Where does JOY come from?

Where does JOY come from?  Paul said to the Roman church: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV “so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.” Romans 15:32 NIV

We learn from the scriptures that joy is not found within ourselves; it comes from God. Most of us have this weird view of joy, thinking that we can decide on it, or that we can find it in meditation or through some personal strength. Joy is not something that we can will into our minds; it is not a concept that I can just decide to start having. Joy is a fruit that is grown from God. That is why it is a fruit of the Spirit; it is the result of giving ourselves to God and to others.
We can’t decide to have joy, but we can do things that result in joy in our lives. Joy begins when we start the removal of the old life, the removal of selfishness and independence from God. Joy continues the more we give ourselves to Jesus. By following Him, by doing the will of God, our joy is made complete. Each moment with Him is a complete one filled with joy.

Get r Done

We are in our new sermon series called “Get r Done”. In the south the words “Get R Done” are not just a phrase, they are a battle cry. To say “get r done” is to say I will get the task completed no matter the cost, the time, or the effort. Get r Done means we are on a mission to do something. Last week we focused on the idea that God has given us a mission to be disciples who go make disciples. In 21st century terms, our mission is to connect with Jesus while encouraging others to also connect with Jesus. In the book of Zechariah a group of Jews moved back to Jerusalem, they had been defeated and had been led away in chains back to Babylon. Now they are back on a mission to rebuild the Temple and the city. The city of Jerusalem with its walls and great Temple were all in ruins, all that was left was rubble. The very place God was to dwell (The Temple) was destroyed. There must have been part of them that felt hopeless, they had to know that they were in trouble. They must have thought “how do you build a city or a kingdom out of rubble?” Right now some of you may feel the same way. How do we bring God back into this place, into our hearts? If our mission is to follow Jesus and to help others follow Jesus how do we do that when all we feel like we have to work with is rubble? Notice how God helped the people get started.

“6 So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. 7 "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!” Zechariah 4:6-7 NIV

It was an important message to all of the people; that the city, the gates, and the Temple will be built not by the power of man, but by the Spirit of God working in His people. Jerusalem was rebuilt because the Spirit of God worked through the hands of men and women who surrendered to the Spirit of God. If we want to get things done in this church, or if you want to do something for God, then start by reconnecting with Him. That’s what it means when we say, not by power, but by His Spirit.

Living Water

“5 People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. 6 If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. 7 Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws.” Romans 8:5-7 CEV

I like how the Contemporary English Version translates Romans 8. Paul describes two kinds of lives; the Christ- Centered Life followed by the Me-Centered Life. Paul describes the Christ- Centered Life as a life that is ruled by the Holy Spirit. One of the great benefits of having a relationship with Jesus is having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The idea behind Romans chapter 8 is that the reason we do good things is because we are in submission to the will of God. God’s Holy Spirit gives us the desire and strength to do good things. The Me-Centered Life works just the opposite. The King James Version uses the word “flesh”, the NIV the word “sinful nature”, and the CEV uses the word “desire”. Flesh does not necessarily mean body; it in this context describes a lifestyle that is not God centered. Everything I do, think, or say is influenced by either the flesh or by the Holy Spirit. The flesh encourages us to live a me-centered life while the Holy Spirit influences us to live a God-centered life. A “me centered” life is not only powered by me, but it is also limited by me. A me-centered life thinks that I earn my salvation through good works. A me-centered life is not so much a selfish life, it is more of a disconnected life, because we believe all the power and resources we have comes from us and not from God. In 2 Peter 2, Peter describes false prophets and teachers who may at one time belonged to God, but eventually they were rebelling against Him. Peter describes them in v.17 as “springs without water”. Those false teachers looked like christians, they talked like christians, but because they were disconnected from God they were like a spring without water. They became useless and destructive. Throughout scripture God offers people living water, in which the apostle John described as the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are strengthened to live a “Christ-centered” life. The church needs Christians who are connected to the water. Our country needs churches that are connected to the water that transforms selfish and sinful hearts into ones that are willing to love and serve as Jesus did. Every day is a battle between being “Me-centered” or “God-centered”. The only way I know how to win that battle is to actually surrender each moment by worshiping the presence of God and being led His Spirit.

Inception part 1

Inception was a great movie. I give it 4 Stars. It is not the best movie all time, it is not even in my top 20. (Hummm, That would be a great Blog.) Inception is a corporate espionage thriller that focuses on a team of tech thieves who are able to invade peoples dreams and steal their ideas. The hero (Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is given one more job before he retires. However this job is not about stealing an idea, but planting one; thus the movie is called Inception. Inception of an idea begins with a seed (thought) that becomes an idea, that leads to a belief, which will eventually become a reality. No spoilers here, go see the movie.


Inception got me to thinking about the concept of planting ideas. We have seeds of ideas everyday planted in our minds. While watching a football game on TV I find myself wanting more pizza, hot wings, better car insurance, and something to drink. There are so many commercials during a game that plant ideas in my mind; I don’t drink beer, but the beer commercials make me thirsty.

Christian writers and preachers warn us of spiritual inception, of people planting false ideas in our minds in order to turn us the wrong direction. I’m not going there either, however this movie got me to thinking; how can I be more effective at planting ideas into the minds of the people around me? Think about it, if I could plant positive ideas into the minds of my kids, my life could be so much simpler. I could plant ideas in my wife’s mind; I could get her to think that I am the most amazing man ever. As a minister I could plant positive ideas into the minds of both believers and nonbelievers. In 1 Corinthians 3 the Apostle Paul was addressing the fighting and division within the church. His focus was on how the world plants selfish and sinful ideas into the minds of Godly people, to make the problem worse, Godly people allowed worldly ideas to become a reality in their lives. Paul went on to explain that godliness and faith originate from God and His fellow workers.

“5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.” 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 NIV

As God’s people we have been given a simple job, which is to plant the idea of God into people’s minds. Let’s call it spiritual inception. Paul planted the idea through preaching, teaching, encouragement, and through his example. We will talk about Apollos and God’s role later this week. Idea planting doesn’t require great ability or experience, but it does require consistency. There will be people we come in contact with everyday, they will hear our words and they will see our actions. In those moments we plant ideas into their minds. The more we are around them the more influence we have over them. So what ideas are we planting upon the minds of our children, what ideas are beginning to take root in the minds of our friends and coworkers? Inception happens everyday; the world is filled with negative seed planters who help people grow worried, depressed, and self-centered. We are called to do the opposite, to plant ideas that are Holy Spirit led; ideas that help people discover faith, hope, and love.

To be continued …