By Their Fruits - Part 2: Joy - Kathy Leaman

we're going to continue with our study on the fruit of the spirit tonight and i get to talk to you about joy i'm so lucky because that's an easy one that's a happy one but our text i'm going to get right into it galatians 5 22-23 but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no law and the new living translation says but when the holy spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control here there is no conflict with the law let's pray jesus once again we come into your presence with thankful hearts god we will never again take for granted the privilege of gathering together of feeling your wonderful presence and i pray tonight as we open your word and as we talk about some of these beautiful truths that god you would come close to us i pray that god we could set aside the distractions from the day that maybe we came into maybe disappointment that we came into your house with god help us to set it aside help us to hear from your word and be changed from it in jesus name amen now we can't talk about joy without talking about relationships and people get uncomfortable when we talk about relationships but that's where our christianity is lived out brother jeff arnold said one time people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care and that's the truth my christianity is shown to my world by the way i live my life or we would say by the fruit seen in my life now for more than 50 years hollywood has taught us the myth that if we just find that right person to share our life with it'll just be sunshine and roses i'm not casting any shade at him we just celebrated an anniversary and i do it all over again let me just say that but i will never forget my wedding day those of you who are married hopefully you will concur it was one of the best days of your life and i remember walking down the aisle and i couldn't wait to walk down the aisle and pledge my love and my life to him because i just knew that together we were just going to conquer the world everything was going to be wonderful well here's the thing i'm sure in the first 24 hours i disappointed him somehow some way i opened my mouth and said something stupid i don't know but i'm human you're human we're going to disappoint each other i remember early on in our marriage i thought i would cook a beautiful meal for him and his parents so my mom taught me a lot of things about cooking but she forgot to teach me how to bake a potato so yeah so i thought well it takes about 15 minutes to boil potatoes if you cut them real small so i thought if i bake a potato like 20 minutes something like that ladies you know what happened so my lovely father-in-law who would never complain he took his fork and his knife to cut into that soft buttery potato and he was like finally he put his fork down and i just was ready to burst into tears because i thought oh no and so he had to put up with me i'm a failure and i can't even bake a potato how am i gonna be a good wife because we're human beings and we're gonna make mistakes your spouse is human say amen your sister is human your kids are very human people get sick we argue we get mis we have misunderstanding sometimes we're downright grumpy i'm sure not in your house life is not a constant honeymoon and some days are a complete disaster wouldn't it be wonderful if everything was like a hallmark movie all the girls are just oh well not all them i know some my daughter scoffs at homework but i just get all caught up because i love love i just love love and you know you think about the struggling bakery owner and the big corporation they want to come in and tear her bakery down and build condominiums and they send they send the boss man in and he walks through the door and he is just smitten by her beauty and her pastries not only doesn't he tear he doesn't tear down her shop he builds a bigger better one and they live happily ever after wouldn't that be nice well life isn't like that we have bad days and maybe somebody today had a bad day i read this little write-up that said you might be having a bad day if you accidentally pull out in a funeral procession with your horn stuck on awkward if your twin sister forgets your birthday that's a pretty bad day if you sink your teeth into a steak can they stay behind or if you wake up to discover your water bed broke in the night and then you think oh i don't have a water bed that's a bad day but here's the thing everybody on the planet wants one thing and that's to be happy but i would suggest to you tonight that what you need is not happiness you need the joy of the lord and joy is different from happiness happiness is like fill in the blank if i could just have whatever i'd be happy if i could just go wherever i'd be happy if i could just marry whoever i'd be happy but life like that's like destination disease life is not a destination life is a journey and you will never arrive till you get up there the grass may be greener on the other side but remember the water bill is higher over there too and nowhere in the bible does the god does god advise us to pursue happiness it's not a biblical concept happiness is a fleeting emotion it cannot last the word happiness does appear in the bible 22 times 16 times in the old testament six times in the new testament but every single time it's used to describe blessing being blessed or being favored by god happiness is vulnerable happiness wrapped up in people is insecure because people will let you down like i just mentioned if i just had a better best friend and you know i just have to insert here you know every once in a while we get on this hobby horse but social media is not our friend and we see on social media so-and-so's best friend is coming over to do her laundry and take care of her kids and what do we think some friends i have or sally mae's husband is going out and picking her he he hiked up a mountainside and picked her wildflowers you know took him half a day to get up there and she's displaying her wildflowers on social media but what we didn't see was they probably had a huge fight last night he's trying to make up for it happiness wrapped up in somebody is always going to lead to disappointment