The Joy Challenge – Week 2

“Whatever happens … rejoice in the Lord.” 
Philippians 3:1a (NLT) 

Joy is a choice. While happiness is circumstantial, joy is much deeper. Joy is not a feeling. It’s a focus. You get to choose the level of joy you experience. When Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, he was speaking from personal experience. He told them, “Whatever happens my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.” Philippians 3:1 (NLT) 

No one was more qualified to say this than Paul. Philippi was the city where he was wrongly accused, severely beaten, and falsely imprisoned. Following that experience, Paul would later endure two years of false imprisonment in Caesarea and two more years of imprisonment in Rome, not to mention when he was stoned and left for dead in Lystra. He was even awaiting his sentence while imprisoned in Rome when he wrote this letter of Philippians, unsure if he would be released or sentenced to death.   

Despite such suffering, he writes this letter full of joy! In fact, the concept of rejoicing and joy appear sixteen times in four brief chapters, culminating with a challenge to: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!”  Philippians 4:4 (NIV)  

It makes you wonder if he was nuts! How is it possible to rejoice no matter what happens? Paul was living proof that, when your focus is knowing Christ, your heart can be filled with inexpressible joy even in the worst of circumstances. Happiness depends on what happens. It’s short-lived and hollow.  We’ve all experienced the shallowness of laughter. It can even mask hidden hurts and deep pain. When you experience sorrow and suffering, you need more than laughter to lift your spirit. You need joy! The Bible says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10 (NLT)   

Our strength and happiness come from the joy of knowing Jesus and His presence empowering us. Knowing Christ is the one thing that changes everything! It may not change the circumstance, but it changes you in the midst of the circumstance. You’re no longer living for this world or whatever it may offer. Your focus is on knowing Him and experiencing His life indwelling you. Your faith is in God. He is still on the throne and will never abandon you. You choose joy, not for what is happening but in the God who loves you and gave His Son for you, knowing that He alone writes the final chapter. What are you going through right now that threatens your joy? Let faith arise and make the choice to rejoice! Shift your focus from the circumstances to God and the feelings of joy will follow.    

“Serve the LORD with gladness….”
Psalm100:2a (NKJV)

The Psalmist said, “Serve the LORD with gladness….” Does this describe your attitude? Do you serve with gladness? If not, could it be that you’ve forgotten the one whom you are called to serve and you’ve lost your joy in serving? The Psalmist reminds us. “Serve the LORD…” The quickest way to restore your joy in serving others is to consider that the one you’re really serving is God. We best serve God by serving others. 

Another way to restore our joy in serving is when we love with no strings attached! I’m more apt to serve with gladness when I’m serving the Lord and loving others as Christ loves me – unconditionally! Some translations change the word “serve” in Psalm 100:2 to “worship.” That tells me that my service is an act of worship! It’s a way to demonstrate my love for God! When I love with no strings attached, I can serve with gladness because my service is an act of worship! 

Jesus said that those who serve would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God!

“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.’” Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV)

Serving with gladness runs contrary to our nature and our culture. We want to be served. Yet, as counterintuitive as it seems, real joy comes in serving, not being served. We lose our joy when we interpret the word “service” as “serve-us!” Jesus’ own life and ministry are a living example to us. Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 (NLT) I’m most like Jesus when I’m serving and, when I recognize that He is the one I’m serving, I can serve with gladness! 

Make a radical break from our culture and look for ways to serve God by serving others this week. Step out of your comfort zone and stretch your faith into action. Love is something you do. Love is manifested when we serve with gladness. Your attitude will become contagious! It will determine the level of joy you have in serving! People around you will wonder what is motivating you. How can you serve someone today that will put God’s love on display and increase your joy?

“The LORD strengthens and protects me; I trust in Him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to Him in gratitude.”  
Psalm 28:7 (NET1)

American playwright and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Thornton Wilder said, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

Most people who know their days are numbered understand the importance of the little sensory details that we often take for granted. They know what it means to wake up each day with a grateful heart. I’ve seen men and women who were suffering chronic pain, smiling as they sipped their morning coffee or held the hand of their spouse. They were immeasurably grateful for one more day, for another opportunity to embrace their lives in every detail. Despite their circumstances, their hearts were full of joy! How is that? Their attitude of gratitude produced a joy nothing could diminish.

