Three Steps To Possessing Joy

Philippians 3:12-14

Did you hear about the man who moved into a retirement community? It wasn’t long until he had made a number of friends among the other residents. There was one lady he was especially attracted to, and she was attracted to him, also. So they spent a lot of time together. Finally one evening he proposed, asking her to marry him.

The next morning he woke up remembering his proposal, but he couldn’t remember her answer. So he went to her and said, "I’m really embarrassed. I proposed to you last night but I can’t remember if you said `Yes’ or `No."’ "Oh, thank goodness!" she replied. "I remembered saying `Yes’ but I couldn’t remember who asked me."

Sometimes I feel that way about life. I tell myself, "I’m going to do better. I’ll turn over a new leaf. I’m going to exercise regularly and lose weight. I’m going to do all kinds of things to improve myself physically and spiritually." But then somehow I forget or just don’t have the discipline to follow through. Maybe you have that problem, too.

So I have a suggestion for you that we ought to be able to remember. It is kind of broad and very general, but here it is - let’s promise ourselves and God that we will make a change for the better by being filled with joy. As God’s people, as His church, let’s make this one simple change for the better and to help us do that, let me suggest some ways in which we can be filled with joy.

1. DEVELOP A POSITIVE OUTLOOK TOWARD LIFE

First of all, to have real joy, each of us can change by developing a positive outlook toward life. The first big book I remember reading as a kid was Robinson Crusoe. Perhaps Daniel Defoe gave us some good advice through his fictitious character Robinson Crusoe. When Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked on a lonely island he made a list of both the good and the bad. - He was cast onto a desolate island, but he was still alive, not drowned as all of his ship’s company was. - He was divided from mankind, but he was not starving. - He had no clothes, but he was in a hot climate where he didn’t need them. - He was without means of defense, but he saw no wild animals. - He had nothing to speak of, but God had sent the ship so near to the shore that he could get out of it all things necessary for his survival.

So he concluded that there was not any condition in the world so miserable but that there was something positive for which to be thankful.

A few years ago a lady committed suicide, leaving behind this note. "I decided that unless life was worth living I would just quit living."

How do you feel about your life? Is it worthwhile? Or, let’s change the question. What would it take for you to feel that your life is worthwhile? What would have to happen to make you feel really positive about your life? If you won the lottery, would that do it? If your marriage suddenly was all patched up, would that do it? If your kids began to make you proud, or if you got a promotion, would that do it? What would it take for you to really feel positive about your life? If that’s the way you’re thinking then you’ll probably never feel really positive about life because all the little pieces that must come together to make you positive about life will probably never be there.

That is the reason I am pleased that Philippians 3:12-14 is our text this morning. But before I read it to you, you need to realize that Paul is in prison, chained to a Roman guard, under horrible conditions.

Yet despite that, he writes these wonderfully positive words, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Now stop for a moment and ask yourself, "What is Paul trying to grab hold of?" Paul tells us in vs. 10, "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

What is he reaching for? What is his goal? Paul’s goal is the resurrection from the dead. His goal is eternal life with Jesus. That is what he is reaching for and striving for every day. His goal is heaven.

Now here is the point. If our goal is heaven; if our goal is eternal life with Jesus Christ; then all these little setbacks in life are only stepping stones getting us closer to the time when we will be with Jesus. And they cannot steal our joy from us unless we allow them to.

There will be disappointments in life, but every day that passes is one day closer to the time when we will be with Jesus. If that is our goal, then Romans 8:28 is true. "All things" do "work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose."

The world says that the way to feel good about yourself is by climbing the ladder of success - by making a lot of money - by having influential friends - by receiving a lot of awards - by belonging to the right circles. Those are the things that make you feel good about yourself.

But the Bible teaches us that we can have joy and are to feel good about ourselves because God loves us. You are such a treasured person in God’s sight that He gave His only Begotten Son for you. That makes you valuable, and you can feel good about yourself.

Frank Peretti said, "It’s no wonder that our young people today have poor self images when they go to school and read books that tell them that they are the products of blind chance - that they are just accidents of nature - unplanned, unloved, and unwanted."

But the Bible tells us that we are wanted and loved and cared for by God Himself.

Jim Volvano was head coach of the N.C. basketball team. He rose to fame when his team started winning championships. Everybody liked him. He was always cracking jokes and had a winning way of dealing with people. But in 1991 Volvono learned that he had inoperable bone cancer. During Christmas time, 1992, he said, "It’s difficult to be thankful this Christmas because I’m not sure I’ll be here next Christmas." And he wasn’t. He died in 1993. "But," he said, "this Christmas I’m getting down on my knees and thanking God for every day of the 46 years of my life."

He was positive about life because he realized that life is a very precious gift God has given us. It must sadden the Lord that oftentimes we take this gift He has given, and don’t live it with joy because we don’t treasure it for the precious thing that it is.