happiness wrapped up in possessions is insecure because material goods will depreciate and deteriorate i remember when we were newly married my dad god bless him he keeps cars until they're practically in the in the in the dog in the dog in the car graveyard well we had this car it was a 1982 honda accord hatchback honda accord hatchback let me repeat that for any car enthusiasts it was something else well the running gear was great but the poor car my dad had patched up so many rust holes and covered them with silver spray paint until the whole car was almost silver the poor car looked very diseased our neighbors in saint john were not friendly honestly they really didn't speak to us and jack can verify this until we got rid of that car and i'll never forget we got a new car it's true isn't it we brought the new car into the driveway and all of a sudden they were like hello how you doing today we're so they and they literally said we're so glad you guys finally got a new car and they were best friends but here's what i know our lovely children one of them immediately got sick in that new car there goes the new car smell new things don't last we all know that they're temporary happiness based on health is unreliable because life takes a toll on us my parents tell me the golden years they're not so golden after all happiness based on social achievement is unpredictable because you might be the employee of the month this month and next month somebody's going to replace you and i encouraging but in contrast to happiness the bible uses words like joy joyful or rejoice over a hundred and sixty times it teaches us that joy can only come from the spirit of god living in us and this is in your notes happiness is external but joy joy that comes from jesus is internal happiness is temporary but joy is permanent it doesn't matter what's going on in my life when i have the joy of the lord i'm gonna overcome happiness based is based on chance but joy is based on choice happiness is based on circumstances but joy is based on christ now let's go back to relationships for a minute there are three things that will kill the joy in your relationship here we go number one selfishness selfishness says i want what i want have you ever been in a conversation with someone and every third or fourth word is i i i i me me me you don't want to stay in a conversation very long with that kind of person because their attention is just totally on themselves james chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 in today's english version says where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from they come from your desires for pleasure which are constantly fighting within you you want things but you can't have them so you're ready to kill you strongly desire things but you can't get them so you quarrel and fight you don't have what you want because you don't ask god for it the root problem of relational difficulties is a power struggle between two selfish insecure people and most times the solution is just simply to stop being self-centered james 3 16 in the new living translation says wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition there you will find disorder and every kind of evil in other words don't miss this you cannot be joyful and jealous at the same time i'm going to say that again you cannot be joyful and jealous at the same time selfishness undermines and destroys relationships number two resentment now this is a big one resentment says i won't forgive you we hurt each other sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally but what you do with that hurt makes a difference in whether you are joyful or resentful now here's the thing again we have relationships with imperfect people probably if i asked for a show of hands how many of you have been offended since sunday i bet you most of you would raise your hand because people don't always actually most of the time i believe people don't intentionally try to hurt you they don't intentionally say things to bring you pain sometimes people are joking and they say something and it just cuts depending on our mood right sometimes it'll offend us and what happens is they go on with their life and all we're over here nursing that grudge and we're like oh like look at him over there like look what he said to me how can he and then we get over in a corner and we're like do you know what jimmy said to me like how can you even be his friend like and that's that's how offense literally resentment and offense are very closely connected but that offense that hurt will turn into resentment until literally that's all we can see when god wants us to deal with the resentment don't let it grow don't let it become bitterness and that's what happens too many times michael w smith a popular christian artist he said one time and i i was so impressed by it he said i refuse to be offended and i thought oh well i like that so i'm going to try to i remember one year i thought i'm going to adopt that as my new year's resolution and i'm not going to get offended all year long january 2nd because we're human beings and we're very sensitive and we get hurt and again the person that hurt us most times is blissfully unaware and we have to be very careful that that doesn't turn to resentment and bitterness hebrews 12 25 sorry hebrews 12 15 in the living bible says watch out that no bitterness take root among you for as it springs up it causes deep trouble hurting many in their spiritual lives resentment will eat up emotional energy because you're going to spend all your time resenting the fact that someone hurt you until it becomes an obsession and i've seen it happen some of the most unhappy people in the world are people that have been carrying grudges for 20 years 25 years and they cannot let it go resentment will steal your joy number three fear fear says i don't trust you anymore and when fear builds up in your life the joy will go out of your relationship proverbs 12 25 in the new king james version says anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression but a good word makes it glad and i think paul was onto something in philippians 4 verse 8 when he says think about what's true what's noble