to focus on the greatness of God and magnify him. Christ Jesus our Lord should excite us and make this life worth living.

So, let me ask you today where is your joy found? What are you living for?

Conclusion: “For to me to live is __________ and to die is __________.

Fill in the blanks for yourself.