0:00

Welcome to Enjoying

0:02

Everyday Life with New York Times bestselling

0:04

author Joyce Meyer. On today's

0:07

program, Joyce will be teaching from her series,

0:09

Calm Down and Cheer Up. The

0:11

Bible is full of scripture describing

0:14

God's love for each one of us, and

0:16

it tells us how through salvation in Christ,

0:18

we can know true joy. But

0:20

keeping our joy isn't always easy

0:23

when the difficulties of life creep in. So

0:25

how do we remain calm and cheerful when circumstances

0:28

are worrisome? Today,

0:29

Joyce shows us practical ways

0:32

we can calm down and choose God's joy

0:34

in every situation. Let's

0:36

discover how His peace and joy can

0:39

transform our lives. Now here's

0:41

Joyce with today's teaching.

0:43

Well I'm so glad

0:45

that you're with me today because I have some

0:47

things to share with you that I believe are going to make

0:49

your life better. I

0:51

started a series on two

0:53

days ago called Calm Down and

0:55

Cheer Up. In the first two days,

0:58

we really talked about the calming down part.

1:01

Today I want to talk to you about what I'm going to

1:03

call the duty of joy. And

1:06

that may sound strange. Well, why would joy be

1:08

a duty? Well, it is a privilege

1:11

and it's a blessing, but I believe

1:14

it's a duty from the standpoint of our witness

1:16

to the world. You know, if we're

1:18

sorrowful and sad and discouraged

1:22

and downtrodden all the time, that's

1:24

not going to say much about what having a relationship

1:27

with Jesus does for you. And

1:29

the Bible says that we are the light of the world and the salt

1:32

of the earth. And so we

1:35

need to live lives that

1:37

are a witness to other

1:39

people that are lost. And

1:42

if you're joyful around people, if

1:44

you're calm when you should be upset and

1:48

you're joyful, joy

1:50

can be anything from extreme hilarity

1:53

to a calm delight. When

1:55

I talk about being joyful, that doesn't mean that

1:57

you have to be upset.

2:00

on the ceiling all the time, laughing

2:03

your head off. It can be anything from

2:05

extreme hilarity to just

2:07

this delightful, peaceful

2:10

calm that we've been talking about

2:12

the last couple of days. But

2:14

joy is so important, and it took me so

2:17

long to understand that it was God's

2:19

will for me to enjoy my

2:21

life. I was legalistic.

2:23

I looked at what all I should

2:26

be doing and was

2:28

always concerned that maybe I wasn't pleasing God

2:31

and did so many things out of obligation,

2:34

that I really did not enjoy the life that

2:37

Jesus died to give me. And

2:40

I've learned a lot about the importance

2:42

of joy. But when you hear

2:44

me say the duty of joy, I want you to understand

2:47

that it's not like a legalistic duty, but

2:51

anybody who wants to be used by God to

2:53

be an example to other people, if

2:56

you want to

2:57

be used by God to draw people

2:59

to Christ, then

3:02

put a smile on your face

3:04

and learn how to

3:06

have consistent joy in

3:08

your life, joy that is not

3:11

determined based on what your circumstances

3:14

are.

