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Beyond Happiness: Cultivating Joy in the Spirit Daily · Verse and Voice Podcast

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You're listening to Verse and Voice with Charlie, where God's word
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meets your everyday walk. Shalom everyone and welcome
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back to another session. I'm glad you could
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join us today. You know, there's something I've been thinking about sometimes
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we can be smiling on the outside but going through so much on
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the inside. Sometimes life is good, our prayers
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are being answered, and everything seems to be falling into place.
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But there are other times when things don't go as planned and we struggle
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to find a reason to smile. And that brings us to what we are talking
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about today, and that is joy in the spirit.
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Because honestly, um, Is it, is it possible to have joy when life
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is difficult? Can you still have joy when you are waiting on God,
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when you are disappointed, or when you're going through something that nobody else
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knows about? I believe these are important questions for every believer.
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The Bible says in Romans chapter 14, verse 17,
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that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in
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the Holy Spirit. So clearly, the joy God gives uh,
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goes deeper than simply feeling happy when things are going
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well. But how do we experience this joy in our everyday lives?
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And what do we do when we feel like we've lost it,
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right? So to, to help us have this conversation, uh,
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I'm excited to be joined by my dear friend and brother.
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Um, I call him Pastor P. He's also called, um,
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Piero Ajosé. So, um, Pastor, you are very welcome. It's good
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to have you here, and I'm looking forward to what we will be sharing today.
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And to everyone listening to us us right now, please stay with us,
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and I believe this conversation will encourage you,
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especially if you're in a season where you, you need God
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to restore your strength and joy. So Pastor P, let me start with
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this question. Um, when we talk about joy in the spirit,
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what exactly do we mean, and how is it different from the
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happiness we experience when things are going well?
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Oh, but oh, Dr. Exon, I call my dear
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brother Dr. Exon, right? Thank you for the opportunity.
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Right. So when we talk about joy of the Spirit, first of all,
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we need to understand the makeup of man. Right. When you
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read 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the Bible tells
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us that man is made up of spirit. Man is a living spirit.
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He's a living soul. And then he's a living
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body, or he has a physical covering, which is his body.
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Right now, when you think of each part, right, you can relate it
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to 3 interesting words. Right? Pleasure,
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happiness, and joy, right? So you look at the body,
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right? And one of the things that goes with the body is pleasure,
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right? So depending on what you like, right, there are certain people who
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like ice cream, they like chocolate, it gives them pleasure,
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right? So when you talk about the body, you relate it
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to things that are pleasurable, right? Now, when you talk about
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the soul, which basically carries your will, right,
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your emotions, and then your intellect or your mind, right?
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What you can typically associate to that is happiness,
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right? So for example, you wake up one day and
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then you receive good news. That good news stirs up your
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emotions and then you're in a state of happiness. Then the
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final one, which is our emphasis for today's podcast, is joy
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in the spirit. Now, joy in the spirit relates to the spirit.
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Now, that joy is not based on a certain circumstance,
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not based on your circumstance, but it's based
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on your knowledge of God. It's, it's a joy that is rooted
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in God, you see. And that's the major difference.
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So if we just want to see it in a certain perspective,
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happiness relates to the soul, which is based
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on the circumstance. So people are typically happy when
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good things come their way. Right. But the joy of the Spirit
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is not dependent on just good things
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happening to you. Right. But it is more of joy rooted
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in your knowledge and relationship with God. So that's how I'll put it.
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Wow. Wow. That's a great introduction to joy in the
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Spirit. So we hear you mentioning the Holy Spirit a
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lot in this. So how does the Holy Spirit produce and
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sustain that joy in the life of a believer? Very, very good question,
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right? It's actually supposed to be a partnership. You know the verse
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we quote regularly as Christians, right? In 2 Corinthians 13:14,
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where it says that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the
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Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The idea
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is that the more we fellowship with the Spirit, or the more we commune
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with Him, there are certain things He passes on unto us.
