Choosing Joy - Come On, Get Happy! - Purity 1480

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of a blazing, shimmering October sunset just above the treetops that lie to the west of Freedom Road comes to us from yours truly as I joyfully captured this scene while taking a walk to my happy place last Friday. Well, it's Friday, thank God. And when I take a look, when I took today's photo last week, I was positively filled with happiness as the work week was done, the fall foliage was popping, and the weather was outstanding, causing me to momentarily surmise that October was the best month of the year, and then Sunday came with the cold chill of October rains, and I wasn't so sure about that best month of the year proclamation after all. If we choose to base our happiness on the things of this world and the changing circumstances of the atmosphere conditions, we will be on a roller coaster of up and down emotions and feel like we have no control over our moods. But that's a big lie. We don't need blue skies and fresh, peaking fall foliage to make us happy. Uh, to take control of our moods, we have to focus on the things of God and come to the realization that how we choose to look at the world and how we choose to think— yes, we can control our thoughts— has a big impact on how we feel. Our conscious contact with God which is established through faith in Jesus, uh, regular spiritual disciplines, and developing a conversational relationship with the Lord, in itself should give us all we need to have an abiding baseline of joy. Just knowing that God is over and above all the circumstances we face can give us peace and cause us to rejoice. But we have to be intentional and choose it. One of the best examples of drawing on the faith, on our faith, to overcome negative circumstances is in 1 Samuel 36, which tells us, now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. While David and his men were away marauders came and sacked their camp, taking away everything, including their wives and children. Talk about bad circumstances. But the text tells us that David strengthened himself in the Lord. And I believe that the psalmist of Israel drew upon his knowledge of God and went to him in prayer and worship, uh, to be prepared for the hard things he would have to do to go on. And only after David connected with God, was strengthened, and put on the proper attire did he ask the Lord if he could do this. Could he dare to dream that he can get his, his people back? And the Lord said, yes, pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all. And so he did. Instead of despairing, David chose to strengthen himself in the Lord. And likewise, we can choose to strengthen ourselves in the Lord and rejoice. We can choose to view life through the lens of our faith, draw close to the Lord, and choose to live in the joy of the Lord. Today's Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah, uh, reminds us that our faith is best expressed when the joy of the Lord manifests itself in our lives through happiness. So I'm sharing it on the blog today to inspire all of us to choose happiness. David Jeremiah writes in our element, happy are the people who know the joyful shout, Lord, they walk in the light from your face. Psalm 89:15. A.W. Tozer said the people of God ought to be the happiest people in all the wide world. People should be coming to us constantly and asking the source of our joy and delight. Charles Spurgeon felt the same way, writing, God made human beings as he made his other creatures, to be happy. They are in their right element when they are happy. One day the world will be filled with joy when Christ returns. Isaac Watts wrote Joy to the World, which is actually based on the millennial passage in Psalm 98 and the Second Coming. But We don't have to wait for the return of Christ to be happy. He lives in, among, and through us right now by his Spirit. Choose happiness today. Francis of Assisi said, let us leave sadness to the devil and his angels. As for us, what can we be but rejoicing and glad? And Jonathan Edwards added, he has created man for this very end. To make him happy in the enjoyment of himself, the Almighty, who was happy from the days of eternity in himself. And David Jeremiah finally shares a, a quote from G.K. Chesterton, which says, man is more himself when joy is the fundamental thing in him. Amen. Happiness is a choice, and for the disciple of Jesus Christ who focuses on their identity in Christ and who regularly practice Practices gratitude. It's a choice that is easy to make, as the truth of our state of grace naturally puts us there, or at least it should. Even though we may know who we are in Christ and count our blessings each day, we must still choose to let the joy of the Lord move through us. Amazingly, we can take our faith for granted or see it as a burden instead of seeing it as the miraculous gift that it is. We are— we were so lost, but now we are found. We were so alone, but now God is with us. Let's not forget this. This is the day that the Lord has made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it. No problem, circumstance, or condition can separate us from God's love, so let's choose to not let anything separate us from the joy of the Lord. So choose the truth of your blessed condition as your abiding narrative. Let's write another chapter in the book of our lives that continues to tell the story of how God saved us and now lives with us forever. Come on, choose it. Come on, let's get happy. Today's Bible verses come from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on forgiving others. And today's verses are from Genesis 50:19-21 from the New Living Translation. The word of God says, but Joseph replied, don't be afraid of me. Am I God that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don't be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children. So he reassured, he reassured them by speaking kindly to them. Today's verses are the third of three passages of scripture that fall under the 15th point of our Counseling Reference Guide resource section on forgiving others. The 15th point is Joseph forgave his brothers for selling him into slavery and treated them kindly. Today's Bible verses tell, tell how Joseph sought to comfort his brothers and assure them of his intentions to care for them, even though they had utterly betrayed him. Joseph had that God perspective because he suffered greatly, and even though he, he was sold into slavery and thrown into prison, his relationship with God upheld him. And because of his faith in God's favor, he prospered everywhere he went. Joseph saw firsthand how good and faithful God was, and when the circumstances changed where his brothers were in desperate need, he didn't seek his revenge. Instead, he bore witness of God's goodness and assured his brothers that they, they had nothing to fear from him, for God had taken what they intended for evil and turned it for good. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assists our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in Alford's devotion, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Today's chapter is Revelation 1, and from that chapter he, he highlights verse 18, which says, I am he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. And then Stephen Alford writes, I am he who lives. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:4. This speaks of his eternity. He is from everlasting to everlasting. I was dead. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3. This speaks of his atoning work. I am alive forevermore. He now lives in the power of an endless life. Hebrews 7:16. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more, death no longer has dominion over him. Romans 6:9. I have the keys of heaven and of hell. Only he could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in. He holds the issue of men's lives in his hand. For the Father has handed all judgment over to the Son. He holds the keys, the symbol of power and sovereignty. He holds the keys of every kingdom, problem, and situation. And Alfred ends by praying, thank God he lives in me. Amen. Amen. Thank God. You know, the Lord lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence that's been given to us since we put our faith in Jesus. And I loved, uh, Alfred's quote there. He holds the keys of every kingdom problem and situation. And he really, really does. Jesus is Lord and Savior, and through our faith in him, he gives us— he gives us the keys to the kingdom. He lets us into his eternal kingdom forever, to live with Jesus forever. So even though we shall die, we may die, you know, we'll always live in God's kingdom. Basically, we can live with him right now when we walk in Spirit. And if we pass into eternity, we'll live in that, in the, in paradise with him. And then we'll come back when he returns to the earth and to, to reclaim it. Um, so we live in that kingdom. That's every kingdom. And then any problem, a situation is, you know, properly handled through the lens of our faith and through, through trusting the Lord and living according to his word. So that's why we encourage, you know, that we really believe that Jesus holds the keys to every kingdom problem and situation because we've experienced it firsthand. And we encourage people to do the same. And that's why we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? Believe me, we're all a work in progress on that one, because our surrender is going to come with conditions, probably. Um, we first say, yes, Lord, you can be my Savior. And then, uh, if, if we're, you know, we're really on fire, we, we give him the Lordship right away too. But sometimes, you know, we don't even know what that means. And it's a progressive thing where God, you know, he only drags us as far as he can. And, uh, you know, he could drag us all the way, but he's a gentleman and he invites us to come and see. And, um, to taste and see that God is good. And, um, when we, when we decide to follow him, he, he gives us revelation and illumination of the scriptures and shows us the errors of our ways and causes us to repent and causes us to want to serve him, you know, out of the love that we have for him because of what he's done for us. And so it's very important to know who God is, but it's also very important to know who we are according to his word. And, you know, in, in terms of entering into that fully with our purpose for living, um, and so part of that purpose for living is to do good works. And I've been blessed with the, uh, the leadership role at Celebrate Freedom, the support group for Christian recovery and discipleship at Starpoint Church. It meets on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM in Clifton Park. So anybody in Upstate New York who can get to Clifton Park on a Wednesday night is invited to join us to you know, support one another in our faith and to, um, learn how to walk in the Spirit, to overcome those hurts, habits, and hang-ups that keep us from knowing the joy of the Lord. Um, and also, if, uh, you know, if you, if you don't, you know, if you can't make it to our meetings, that's okay. Um, you can also find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes on YouTube. And on a playlist page, we have playlists for all kinds of different things, but we, we have playlists for the Bondage Breaker Freedom in Christ, Victory Over the Darkness, and our own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, um, that we offer to encourage you to know your— who you are in Christ, to experience your freedom, and to walk in it. Um, so we invite you to check those out. And as always, we ask, are you empty for Christ too? See what we did there? Um, it's not empty for, it's empty for, um, meaning have you surrendered to the Lord? Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to come in come in and have his way, uh, to show you the way you should go. If so, we say keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you to pray and seek the Lord to find him. Um, and that's why we pray every day, because we know he, he hears us and he helps us through prayer. And so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you do for us, Lord. We pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. We desperately need your help, Lord. Um, we want to just represent you in your kingdom, and that's not easy. Um, we need, we need to be reminded of who we are in Christ and who you are and what you've done for us so we can have joy and choose happiness every day. Um, Lord, we, and we also pray for anyone who's listening, reading, or watching today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and that you lead them in the way they should go. Um, because we care about our brothers and sisters in Christ, and, uh, we, we're praying for them today. Lord, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.