what's just what's pure think on these things if we focus on the negativity around us we will be fearful fear causes us causes us to build walls instead of bridges and when you are full of fear there is no room for emotional intimacy and where there is no emotional intimacy there is no joy first john 4 18 in the new king james version says there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment he who fears has not been made perfect in love and here's the thing fearful people can't give love and they also can't receive love because they are always afraid of being hurt again fear does three things to relationships number one fear makes me defensive i won't admit when i'm wrong number two fear makes me distant i won't share my real feelings and number three fear makes me demanding i must be in control i must guard my heart i must keep those walls up and you know back several years ago i was really battling fear over a health situation and i'm telling you it was keeping me up at night i couldn't sleep i was imagining all sorts of terrible things happening to me i thought you know i'm gonna this is terrible but i had myself dead and gone and i was picturing jack married to someone else and i was not happy about it i didn't like her i didn't like her at all but one morning i was talking to god i was having my prayer time and this has not happened to me i don't want to sound like i'm super spiritual this has not happened to me a lot of times in my life but that morning i know god spoke to me in a still small voice and he said when you fear you are not trusting me and that's pretty basic but i'll tell you what it convicted me that morning how could i not trust the god who hung the moon and the stars the god who loved me enough to go to a cross and give his life for me who loved me enough to rise out of a tomb and give me the promise of eternal life how could i not trust a god that formed me in my mother's womb that has watched over me every day that gave me two beautiful children that gave me a wonderful husband how could i not trust a god like that but when i am fearful i'm not trusting him you can't fear and trust at the same time joy in a relationship does not come from receiving it comes from giving and since we're kids we're kind of trained to keep our hand out aren't we what can you do for me what can the world give me what can my friends give me what can my family do for me but acts 20 35 says it's better to give than to receive and the fruit of the spirit says when we're filled with the holy ghost not what can you give me but what can i give you what can i do for you now when we're new friends or when our kids are are little or when we first fall in love everything is so new everything is so exciting and i was thinking back to when we were in bible school and i i was not a morning person didn't drink coffee i don't know how i survived don't know how my roommate survived but i remember getting up in the morning and see i had a major crush on someone and i would get up in the morning and take great care with my appearance and i wanted to rush to to get to class so that i could already be seated when he came in that wasn't hard to do because he usually came in almost on time he always came in with a big smile on his face and and just a twinkle in his eye you know and i just oh i just wanted to be sitting there when he came in just i just couldn't wait it had been 12 hours since i'd seen him i just couldn't wait to see him every day and everything was new and exciting and i couldn't wait to write him a love note or a poem i know you guys don't you're way more mature than that but i just couldn't wait because i had to express how i felt about him i just wanted to put a smile on his face but what happens as time goes on we settle into relationships just like just like a new car gets old he's not old i still love him he's younger than me and that's the sad truth but that's what happens with relationships when that newness wears off it becomes more about what can you do for me then what can i do for you and that will kill a relationship i read this and it was too good not to repeat it's written from a husband's point of view in the first year of marriage baby darling i'm worried about that sniffle you have i've called the paramedics and they're going to take you to the hospital now i know you don't like hospital food so i'm going to make sure you have good home-cooked meals that's the first year of marriage second year of marriage sweetheart i don't like the sound of that cough i've arranged for the doctor to make a house call let me tuck you in bed so still still kind of loving third year you look like you have a fever why don't you drive yourself to the clinic fourth year look be sensible after you have fed and bathed the kids cleaned up did some laundry why don't you take a nap fifth year for pete's sake would you stop complaining that's what happens not in our marriage though um joy does not come from me making myself happy joy comes from me making others happy that's how god designed it and you might be sitting here thinking i've given and given and given no one ever seems to give back to me and sometimes that happens i am exhausted i have nothing left to give well let me encourage you you need a good infilling of the holy ghost because where your strength ends his strength begins when his spirit lives in you that's what the holy ghost does for us philippians 4 verse 4 paul said rejoice in the lord always and again i say rejoice now this chapter this passage in philippians has always fascinated me paul fascinates me he's he's very very interesting a dynamic outspoken always seemed to have the right thing to say well sometimes not because he got thrown in jail but he just he was an incredible full of faith once he was converted he just never looked back and again i'm sorry for the personal reference but i know me better than i know any of you so there was one morning i'm telling on myself i just was i just was frustrated with my life have you ever been there i wasn't happy about some things in my life not my husband not my kids that was all wonderful but there were just a few areas of my life that were frustrating me and this particular