We talk about gratitude a lot in our culture, but we find it difficult to practice. The consumer mindset instilled by media and advertising, combined with our human tendency to compare, leaves us coming up short. We’re told – and often believe – that what we have isn’t enough. We’re conditioned to automatically accept that the next electronic gadget, the next pair of designer shoes, the next tropical vacation, or the next romantic relationship will fulfill us. But of course, material goods, exciting experiences, and even other people can’t quench the spiritual thirst in our lives, much less produce joy.

Only God can slake our deepest thirst with His living water. Cicero wisely observed, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” When we are thankful, we become content and full of the peace that only He can provide. Focusing on how grateful we are for what we have prevents us from becoming bitter and greedy for more.

When I think about the way gratitude can increase our capacity to love and experience real joy, I think of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! My favorite line in the whole story occurs right after the Grinch has realized the true meaning of Christmas: “And some say the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes that day.” Gratitude expands our hearts the same way. We become fully aware of the details of the life we love, the simple things that delight us, and, perhaps most of all, the people God has placed in our lives. Simply stated, gratitude expands our capacity to enjoy life.

Ingratitude has the opposite effect. It causes our hearts to shrink and become colder. It blocks the flow of God’s wisdom and blessings in our lives. In fact, the opposite of a heart of gratitude is a heart of dissatisfaction, grumbling, complaining, and negativity. Whenever I’m being negative, I can’t help but feel that God is disappointed with my attitude, that it’s a slap in His face after all He has given me.

If you knew your days were numbered, you’d want to make the most of them – to laugh and fully engage with the people you love, to appreciate the little things, the ones that might seem silly to others but that delight your soul, and to give God thanks for allowing you to experience them. When we thank those around us, it only increases the love between us. When we express gratitude to God, it increases our capacity to experience a full life without regrets.

Here’s a joy challenge for you. Make a gratitude list of five or six things that you often take for granted. Stop for a moment and thank God for each of them. Then, make a list of people in your life for whom you are most grateful. Think of the ones you most often overlook within your own household and make a point to express your gratitude for them. When you do, you’ll experience the power of gratitude in your heart and relationships that will fill your heart with joy!

“Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done.” 
Colossians 2:7 (TLB)

The apostle Paul give us the secret to a life of overflowing joy in Colossians 2:7 when he writes: “Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done.” Sounds simple doesn’t it, but Jesus’ experience as recorded in Luke 17 is an example of how even people who are given a second chance at life sometimes forget to thank the source of all good things. Check out the story in Luke 17:11-13 (NIV) 

“Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him. They stood at a distance and called in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’”  

These ten men had one thing in common – their plight was hopeless.  Leprosy was the most dreaded disease of Jesus’ day. The first sign of leprosy was a death sentence. Once identified, the leper was forced to leave home, family, and friends and was cast outside the city. A strict law even stated that people with leprosy couldn’t get within fifty yards of a person who didn’t have the disease. If they did, they were pelted with rocks and stoned to death.

Can you imagine never being touched again, never feeling the hug of a child, never feeling the arm of a parent around your shoulders, never feeling the embrace of your spouse? That’s what these ten men had experienced for years. Some of them had probably had leprosy since they were children because the disease took so long to progress. They’d given up hope after they had tried everything, and nothing had worked. But then something amazing happened. They encountered the Carpenter from Nazareth, the One said to be the Messiah. “He [Jesus] looked at them and said, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, their leprosy disappeared.” Luke 17:14 (NLT)

It was incredibly rare for someone to be healed of leprosy, but apparently it had happened before, because a law existed requiring a leper who was healed to go to the priest. The priest would determine whether or not the leper was cleansed and would be allowed to return to his family, friends, and community. So it’s striking that Jesus told these ten lepers to go to the priest before they were healed, as if their health had already been restored. It was a test of their faith. Did they really believe Jesus was who He said He was?  They obeyed and passed the test.

Just imagine this rag-tag group of men as they were walking to the temple. They looked down and saw the blotches on their skin had completely disappeared, and they quickly realized they were healed. They could go home again! Such an unbelievable gift was surely celebrated – jumping and shouting and whatever their equivalent to high-fiving might’ve been. So much incredulous joy and such urgency to get to the priest, to get home, to get their lives back. But along the way, one of them stopped and said, “Hey, wait a minute, guys.  I have to go back and thank the One responsible for this. I have to express my gratitude to the Giver of this incredible gift.” The other ones might have said, “We have to go to our families. We haven’t seen them in years.” But he must have responded, “Yes, but first I want to go back and thank Jesus.”

Perhaps the most significant part of this entire story occurred next. “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him – and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:15-18 (NIV) This guy was from another country, yet he was the only one who came back to thank Jesus. “Then He [Jesus] said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’” (vs 19) This man finally had what you and I take for granted each and every day.  He had new life. He had his health. He would live to see tomorrow. But he realized it was a precious gift that God had given him, so he went back to thank Jesus.  The hard truth about the whole story is that he was the only one. Out of ten, he was the only one who expressed gratitude. He went back and threw himself at Christ’s feet.

Thanksgiving has the power to change us completely, to fill us with overflowing joy! This former leper was not just physically healed; he was also spiritually healed. There is power in thanksgiving to heal us spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. An attitude of gratitude opens up our hearts to God, enabling us to really see the world the way it is, to experience life to its fullest and enjoy each breath.  That’s the power of thankfulness, but you can almost hear the hurt in Jesus’ heart as He asked three questions:  Weren’t there ten?  Where are the other nine? Did only one come back to thank Me?

Now before we judge too harshly the nine who didn’t come back to thank Jesus, we need to look at our own lives. What is it about our human hearts that allows us to take so many things for granted? The very thing we desperately want, once we get it, we don’t thank God for. How often do we get in a jam and plead with God to provide what we need? “God, I’ll do anything,” we say. “Just help me this one time, and I’m yours for the rest of my life.” When He does provide, even if it’s not always exactly what we want when we want it, we neglect to thank Him. 

On that day ten men received a gift, but only one unwrapped it. Ten people received life that day, but only one realized there was more to his life than his time on earth. This is what gratitude does – it changes you. It opens your heart to God so you can experience all the blessings He has for you.

“I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak His praises.”  
Psalm 34:1 (NLT)

Problems and pressures in life can threaten to deplete our joy. How do we maintain a life of overflowing joy? The Psalmist challenges us to develop the habit of praise! He said, “I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak His praises.” in Psalm 32:1 (NLT) But how is it possible to praise the Lord at all times? Life is hard.  Problems and worries come uninvited and unexpected and certainly don’t leave us in a mood to praise. Could that be the point? Think about it. I cannot worry and praise at the same time. Worry is a great sin.  It says, “God, I don’t think you can handle this one, so I must worry about it.” But worry is stewing without doing. It’s like revving your engine – you burn a lot of gas but don’t go anywhere! The Psalmist’s presents a better option – turn your problems into praise! How? Praise God that His power is greater than your problem. It’s not denying you’re hurt or have a problem, but instead of worrying about it, you acknowledge that God is greater than any problem. 

The problem with problems is never really the problem. The problem with problems is our response to them.  Jesus told us we would have problems in this world. But the good news is that all our problems are temporary! One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NIV). It says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” When we praise God, we get a new perspective on our problems and experience the power of God to lift the weight of worry from our minds and prevent them from stealing our joy! 

That’s the secret of praise! It’s the power of praise that the psalmists offer us throughout the 150 chapters in this book. I love the way Psalms ends. The last five chapters of Psalms close the book with a crescendo of praise! Each chapter from Psalm 146 to Psalm 150 begins and ends the same – “Praise the Lord!” Let me ask you. Is that a request or a command? I think the exclamation point may give it away. 

Like joy, praise is a choice. Will you choose to be a praiser? It will take practice. Every time you are tempted to worry or complain, turn your problems into praise! Praise your problems back to God. When I praise my problems back to God, I’m not denying them. I’m admitting honestly to Him how I feel and that I don’t like what is happening or seem powerless to do anything about it, but I am praising Him that He cares and has the power to do what He chooses in His time, and because He loves me it will be for my good! When you do that you’ll never lose your joy!