Joy is a theme that runs throughout the scripture and establishes a chief principle for Kingdom living. A life lived with joy rather than despair is truly how the Lord wants his people to live out their days here on earth.
And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10 ESV

This scripture tells us that the joy of the Lord is our source for strength. Joy is that essential component if life is to be adored rather than endured. While this may sound admirable, retaining joy during adversity is sometimes easier preached than lived out. As God’s people it is one of those qualities that often sets us apart from the people who do not know God. In this lesson we will examine some things that tend to rob us of a joy-filled life. I will use some stories found in scripture and although this is not an exegesis of those stories or any of their end-time context, the attitudes of the heart each character depicts is important to us and our goal of living a life of joy. A life lived in the spirit should always reflect the fruit or outcome of that life. One of the greatest character traits we can receive from a spirit-filled life is to have an abundance of joy. To set the stage for this lesson on retaining joy, let’s start from the end. Understanding the big picture of this life and meditating on the magnificence of our King is important if we are to uphold a proper posture for retaining joy.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also, he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning, and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. Revelation 21;5-7 ESV

Here is a spoiler alert!! Don’t you hate to watch a recorded event, that aired live, knowing the outcome? It just changes everything in your mind and emotions. Or if it is a movie that I’ve seen and the kids haven’t, they will always ask “does he die”? Knowing good and well that guys like Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris can’t be killed. I wanted to start this lesson from the end to hopefully give you that same mindset. You see that our King, Jesus Christ by name, is the authority in all of heaven and earth. His second coming is detailed in the book of Revelation to assure us that in the end, he is the victor. One thing that Satan and our flesh are good at is feeding us with doubt. Especially in times of crisis it is easy to wonder if we are really on the winning team. This is a clear message of what the future holds for us who are redeemed by faith in the finished work of Christ. The Holy Spirit is always trying to produce an overcoming faith within us that will combat these doubts. One of the fruits or outcomes of a life lived in the spirit is that joy radiates in in our hearts from his presence and this knowledge of the future. Let’s look at some of the things that if left unchecked will corrode that joyful life in the spirit.

The first of thing to be aware of is taking ownership. It is crucial that we remind ourselves that we are just stewards. When we begin to take ownership of these temporal things, even good things, we set ourselves up for our joy to be stolen.

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24:45-51 ESV

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons”. Matthew 21:33-41ESV

This is Jesus telling these stories and time after time he used these parables to rebuke certain religious leaders. It appears that perhaps he was suggesting that these leaders had taken what should have been a position of stewardship and turned it into ownership.
Most of the time the slide into this position begins with us building our own kingdoms instead of the Kingdom. In the stories, these servants began to take what was the master’s and treat it as his own. It was the servant’s responsibility to steward over the master’s house not to take ownership. It is important for us to treat everything God gives us with this respect. We must always keep in our heart that temporal feeling. It is only natural for us who are eternal to feel a sense of transience while in this world. This is not the final stop on the train ride for you if you are a follower of Christ. Retaining joy within our hearts comes with a guardianship of this understanding. There are times in our lives where the Lord must use circumstances to pry our emotions and desire for ownership loose. My hope is that we can discern this process when it comes our way. Sadly, many of us tend to focus on these circumstances rather than what the Lord is doing in them. Thankfully we can come to God for comfort and understanding in times of trouble.

The next threat to our joy is that of comparing ourselves with those around us. Nothing takes our joy faster than comparison. To compare us to others is not only an endless cycle but promotes self-affliction. God has given each of us a skill set and personality that no one else has. Like someone said, “be yourself because everyone else is taken”. I personally think that this is an epidemic in our modern culture that media and marketing have helped to fuel. It could be why depression is rampant in society. Just thinking that if I try to be something I can

never be, it will leave me feeling rejected. This is extremely harmful when carried over into expectations we think God has for us.

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So, take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25:14-30 ESV

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:3-8 ESV

God has equipped each of us with a set of abilities that we can use to their fullest potential. While the parable in Matthew 25 is not specifically about comparison, it does show us how to live within the means of what God has given and do the best with what we have. It is important in retaining joy to remember that God champions our uniqueness and understands our weakness. A practical suggestion is to take an internal inventory of what we are and what we are not. This inventory is key to staying in your lane of travel. Fortunately age itself has a way of

filtering these things out, but it isn’t always the most comfortable journey. Giving ourselves the grace to try things and shake off disappointments is sometimes healthy for the process of retaining joy. God certainly gives us the grace to make mistakes along the way. As a matter of fact, that grace is tied directly to our joy. When we realize that the Lord is graceful and when we give ourselves grace, it becomes easier for others to be themselves as well. This culture of grace and not comparison is what we, the body of Christ, should reflect. This also gives us the ability to say no to those things that we are not. Receiving and reciprocating God’s grace will always allow us to have the fullness of his joy. When I am comfortable in my skin, then you can be who you are without comparison.

The last thing we will examine today is not so obvious and that is having peace with God. This peace is essentially connected to our joy-filled living. When we are at peace with God it becomes easier to live out our faith without the burden of doing. Now recall that Jesus said he would give us his peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

The world’s peace is the absence of conflict, but Jesus’ peace is a calm during any kind of storm. Notice that in this story Jesus was asleep in the boat while everybody else is freaking out.
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” Matthew 8:23-27 ESV

Now I know that it is hard in uncertain circumstances to just think everything will work out, but it is the exact attitude that the Lord is trying to produce in us. It is easy to look at this story and think of the disciple’s little faith but how about our own lives? There are several factors that contribute to our walking in peace, but none is more helpful than for us to maintain a consistent union with the Holy Spirit.

One of the subtle things that causes a disconnect between us, and the Lord are walls we create. It is what James refers to as an enmity or opposition. These appear because we forget that we are here to serve the Lord and begin to focus on our own worldly desires. These enmities are like an unseen barrier between us and God.

When the Lord himself becomes our aspiration, it is easy to keep our hearts on track and serve in his Kingdom. Maintaining joy comes from an internal place of knowing that you are in right standing with the King. The only way we begin to have peace with God is through the blood of Christ. It washes us clean from self-righteousness and allows us to stand before a holy God. This access to the “Throne of Grace” is where true joy is obtained. Once we learn that in his presence is the fullness of joy, it quiets our soul. More times than not we feel a disconnect because we are not accessing the joy of being in his presence. This posture of peacefulness that comes from his presence creates within us a desire to serve and not to be served. This is where true and lasting joy is, to live in peace with God.

In conclusion, let us emphasize that being joyful is a choice that you and I make every day. Although the Holy Spirit will show you the path to joy, he will never choose for you. You ultimately make the choice to be joyful among all circumstances. Hopefully this writing has allowed you to recognize some pitfalls and solutions to living a life of joy. Jesus spoke about attitudes of the heart rather than timing when asked about his coming. To stay prepared and retain an attitude of joy takes diligence on our part and a supply from the spirit. Above all we must guard our hearts from these snares. In the grand scheme of things most of what robs us is very small. My Dad used to love saying the little foxes spoil the vine. When we put our circumstances in perspective it allows us to clear our hearts from ownership, comparison, and conflict with God. Joy is one of those infectious qualities that allows us to walk this earth as God intended.

May your holidays be filled with the joy and happiness that only comes through the Lord Jesus. And in the words of Isaac Watts the hymnwriter.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King

Merry Christmas!!