morning in my prayer time i was whining to god and complaining well lord i don't understand like i see this person over here and they've got this and they're they're blessed with that and why am i struggling with this over here and why am i stuck in this situation so i whined to god it was one-sided until i opened his word because through prayer we know that we talk to god but he speaks to us through his word and that's why every day every day every day i need to be in his word so as i began to do my bible reading i was reading philippians 4 and i saw paul saying rejoice in the lord always and again i say rejoice and i thought okay yeah right paul good for you you know dynamic apostle i was grumpy and i got down to verses 11 and 12 of chapter 4 and god began to speak to me through his word paul said not as though i speak in respect of want here's the clincher for i have learned in whatsoever state i am in there with to be content i was like okay then he went on the next verse i know both how to be abased and i know how to abound everywhere and in all things i am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need and then verse 13 i can do all things through christ which strengtheneth me now we love to put verse 13 on plaques and pillows and we love to preach verse 13. i can do all things through christ but we don't think about the conditions before that paul was not writing from a place of of of blessing from a place of provision he wasn't in paradise when he wrote this he had been in prison he didn't know where his next meal was coming from and he said i have learned in whatsoever state i am in therewith to be content and that struck me that morning god taught me something through his word that morning my life does not have to be perfect for me to have joy my circumstances do not have to be ideal for me to rejoice in the lord as a matter of fact it doesn't matter what's going on in my life it doesn't matter what's going on in my world i can have the joy of the lord that is his will for me i might not know what tomorrow holds in this crazy world and it is getting crazier by the minute sometimes sometimes when i open my phone and i read that apple news i literally i have literally thrown my ipad before across the room it is it's awful some of the things i'm just scratching my head thinking who thought that up like what in the world the world is crazy and if i let myself focus on what we've been through in the last year and a half and what they're predicting we're gonna go through that i mean they're always profits of doom i could really find my joy lacking i could really find myself fearful but when i know who holds my tomorrow i can have a different state of mind i can have joy because my joy comes from being filled with his spirit psalm 16 verse 11 and i'm coming to a close ryan if you want to come help me in the king james version it says thou wilt show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures forever more that's the secret being in his presence being filled with his spirit and when i don't have joy it's kind of a sign to me it's like your gas tank being full and when that light comes on you know you better get to the gas station you know you better fill up and don't wait that's kind of how it is with joy when you're feeling drained when you're feeling overwhelmed when you're feeling frustrated and fearful with life you need to get yourself in the presence of jesus and soak up his spirit let his presence overwhelm you could we stand john 10 verse 10 says the enemy satan comes to steal to kill and to destroy but jesus came to bring life and that more abundantly and one translation says jesus came to give you joy until it just spills out of your life until it overflows into every area of his of your life that is the will of god for you to have that kind of joy john 16 24 says until now you have asked nothing in my name but ask and you will receive that your joy may be full now if you're here tonight and you've never received the holy ghost or if it's been a long time since you've soaked up the presence of god it's for you he has it for you he wants to baptize you with his spirit you need to repent you need to turn your life around and let jesus know you want to serve him you don't want to live for yourself anymore you can be buried in his name if you're not baptized in jesus name there's no better night than tonight [Music] you can have your sins washed away but all you need to do is say jesus fill me to overflowing with your spirit fill me with the joy of the lord the kind of joy that laughs in the spite of in spite of circumstance the kind of joy that laughs in spite of fear in spite of distress and in spite of torment that is the will of god for you [Music] how many need a baptism of joy i do and i need to get myself in his presence every chance i get so he can fill me again and wash me with his spirit let's pray jesus [Music] it is your will that every single person in this room tonight leave with joy in their spirit god the enemy has been attacking some precious people sending challenging situations life has not been kind some of these precious people today have been tormented by fear god in your presence tonight i am asking you to renew the joy of our salvation jesus we invite your spirit to step into this room god to baptize us again anew and afresh with joy god you are the burden bearer it is not your will that we care burns it is not your will that we be downcast we are the people of god we have access to a fountain to a living river a living flowing river god let that river flow in this place tonight from the front to the back i pray send your spirit jesus let it comfort let it renew let it restore i pray in your presence could you just worship him we're gonna sing we're gonna sing and let's just worship him let him wash over you with his joy before you leave this place [Music]

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 970

Rating: 4.9000001 out of 5

Keywords: capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, international, apostolic, sermon, preach, preaching, bible, study, teaching, bible study

Id: xKn9a4n0abs

Length: 32min 57sec (1977 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021