3:16

Proverbs 15, 13, a glad

3:18

heart makes a cheerful countenance,

3:22

but by sorrow of heart, the spirit is

3:25

broken. Joy

3:27

makes you strong and

3:30

a broken heart, a depressed heart, discouraged,

3:32

it makes you weak. That's not the

3:34

way God wants us to live. Psalm 5,

3:39

11, but let all those who take refuge and

3:41

put their trust in you rejoice. Let

3:44

them ever sing and shout for joy because

3:47

you make a covering over them and defend

3:49

them. Let those also who

3:52

love your name be joyful in you and

3:54

be in high spirits. I know it sounds

3:56

to me like we're supposed to be happy people. One

4:00

of the things we could do is just start by

4:03

practicing smiling on

4:06

a regular basis. So many

4:08

people today are so, they have

4:10

a scowl on their face and they're all

4:13

deep about everything. And, you

4:15

know, all anybody wants to talk about is

4:17

all the

4:17

problems in the world. And yes, there are problems

4:20

in the world, but let me tell you, God

4:23

is still on the throne

4:24

and Jesus is alive and well. And

4:27

in Him, we always have hope and

4:30

we can always expect all things

4:32

to work together for good if

4:35

we trust Him and love Him. Psalm 32,

4:38

11 says, Be glad in

4:40

the Lord and rejoice. You

4:42

uncompromisingly righteous who are upright

4:45

and you're right standing with Him. Shout for

4:47

joy, all you upright in

4:49

heart. Now, you

4:51

know, I could go on and on with scriptures like that

4:53

just

4:54

over and over and over, but

4:57

let it just be established that God

4:59

wants us to be happy. I

5:02

said, God wants you to be happy,

5:04

but you have to take responsibility

5:07

to be happy. And the way to do that

5:09

is to stop worrying about everything all the

5:11

time and being anxious and brought up and having

5:14

such a busy packed schedule that you're

5:16

stressed out all the time. You

5:18

got to leave room for some joy in your

5:21

life. John 10, 10 says, the

5:23

thief comes only to kill,

5:26

to steal and destroy. But Jesus

5:28

said, I came that they might have

5:30

and enjoy their life and have it in abundance to

5:32

the full

5:33

until it overflows. And

5:36

I think when you get right down to it, the bottom line

5:38

of what everybody wants is just to be happy.

5:40

We just want to be happy. Now,

5:43

you know, if you have known

5:45

sin in your life

5:47

that you're allowing and not

5:50

dealing with, it will block your

5:53

joy. David, great

5:56

man that he was, and

5:58

the Bible says he was a man after death. after God's own heart,

6:01

he did commit a terrible

6:03

sin.

6:05

He committed adultery with Bathsheba

6:08

and had her husband Uriah killed because

6:10

she got pregnant. They

6:12

didn't want the husband to find out. But

6:15

even worse than what he did was the fact that

6:18

he tried to ignore the

6:20

sin for over a year

6:23

and never

6:24

repented. But listen to

6:26

what Psalm 32.5 says. When

6:30

I kept silent, my bones wasted

6:32

away through my groaning all day

6:35

long. Wow. We

6:37

can repent and be forgiven for any sin.

6:41

God loves us, He knows we have weaknesses.

6:44

The Holy Spirit's in our life to convict

6:46

us of sin and to deal with us. And

6:50

He doesn't condemn us, but He convicts

6:52

us. He lets us know the areas that

6:54

we're doing wrong in. And all we

6:56

need to do is admit them, repent,

7:00

which doesn't mean just to be sorry. It

7:03

means to be willing to turn and

7:05

go in a brand new direction.

7:08

It means to walk away from your sin

7:11

and walk toward God and His

7:13

will. And if you try to hide

7:15

sin, it's gonna steal your joy. But if you

7:17

bring things out in the open, the truth will

7:20

set you free and

7:21

your joy will return. David

7:24

prayed a powerful prayer when he prayed

7:27

for forgiveness. I think it's in Psalm 51, and

7:30

it's really worth reading and looking at.

7:33

Philippians 4.4 says, "'Rejoice

7:35

in the Lord always, and

7:37

again I say rejoice.'" Well,

7:42

that may not sound like much unless you realize

7:44

where Paul was when he wrote that. He

7:46

was actually in jail. And I can

7:49

tell you, the jails that he

7:51

was in was not like the jails we have today.

7:54

I actually had the privilege

7:56

of standing in the same jail.

7:59

cell where Paul was when

8:02

he wrote this. I

8:04

can tell you it was about the size of

8:06

a very small powder

8:09

room and it had

8:11

concrete walls and a dirt floor,

8:14

and a window maybe about

8:16

like that with bars on it. No

8:19

heat, no air conditioning.

8:23

It was a horrible place. Matter

8:26

of fact, historians tell

8:28

us that the town sewer

8:30

system ran right through that area. So I

8:33

guess it didn't smell very pretty either, and

8:36

no tellings what was going on

8:38

in his cell or around it.

8:40

But yet he said, rejoice in the

8:42

Lord.

8:43

Again, I say, rejoice.

8:46

You know why? Joy gives you strength.

8:49

Sadness drains your strength, but

8:52

joy actually gives you strength,

8:54

and the devil wants you to be weak. When

8:57

the enemy comes against you, he's not trying to

8:59

steal your stuff, he's trying to steal your joy. There

9:03

are countless scriptures in the Word of God

9:06

that tell us that we are to rejoice in

9:08

the Lord. Well, what about the problem

9:10

of sorrow? In Nehemiah 8.10,

9:14

they had rebuilt the wall

9:17

around their city, and

9:19

that was a big thing to rejoice about.

9:22

As part of that, the people stood and the Word

9:24

of God was read to them. Pretty

9:27

much all day. And the people

9:30

began to weep, because when they heard the

9:32

Word, they were convicted

9:34

of sin in their lives. Well,

9:37

see, I remember when I first started

9:39

going to church on a regular basis and hearing

9:41

really good

9:44

preaching that I could understand, there

9:47

was never a message that I heard that

9:49

I didn't need.

