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A Joy Full Home, Part 1 · Enjoying the Journey

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  In our busy world, family time is frequently neglected.
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  It is vital that we give attention to our families while we
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  can, and it is especially important to give attention to what
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  God says in his word about our homes. For the next
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  few moments, let's join Scott Pauley as we open the scriptures and and find
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  God's message for your family.
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  If someone asked me what books of the New Testament give the fullest
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  treatment on the family, I would say Ephesians and Colossians.
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  You know, Ephesians and Colossians are really twin epistles. They,
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  they run like parallel tracks the same direction if you
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  just compare the 2 letters. And both of them have classic
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  passages, summary passages on marriage,
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  on child rearing, on the relationship within the Christian
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  home. And yet the one book that Paul wrote
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  in the New Testament that seems to have almost no reference
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  to the family is in fact, I think, one of the
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  greatest books for the family. It is my favorite book of the Bible.
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  It's the book of Philippians. It is sandwiched between Ephesians and
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  Colossians. So in Ephesians and Colossians, there's a
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  great deal of instruction about marriage and child rearing and family
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  relationships. But between them, in the little book of Philippians,
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  is one of the open secrets of scripture, one of the great keys that
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  unlocks God's fullest blessing on a family.
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  I'd like to talk to you for the next few days in our study from
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  the book of Philippians on this subject: a joyful
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  home. You know, our homes are full of so many things,
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  some of them good, sometimes bad, but rarely do you
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  ever see a home that is just overflowing with the joy of
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  the Lord. And yet, isn't that exactly what it's supposed to be?
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  Let's begin where God begins in the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 And
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  verse number 1, we read these words: Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus
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  Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the
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  bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you and peace from
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  God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my
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  God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for
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  you all making request with joy.
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  And so we have it, the very first mention of joy
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  in a book that mentions it in some form 18 times.
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  Think of that, 18 different references to joy in 4
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  little chapters of the Bible. And this book, I believe,
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  teaches us God's great message of being joyful Christians
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  and having joyful homes. You know, we are preparing right now
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  in our family for a wedding. And I have mixed emotions
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  as dad, but we're excited. And all
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  in all, we understand that weddings are very joyful occasions.
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  And yet the sad truth is that for so many people, the wedding
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  is the happiest time of their family life.
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  Friend, it's not supposed to be that way. No, the joy is to increase
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  and to grow. I see so many weddings that are joyful occasions, and then
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  the marriages are absolutely miserable. And the children are absolutely miserable.
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  There must be a joy that is connected not to an event,
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  not confined to an emotion or particular time, a joy
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  that is connected to all of life. That is really what
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  we are given in the book of Philippians. Now, long ago
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  in our study through scripture on Enjoying the Journey,
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  we walked through the book of Philippians. You can listen
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  to those studies and, and walk through the scriptures with us, but what I want
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  to do with you is walk through the book of Philippians and show you several
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  principles from the book of Philippians that are connected to joy
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  that can be applied right in our own homes. I want
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  to show you how to have a joyful home life.
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  So let's start right here in verse number 4 where the Bible says
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  Paul said he made his request for them, his prayer
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  request for them, with joy. Here's the first great principle: if you want
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  to have a joyful home You ready for this? Pray for one another.
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  God always connects joy to prayer.
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  In fact, just this morning I was talking to the Lord about some things,
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  and while I was praying— in fact, I was praying for my family—
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  God brought such a joy to my heart. And I
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  was reminded again, personally, experientially, that as we commune
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  with God, God reminds us of his great sufficiency.
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  As we talk to the Lord, The Lord takes our burdens and
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  replaces it with his joy as our strength. Oh,
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  I'm convinced of this. If you want to be joyful,
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  don't wait for someone else to make you happy.
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  Instead, go to the God who is the source of all joy himself.
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  Pray, my brother. Pray, my sister. There's a
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  beautiful order here in Philippians chapter 1 when we read a moment ago. Did you
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  notice that grace and peace come before joy?
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  Most people are chasing after joy, but they're not experiencing
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  the grace of God. They're not living with the peace of God ruling in their
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  hearts. But when God's grace and God's peace have their proper place,
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  then joy is the beautiful byproduct of all of that. And so,
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  my friends, seek the Lord's grace, seek the Lord's peace,
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  seek to commune with God in prayer. And as you
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  do, you will find God's overwhelming, overflowing joy
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  comes to bear in your own life. There's also another little secret here.
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  In verse 4, he says he's praying for them, but in verse 3,
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  he says he's thanking God for them. Remember that praise is
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  always to accompany our prayer. We are to pray with
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  thanksgiving. It's one of the great open secrets
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  of prayer that we enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts
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  with praise. So maybe we should say it this way: don't just pray for one
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  another, but thank God for one another.
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  Praise and prayer will bring the joy of
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  the Lord into your home because first
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  it brings it into your heart. There's the joy of intercessory prayer.
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  You know, there really is a joy in giving to others,
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  and there's also a joy in praying for one another. So often
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  our prayers are so selfish. We're praying for us and us alone.
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  But when you begin holding up others in prayer, bearing one another's burdens, and so
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  fulfill the law of Christ, Then you find the great joy of entering into
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  Christ ministry. This is, this is what intercessory prayer is.
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  It's the work Jesus does, and it is the greatest thing you can do for
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  those that you love. And then there's not only the joy of intercessory prayer
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  when we pray for one another, but there's the joy of answered prayer because
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  you start seeing God do what you cannot do.
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  All of our lectures, all of our worry, all of our human
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  intervention, all of our material resources cannot do
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  for our family what our prayers can do. Why is that? Because when you
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  pray, it's not just you working or speaking. When you
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  pray, God works. And when you pray,
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  God says what you cannot say. If you
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  want a joyful home, let's start right here in Philippians chapter 1.
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  Let's learn to praise God for one another and then pray
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  for one another. And I'm convinced when the Lord
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  has his rightful place in in our devotional life each day,
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  in our conversations, in our communion, then joy will grow
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  out of that. I'm reminded again and again through scripture that really
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  a happy home has less to do with what you take out of it.
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  Yes, there's some things you ought to get out of your home, and anything the
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  Holy Spirit prompts you to get out of your home, get out of your home.
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  Evil influences and worldly distractions, remove them
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  as much as possible. But really, a joyful home has
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  less to do with what you take out of it and more to do with
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  what you put into it. Put praise back into your home today.
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  Put prayer back into your routine today.
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  And when you do that, the Lord himself will put his joy back
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  into your home. Could I give you a homework assignment? Could I
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  challenge you to take the book of Philippians over the next few days and just
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  read through it on your own? Meditate in these scriptures. You may even want
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  to read them with your family. Mark the 18 occasions where you find some form
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  of the word joy. Start making your own joy list, your own
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  list of practical ways that you can have the joy of the Lord in
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  your home. Pray your way through the book of Philippians,
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  because I'm convinced that this book of joy will teach us not only
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  how to have happy lives individually, but how to enjoy the
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  Lord's presence collectively with our families. This is God's
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  way to have a joyful home.
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  For more resources for your marriage and family, visit us at
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  etj.bible and click on the Take the Next
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  Step link, where you'll find many Bible resources that will strengthen
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  your marriage and equip you to raise your children in the ways of the
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  Lord. We highly recommend Scott's book, New Testament
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  Testament Marriage. In it, you'll discover timeless biblical principles from the husband and wife team
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  Aquila and Priscilla, and these principles are very
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  applicable to your marriage today. From all of
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  us at Enjoying the Journey, thanks for listening today, and until
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  next time, we pray that you will enjoy
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  the journey.