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And one such thing is joy. Where the Holy Spirit is,
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right? He always stirs up joy because
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as part of who He is, right, He fills us with
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the fullness of joy. And that's why you quoted the verse in Romans 14:17,
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which basically talks about the idea that, listen,
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the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but it is righteousness,
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peace, and joy. These are expressions of the Kingdom, and one
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such expression is joy. So when you fellowship with
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the Holy Spirit, one of the things He stirs up inside the believer
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is joy, the element of joy. So truly,
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any believer who fellowships with the Holy Spirit,
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even if the believer is a pessimist— see, there are certain people,
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based on their experiences, based on things that have happened in
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their past, they've developed coping mechanisms. They are usually pessimistic,
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right? Even when a good thing is coming their way, they are looking at,
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hey, it might turn south. They are looking at the, the negative side.
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They are looking at, hey, the glass is half empty instead of seeing it as
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the glass is half full, right? And that's the idea.
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But with the Holy Spirit, when we fellowship with Him, He stirs up joy
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because now He helps us to see the right perspective.
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Many times it's because people are seeing the wrong perspective. Yes, sir.
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Well, so if I may just follow up with this, so what are some of
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the practical steps that believers could actually,
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you know, take to cultivate this joy daily
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in their lives? Yes, I love the fact that you said daily.
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So 2 key things I'll highlight: the Word of God
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and then prayer. In Jeremiah 15:16, the Bible
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says, your words were found and I ate them, and they
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became the joy and rejoicing of my heart.
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That's why the prescription for every believer is for
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us to daily meditate on the Scriptures. So you find
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verses like Joshua chapter 1, verse 8. You find,
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um, verses like Psalm 1, verse 2. It says
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that we ought to meditate on the scriptures day
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and night, you see, because when we meditate on the scriptures
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day and night, one of the things it stirs up inside of us is joy,
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right? So it becomes the rejoicing of our hearts.
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Then the second one is prayer. Now,
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when we pray to God, one of the things that happens is that the Holy
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Spirit, who is also the Spirit of joy,
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is able to fill us with joy. So you read the
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Bible in Romans 15:13, says, the God of hope fill
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you with all joy. So what it means is that just as
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like maybe you have a vehicle, you have a car, and then the,
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the tank, the fuel, right, is going down.
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You know, you have to go and refill it. That's how it has to happen
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for the believer. And I, I feel like sometimes believers, we don't pay
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attention to the fact that sometimes our joy tanks is going
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down. So 2 key ways is prayer and
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meditation on, on God's word. You see,
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these are the 2 major ways. These are the 2 major ways.
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You can talk about, um,
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meditating on the scriptures and then prayer. On a
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personal level and then on a corporate level. But these are the 2 key ways.
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Okay, so Pastor Pete, let's, let's, uh, thank you very much for that.
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Let's consider Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 17 to 18.
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Um, and the author said, although the fig tree shall
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not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive
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shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off
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from the fold, there shall be no head in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice
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in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation.
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So this is what I'm looking at. Um, I believe it is
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easy to rejoice when everything is going well, but what happens when a believer
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is facing financial struggles, maybe family challenges,
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sickness, or spiritual dryness? How can we remain
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joyful without pretending that our struggles do not exist?
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So it's making me wonder to ask How can a believer maintain joy
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in seasons of pain, disappointment, or prayers that
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are being unanswered? Very, very good question. And in life, because we go
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through different seasons and pain is something that you can
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easily go through in this life, so the believer doesn't deny the fact.
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He recognizes, and the scripture even talks about it, that all
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things, right? So when the Bible says all things,
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it recognizes the fact that we go through different experiences.
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What we ought to do is that we have to project ourselves,
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or we have to project things beyond the circumstance. And that's
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where faith comes into the fore. If you take, for example,
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Habakkuk's experience right now— in Habakkuk's experience,
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the backdrop or the background behind it was that Israel
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were going into captivity, and God was using a heathen nation
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to execute his judgment upon Um, upon Israel.
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And he looked at the situation and he was like, hey, this is something
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I've never experienced. And that's where the popular verse in
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Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 4, it says, the just shall live by
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his faith, or by faith. Or another way you can render
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it is that the just shall live by the faithfulness of God. So now in
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that situation, based on what he was seeing, everything looked
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like it was going south. But now his focus had to be projected
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to something greater. And that's why the psalmist could say things like
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this, right? Lead me to a rock higher than I. Lead me to a
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rock higher than I. The idea is that now God must be the
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focus. And that's why what you made at the very beginning, that the joy—
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what's the difference between joy in the Spirit and then what we are
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likely to call regular happiness, right? The joy in the Spirit is emphasized
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on our relationship with God. So when you are going
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through that season, the Bible recognizes that, yes,
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it's a painful season, it's a hard season. But the Holy Spirit comes
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as a Comforter to us. So He comforts us directly,
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and then He can also send other people our way. So we
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must recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit and also recognize other
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believers that have been sent our way to help us through that season.
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But in the end, the focus must be on God.
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Right, the focus must be on God, and the way to do it is that
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every day God must be magnified in your eyes.
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Thank you, thank you so much for, uh, giving us that,
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uh, explanation, the understanding towards that.
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Um, so now we are just wondering as well, uh, are there
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some things that can rob us, you know, of our spiritual
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joy? And in, in that sense, how can we recover it
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back again? You know, when someone feels spiritually empty or
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they've lost their joy, where should they even begin in restoring it?
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Very, very good question. You know, one of the things,
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because we are typically— we've grown up in
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a certain way depending on what you, you knew,
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or depending on what was available, the things you knew at the time,
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there are certain things that you developed as the reason
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of the things you were exposed to, right? So what will happen is that
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one of the things you realize that many people focus on the temporal,
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right? But it's important as believers not to only
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focus on the temporal. And that's why the Bible says the eternal is
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greater than the temporal. And the truth is that because we
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are more present in this world, the challenges of this world
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are real to us more. So, but you know, one of the things that happens
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is because people, we, we emphasize a lot on the temporal,
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right? We feel like everything must happen in this world.
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That's how come we are disappointed a lot of times.
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So, um, focusing just on the temporal— now in saying that,
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it doesn't mean we ignore the things that happen on the earth, because the
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Bible has spoken of God's provision in our lives when it
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relates to the things on the earth. But we must not only have a
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temporal perspective. Because a lot of people have a temporal perspective,
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they can't see beyond what is happening. They can't see
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God's hand and how God is moving beyond the situation. So when people
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focus on the temporal, right, it affects their joy so
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that they give up easily when they are going through a season.
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They, they lose sight of what God might, might be doing in that season.
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And that's why God created us to be interdependent,
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because God knows that we won't be 100% all the time,
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so we'll need each other. There are seasons in my life where I needed you,
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and we'll need each other because the whole idea is that we encourage each other.
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So focusing on the temporal can lead to that.
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Also, seeing things from the wrong perspective.
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You see, the Bible says in Luke 16:15 that the things that
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are considered highly esteemed among men, they are abominable
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unto God. So for the believer, we must always have
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the eternal heavenly mindset. You see, we must
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see things from God's perspective. If we don't see things from God's perspective,
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we can easily be disappointed. We can easily give up because, you know,
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life is very repetitive. And that's why the Bible says
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in Isaiah 40:31 that God will renew our strength.
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Why do we need renewal of strength? Because it's like you are doing the
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same things again and again, but God renews your vitality so you
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can do the things well. Wow, wow, that's very powerful indeed.
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David said in Psalm 51:12, restore unto me
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the joy of thy salvation. And it was because,
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as you said, he was not just leaning on the temporal things,
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but there was more, and there's something that is even beyond that which
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he's, uh, he was going through. So there's Thank you so much for that.
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We'll take our final question on joy in the Spirit. And my
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question would be that, what is the relationship between joy
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in the Spirit and spiritual strength or victory
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or worship? Like Nehemiah 8:10 was
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telling us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. How does spiritual
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joy strengthen us in the area of warfare, you know,
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to deepen our worship or even help us remain steadfast in our walk with
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God? Would you say to someone who desires this kind of joy,
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uh, but struggles to experience it? What would you say to such
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person? Joy is essential. And like you quoted in Nehemiah
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chapter 8, verse 10, truly the joy of the Lord is our strength.
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You see, every time joy withers away, it affects our
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productivity. The reason people lose energy is that joy
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is withering away. And in Joel chapter 1, verse 12,
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the Bible speaks of a situation where people— there
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wasn't fruitfulness, people weren't productive. And it says that joy has been withered away from
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the sons of men. So every time joy dissipates,
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it affects people's vitality. The many, the many reasons why— one
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of the reasons why people are tired, that they are discouraged,
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is because joy is dissipating. The things they are doing, they are
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not finding joy in it again. And it's because they are focusing— sometimes
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we focus on the wrong things. When we focus on the right things,
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God re-engineers and stirs up our joy again. Just as we go
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to the fuel station to have our, um, our vehicles
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refilled, right? You fill the tank. That's what we have to do.
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You have to pay attention to your joy tank because
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in Isaiah 12:3 it says we draw— it's with
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joy that we draw out of the wells of salvation.
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And the aspect of worship, prayer,
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all these things, they mediums through which our joy is stirred up.
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You know, Paul made the statement, right? And one of the things we must consider
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is that the book of Philippians, Paul wrote it in prison.
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So this is someone in prison encouraging people out there because
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the church in Philippi were going through a season of persecution.
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But he was in prison because he was able to— he was in prison and
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was still able to encourage the people in Philippi. This is an
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example of joy in the Spirit, joy that is not based on the circumstances.
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But joy based on the Lord your God, who is your exceeding joy.
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You see, and he said that making requests, right,
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in Philippians 1:4, he said he makes his requests,
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he makes his prayer petitions with joy. You see,
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that's maybe the aspect that is missing, is a missing link
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in someone's prayer petition, because you, as you are praying, you are
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complaining. There's no element of joy.
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Because you see, joy plays such a key role. So battle joy is
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essential. So instruments like worship,
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instruments like prayer, all these things, they stir up
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joy on our behalf. Because one of the things that happens is that when we
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worship and God is hallowed— so people can
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testify that every time we're deep in worship, God is
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magnified above our present situation.
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But the idea is that he has to be magnified daily, because today you are
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feeling all right, but the next day something will come up that will try to
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steer you in the wrong direction. And that's why the Christian
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journey is a daily affair. Wow, thank you so
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much. This, this has been awesome. In fact, Acts chapter 13,
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verse 52 says that, and the disciples were filled with joy
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and with the Holy Ghost. Pastor Pete, this has been such a blessing.
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Um, thank you for making time to share, share your wisdom,
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your heart, and the grace God has placed upon your life even with
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us today. Um, I believe this conversation has given someone a
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different perspective, and it might have even strengthened
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your faith and perhaps answered questions, uh, that has
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been sitting in their hearts for a long time has been met.
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So to everyone listening, I want you to remember that spiritual
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growth is not just about what we hear It is about what we are willing
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to practice. So don't just enjoy this conversation,
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allow it to transform your walk with God.
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Pastor P, before we wrap up, uh, I'd love you to leave our
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listeners with one final word of encouragement, or perhaps a prayer over everyone
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that is listening. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And first of all, I want to
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say a big thank you for this opportunity, and I, I thank God so much
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for what he's doing in the midst of the believer, right? You know,
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the Bible said in Isaiah chapter 42, verse 4,
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concerning Jesus, he shall not be— he shall not fail nor be discouraged
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till he fulfills his assignment. And one of the things that fights a
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lot of believers is discouragement. So my prayer
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is a prayer Paul prayed for the church in Rome, that the
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God of hope will fill us with all joy and in peace in believing,
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and that we may abound in the and, and the bounding hope by the
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power of the Holy Spirit. Amen and amen. Wow, thank you
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once again, Pastor P. We truly appreciate you. And to you listening,
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thank you for joining us. Um, if this conversation blessed you,
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please share it with someone. Um, subscribe and stay connected for
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more conversations that inspires our faith and give us
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a deep level of understanding and also to draw us closer
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to God. Until next time, Keep growing in grace, keep pursuing God,
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and remain devoted to prayer. This is Charlie, and you have been listening
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to Verse and Voice. God richly bless you.