9:51

But I didn't understand this thing about the

9:53

difference between conviction and condemnation.

9:56

And so I would leave feeling worse

9:58

than I did when I came in.

10:00

because I felt like every message just showed

10:02

me something else that was wrong with me. And

10:05

I didn't know how to rejoice

10:08

in that, but you see, I've learned now that

10:10

when the Holy Spirit convicts me of sin,

10:12

wow, I appreciate it, I thank Him

10:14

for it, because I can't do anything

10:17

about something I'm not aware of. The

10:20

truth will set you free. If you continue

10:22

in my word, Jesus

10:25

said, you will know

10:27

the truth and the truth will set

10:29

you free. John 8, 31 and 32. If

10:32

you're truly my disciples, and

10:35

you continue in my word, you will know the truth

10:37

and the truth will make you free. Facing

10:41

the truth about ourselves is one of

10:43

the boldest and bravest

10:45

and most courageous things that

10:47

we can ever do.

10:49

To be able to say, yes, this is a problem in

10:51

my life, I admit it, I'm sorry,

10:53

I repent, and God, I need

10:56

your help, I wanna change,

10:58

but I won't be able to change if

11:00

you don't help me, I need you

11:02

to help me. So Nehemiah,

11:05

as the people began to

11:07

weep, as they heard the word, he

11:10

said, don't be sorry, for

11:12

the joy of the Lord is your

11:15

strength.

11:17

Well, you know, we may be sorry about

11:18

different things for a season, we

11:21

grieve over different things for a season,

11:25

but the Bible says weeping endures for

11:27

a night, but joy cometh in

11:29

the morning. Naturally,

11:32

when you lose a loved one, or you

11:34

lose a job, or you lose

11:37

money, you've worked hard to save, loss

11:40

makes us sad, and there is a proper time

11:42

for grieving, but we have to be careful

11:44

that we don't let a spirit of grief attach

11:47

itself

11:47

to us. I mean, we

11:49

all know people that perhaps

11:51

lost their retainers

11:54

of retirement and

11:55

their job, and 20 years later, they're still

11:57

bitter. Well, that's not helping them get

11:59

better. what they lost, but

12:02

if they would do things God's way, He can not

12:04

only restore what they lost, but give them more

12:06

besides. In

12:08

the Bible, in the Old Testament, when

12:11

a loved one died,

12:13

according to the law, they were given 30 days

12:15

to mourn, and then they had to move on.

12:18

Now, I'm not suggesting if you've lost

12:20

someone that you love that after 30

12:23

days, you got to get all happy

12:25

again. But I think the point is made

12:27

is that there's a time for mourning

12:30

and weeping, but then eventually

12:32

we do have to make a decision that

12:34

we're going to

12:36

press on. Now, can I tell you something?

12:39

If you're here on the earth, there's a reason

12:41

for you being here. Don't

12:44

ever let the devil convince you that you have no purpose

12:47

and you're useless. You have

12:49

a purpose. You just need to find out

12:51

what it is. And you might

12:53

say, well, I'm trying, but I don't know what

12:55

God wants me to do. Well, you know, one of the

12:57

things I suggest, if you really don't know

12:59

what God wants you to do, just start

13:02

trying to do a few things and you'll find

13:04

out pretty quick what works for you, where

13:07

you fit and where you don't. Thanks

13:10

for listening. Seek and experience

13:12

God's peace while growing closer in relationship

13:15

with Him. With today's offer, Joyce's

13:17

book, Pursuing Peace and Peaceful

13:19

Living Journal. This hardcover book

13:21

filled with encouraging scriptures and line

13:24

pages journal are available now for

13:26

a donation of $30 or more in US funds. And

13:29

we do accept all major credit cards. You

13:31

can order today's offer from our website, JoyceMeyer.org,

13:34

or you can call us toll free at

13:37

1-800-789-0089. Again,

13:41

the number is 1-800-789-0089.

13:46

Well, I hope that you feel that I'm a partner

13:48

in your life by teaching you the Word

13:50

of God. And I'm asking you to partner

13:53

with me in helping us continue

13:55

reaching out, not only to you through this

13:57

program, but to so many people around

13:59

the world.

13:59

that still don't know Jesus.

14:02

Together, we can do so much more than what

14:04

we can do by ourselves. So please, become

14:07

a brand new partner with us today. To

14:09

join us in partnership right now, go

14:11

to JoyceMeyer.org. Thank

14:14

you so much.

14:16

Thanks again for listening to

14:18

Enjoying Everyday Life. Our

14:20

mission here at Joyce Meyer Ministries is simple,

14:23

sharing Christ and loving people. Remember,

14:26

together we can do more.