2. DEVELOP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE CHURCH

Secondly, to possess real joy we need to have a positive attitude toward the church. I don’t say this in a self-serving way at all because one thing that is right about the church is that our desire is simply to lift up Jesus, to reach out to a lost and dying world with the message of salvation. Yet, I hear people criticizing the church.

For instance, someone says, "running the church or paying for missions costs too much." We are always worrying about how much something costs. In John 12 there is an interesting account of something that happened as Jesus ate with His disciples. If you remember, a woman brought a jar filled with expensive perfume and broke it and anointed his feet with the perfume. Immediately Judas Iscariot and some of the disciples criticized the waste, saying that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus defended her, saying, "She has done what she could for my burial."

You see, we have a different value system than the world. The world would consider something waste that we consider valuable. The world thinks you’re wasting your time going to church. You wanted to hear about God and Jesus Christ, and the world thinks that’s a waste.

When the world looks at your tax return and sees that you gave away 10 or 15 or 20% of your income to build the kingdom of God, it would call that a waste, too.

But the things the world calls wasteful today are the only things that will last for all eternity. Remember, when the woman poured the perfume on His feet, Jesus said, "Wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her."

Now we need to understand that when we risk something for God we can never lose. We have won the big battle already because Jesus went to the cross and died for us. We might lose some skirmishes along the way because Satan is still the prince of this world and there are a lot of things going on that are not God’s will. But I would rather be trying something great for God and fail than be playing it safe and succeed.

John Wesley was a great English preacher of the 1700’s. He was considered a rather spiffy dresser. One Sunday morning he wore a bow tie that had long ribbons that hung downward. After the sermon was over a lady walked up to him and said, "Brother Wesley, are you open to some criticism?"

He said, "I guess so. What would you like to criticize?" She said, "The ribbons on your tie are entirely too long and inappropriate for a man of God." And she took out her scissors and cut them off.

A hush fell over the people standing there as Wesley calmly asked, "Now may I borrow the scissors for a moment?" As she handed them to him, he said, "Ma’am, are you open to some criticism?" She answered, "Well, I suppose I am." He said, "All right then, please stick out your tongue."

In Ephesians 4:15 Paul says, "We need to speak the truth in love." We need to make sure it is the truth but we also need to be sure that we are speaking it in the spirit of love. So to possess real joy, we need to develop a positive attitude towards the church.

3. DISPLAY A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS

To possess real joy the next thing we need is; we need to display a positive attitude toward others.

Robert Schuller wrote, "It would amaze us how many people we could influence for Christ if we would just treat people nicely." I think he is right.

This is a hard world, a world that doesn’t always exercise courtesy. Sometimes it’s a dog-eat-dog world. People are jockeying for positions in a line or on the freeways and in their companies, and they’re filled with all kinds of stress and anxiety. But the church must be a place where we all can come and be accepted and loved and encouraged and built up - a place where there are people to help us carry our burdens and everyone feels welcome.

One of the things about Faith Community Church that I really appreciate is that when I call on people, they oftentimes tell me, "Everyone was so warm and friendly in your church. We really felt at home there."

You see, if we treat each other with love then wonderful things will happen for the kingdom of God. So, we need to make sure that we display a positive attitude toward others.

In Decision Magazine, Joni Eareckson Tada wrote an article titled, "Joy Hard Won," in it she says, “Honesty is always the best policy, but especially when you’re surrounded by a crowd of women in a restroom during a break at a Christian women’s conference. One woman, putting on lipstick, said, "Oh, Joni, you always look so together, so happy in your wheelchair. I wish that I had your joy!" Several women around her nodded, "How do you do it?" she asked as she capped her lipstick.

"I don’t do it," I said. "In fact, may I tell you honestly how I woke up this morning?"
"This is an average day," I breathed deeply. "After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 A.M., I’m alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 A.M. That’s when a friend arrives to get me up. "While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, ’Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don’t have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don’t have a smile to take into the day. But you do. May I have yours? God, I need you desperately.’"

"So, what happens when your friend comes through the bedroom door?" one of them asked. "I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It’s not mine. It’s God’s. And so," I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, "whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning." I have learned that the weaker we are, the more we need to lean on God; and the more we lean on God, the stronger we discover him to be.

People need people. Someone wrote a song about that. But more than that people need joyful positive people as a constant positive influence in their life.

Maybe, as a believer, possessing joy, more than any other thing, ought to be your decision today. Making the decision to not allow anything temporary to steal you joy would be a change for the better. "I’m going to be joyful and therefore I’ll be positive as I look at my life. I’m going to be positive as I look at the church. And I’m going to be positive as I look at others."

May I suggest to you that as this commitment filters down into every segment of your life, that life will be the best you can ever have this side of heaven. And as you live each day of it, you will get closer and closer to the goal, the heavenward prize, to be with Jesus.

We are a year closer to heaven than we were this time last year. Everything is on course, folks. We need to trust the Lord and love Him - to place our lives in His hands and allow Him to use us to His glory.

If you are here without Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior, then you have an opportunity to make a change for the better right away. On this Lord’s day, come and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior,