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A Joy Full Home, Part 4 · Enjoying the Journey

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  In our busy world, family time is frequently
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  neglected. It is vital that we give attention
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  to our families while we can, and it is especially
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  important to give attention to what God says in his word
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  about our homes. For the next few moments, let's join Scott Pauley
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  as we open the scriptures and and find God's message for
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  your family.
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  Do you remember back in John chapter 15 that Jesus promised
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  his disciples, that first family that
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  he, he gathered together around him, he promised them that his joy
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  would become their joy? Well, we find
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  the fulfillment of that in the book of Philippians, this book of overflowing Christian
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  joy, the joy of Jesus Christ. And we're applying
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  it to our homes, identifying each place in Philippians where joy is
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  found and then some principle that we can obey.
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  And we've identified 7 of them so far. Let's pick up there. The 7th
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  principle found at the beginning of Philippians chapter 3 is
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  that we must find our joy in worshiping God.
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  Are you a worshiper today? People want the product without the process.
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  They want to be joyful, but they don't want to be worshipful.
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  No, worship has to begin in the heart. It's an individual heart
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  attitude towards God. Worship is personal, it's individual,
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  it's private. No one can worship for you. But if you
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  really learn to worship individually, then you can lead your family to
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  worship. If you can learn to worship, then you can teach someone else
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  to worship God. And of course, we know that this worship is
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  centered in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, because no one else is worthy
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  of worship than him. And so practically speaking,
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  have your family in worship services with God's people.
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  Don't miss it when the, when the church gathers. Be with God's
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  people to worship the Lord corporately. And then in the privacy of your own
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  home, teach your children by example what it means
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  to worship the Lord. Then let's come to chapter 4. I'll give
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  you 3 more principles today to conclude our list on how to have a joyful
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  home. Look at chapter 4 and verse 1. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved
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  and longed for, my joy and crown. So stand fast in
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  the Lord, my dearly beloved. Here's an 8th principle: experience
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  the joy of developing other followers of Christ. Let that
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  sink in. Paul said his joy and crown were these believers that he had
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  led to the Lord and now seeing them grow in the grace and knowledge of
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  Christ. Friends, outside of your own salvation, there's no joy
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  like seeing somebody else come to know Jesus. And so
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  could I challenge you as a family? Why don't you adopt another family?
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  Why don't you choose someone that you're going to pray for
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  and speak to and witness to and seek as a family to
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  bring to the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh friend, the, the greatest riches
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  are not material, they're spiritual, and it's wonderful to share them.
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  To see others come to know Christ. Oh, the joy of God's
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  salvation, both in us and then witnessed in the lives of other
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  people. Ask God to use your family to witness the
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  gospel to others and to bring others into the family of God.
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  And then come down to verse 4 of Philippians 4, famous verse: Rejoice
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  in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
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  God repeats himself here, doesn't he? Here's the principle number 9: choose to
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  rejoice. Do you see that it's a command? And if it's a command, then it
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  is a command that we must choose to either obey or
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  disobey. There are lots of all-encompassing words in this
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  passage too. For example, rejoice in the Lord always.
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  That means at all times. I don't know what season you're going through today.
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  Maybe it's not the happiest season of your life, but it can still be a
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  joyful season. You can choose to rejoice in the Lord today.
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  I've discovered personally when I least feel like rejoicing, I most need
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  to. When I really don't feel like singing, I need to begin to sing
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  to the Lord and give God praise and glory because God commanded
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  it. Rejoice in the Lord always. And then in the next verse it says,
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  let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
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  So now we got all men. We're to rejoice before all people.
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  Others are to see the joy of Christ in us. Others are to see the
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  reality of a living Savior living in us. And then you
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  come to that famous verse, verse 6: Be careful for nothing, but in everything by
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  prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
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  unto God. And so we rejoice at all times, before all people,
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  and with all needs. Whatever your need is today,
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  you can still rejoice in the Lord. You can rejoice that
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  through prayer, just like God has met your needs in the past, God is going
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  to meet your needs now. And guess what it leads to?
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  Verse 7: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
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  shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Only God could
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  do that. All way, all men, everything,
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  all understanding. God will exceed expectations
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  if you will choose to rejoice today.
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  Stop living and dying by your emotions. Stop riding the,
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  the emotional roller coaster exercise your will.
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  Choose against how you feel today and say, I'm just gonna
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  obey this. I'm gonna rejoice in the Lord always. And again
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  I say, rejoice. You ever wonder why he had to say it again? Because we
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  need to hear it again, and we need to do it again. Just because we
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  knew it in the past doesn't mean that we remember it, and just because we
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  remember it doesn't mean we're obeying it. Rejoice in the Lord always.
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  And again I say, rejoice. And then let me give you one more.
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  Chapter 4 of Philippians, verse 10: But I rejoiced in the Lord
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  greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again,
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  wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak
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  in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith
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  to be content. I know both how to be abased,
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  and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I'm instructed
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  both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
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  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
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  me. Can I give you this principle? If you want a joyful home,
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  learn to rejoice in everything God gives you.
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  Whatever God chooses for you, it may be up,
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  it may be down, it may be fullness, it may be emptiness,
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  it may be a bright day, it may be a dreary day, but whatever God
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  chooses for you Learn to rejoice in that.
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  There are 2 types of people in the world. Dr. Robertson used to say,
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  2 men behind prison bars, one looked at the mud, the other the stars.
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  2 types of people. There are those who grovel in what they don't have
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  or what didn't go their way, and there are those who keep their eyes on
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  the Lord and just choose to keep rejoicing in Jesus.
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  Be gratefully content today for everything God chooses for you. Remember that
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  He's the source of all things. Just be content, my friend.
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  And then if you keep reading in the passage, he goes on to talk about
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  how they communicated with him, how they ministered to him. And then we
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  come to this famous verse, verse 19: But my God shall supply all your need
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  according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Be ready
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  and willing to give to others. He's the source, we're to
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  be channels. So rejoice in everything that God gives you personally,
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  and then enter into that joy By sharing with others, by,
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  by being a giver and not a taker, by taking
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  all the good things you've received and relaying them to someone else.
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  You see, a joyful home is not an end in itself, it's a means to
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  an end. It's not we want to be full of joy just so we can
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  be happy people. God doesn't give you his comfort just to make
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  you comfortable. God gives you his comfort to make you a comforter. God gives you
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  his joy to share it with somebody else. God gives you his goodness to
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  make you then a witness to others of the goodness of our
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  God. Can I tell you why I'm in the Lord's work today? Can I
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  tell you why I want certain things for my family? It's because I
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  saw it first in my dad and mom. I witnessed it. I watched
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  it with my own eyes. I was a spectator and then a participant of
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  a home that was far from perfect, that still dealt with difficulty,
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  But it was a home filled with the joy of Jesus Christ.
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  I've said it so many times, you've heard me say it before, but I'll repeat
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  it. The greatest thing my parents gave to me and my sister was a
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  happy home, the joy of Jesus evident
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  in a place where the Christian faith was being lived. Could I challenge you to
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  have, by God's grace today, a home full of the joy of the Lord?
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  It's a choice, friends. It's a choice you must make, and you must make it
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  every day. It will be best for you, it will be best for your family,
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  it will be best for others, and ultimately it will give
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  glory to God. May the Lord help every one of us to
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  have a joyful home. For more resources for
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  your marriage and family, visit us at etj.bible
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  and click on the Take the Next Step link where you'll
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  find many Bible resources that will strengthen your marriage and equip
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  you to raise your children in the ways of the Lord.
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  We highly recommend Scott's book, New Testament Marriage.
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  In it, you'll discover timeless biblical principles from the
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  husband and wife team Aquila and Priscilla, and these principles
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  are very applicable to your marriage today.
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  From all of us at Enjoying the Journey, thanks for listening today,
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  and until next time, We pray that you will
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  enjoy the journey.