Tag Archives: joy

Joy Not In Things, But In God

Posted on November 18, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

People today find their joy in all the wrong places. In Psalm 100, one of my favorite, we see the Scripture telling us over and over to rejoice, to praise, to be happy, to be glad. The entire Psalm, meant to be sung in the Temple of God by a Cantor or Worship Leader, is one long praise. The song begins by telling us to give a cry of victory over the trials of life, then commands us to rejoice as we serve our God. Yes, the entire Psalm is about being happy, rejoicing, being satisfied beyond belief. Read with me:

Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Only The Saved Know Where Joy Comes From

C.H. Spurgeon wrote in his sermon “The Claims of God”:

BRETHREN, it is a trick of Satan to distract us from the most important and vital matters by the suggestion of trivial considerations. {That old Devil} will fill our eyes with dust to prevent our looking to the bronze serpent for healing; from the preaching of Jesus he endeavored to distract human attention by debates upon the tithing of mint, and anise, and cumin; the making broad of the borders of one’s garments; the wearing of phylacteries … {Satan} followed this method at Jacob’s well. When our Lord spoke to the {Samaritan} woman about living water, and the salvation of her soul, the evil spirit prompted her to {say,} “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and You say that in Jerusalem men ought to worship.” With this same art Satan still works!

The devil tried to do the same thing with our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness. The devil offered Jesus food, prestige, and power as avenues to joy. Jesus’ simple reply was, “It is written”.

Oh that we would learn from Jesus. Satan is destroying our nation through trivial and godless things, distractions from the most important truths. I am told that one political party made great gains in this last election because they capitalized on the anger generated by the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade. Thank God it was overturned! People are upset because the Supreme Court has sent the question of legalized abortion back to the states, where it should have always been. One party has said that they will codify abortion into U.S. Law. Even if they do, people will not find joy in this. There is no joy in evil and selfishness. There is no genuine joy to be found in things…. Continue reading →

Posted in Psalms, Sermons Preached | Tagged Following Christ, joy, joy in God, joy unspeakable, love God, salvation, things | Leave a comment

The Joy Of Faith

Posted on October 14, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

We see toward the end of verse 25, “Joy of Faith”. When you live for Jesus, you will often find yourself in bad spots. The Apostle Paul had more than his share of bad spots. Saul met Jesus on the Damascus Road, and heeding His call became Paul the Apostle. When Ananias was told to go to Saul and lay hands on him, Ananias was initially hesitant. After all, the Saul had been terrorizing the Church. But Jesus told Ananias:

Acts 9:15-16 (ESV) “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

As Saul caused others to suffer for Satan’s sake, now Paul himself will suffer “for the sake of {Jesus}”. Oh, how Paul would suffer! Paul told the Church at Corinth:

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (ESV) For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

The brighter and more flamboyant the LIGHT, the greater the DARKNESS will hate it.

Paul said that he was so distressed that “we despaired of life itself”. That is a profound statement. This means that Paul got so discouraged that he and those with him welcomed death. This is a state of advanced depression, where life has lost its savor. Paul was like that poor old Saint Job who cried out:… Continue reading →

Posted in Philippians, Sermons Preached | Tagged Faith, God is my Joy, joy, salvation, serving christ, serving God | Leave a comment

That Your Joy Be Full

Posted on September 5, 2019 by bibleteacherorg

All scripture is the very breath of God, His spoken Word that has been written down as God’s blessing to us. God chose people through whom He spoke His Word. The phrase “Word of the Lord” is found 7054 times in our Bibles. The phrase “Word of God” is found 48 times in our Scripture. The phrase “thus saith the Lord” is found 7067 times in this Holy Text. … Continue reading →