WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:06.059 a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands, 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:09.019 and activates God's promises. In our brand new 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.820 book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:13.839 powerful journey through some of Scripture's 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.800 most transforming moments, where ordinary people 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.699 dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf. 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:24.160 Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon. 00:00:29.889 --> 00:00:34.310 Entitled, Not Mine, But God's. Everybody say, 00:00:34.390 --> 00:00:41.030 Not Mine, But God's. And for the four weeks of 00:00:41.030 --> 00:00:43.810 Advent, we've been focusing on those words of 00:00:43.810 --> 00:00:48.270 Advent. But long before Gabriel spoke to Mary, 00:00:48.429 --> 00:00:51.670 that's what we looked at our first week. Long 00:00:51.670 --> 00:00:54.689 before angels visited the shepherds is what we 00:00:54.689 --> 00:00:58.020 looked at on week number two. Or the wise men 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:00.740 saw a newly formed star long before this ever 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:04.599 happened. God planted a promise in the hearts 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:09.239 of his people that the Messiah is coming. A promised 00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:13.719 one is coming. The deliverer is coming. The rescuer 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:19.299 is coming. The Messiah is coming. I believe the 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:24.819 two most important events. In all of human history, 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.519 all of the world history, I believe the two most 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:32.319 important events are the incarnation, everybody 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:38.079 say incarnation, and the resurrection. Now the 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:43.040 Bible encourages us to talk about the death, 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.060 the burial, and the resurrection and to remember 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:48.219 those things. The Bible doesn't specifically 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:52.790 instruct us to celebrate the birth, of Christ, 00:01:53.049 --> 00:01:55.849 even though it records it, and that's what we've 00:01:55.849 --> 00:01:59.629 been reading. But the incarnation is very important. 00:01:59.709 --> 00:02:04.469 It's vitally important. Because without the incarnation, 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:09.650 Jesus would have been just a man like us. He 00:02:09.650 --> 00:02:14.370 would have been born in sin like us. And if he 00:02:14.370 --> 00:02:17.030 would have been born in sin, then it would have 00:02:17.030 --> 00:02:20.460 been impossible. for him to die for our sin because 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:24.139 he would have had to die for his own sin because 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:28.699 the wages of sin is death. So that's how important 00:02:28.699 --> 00:02:33.400 the incarnation is. At just the right time, the 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:37.419 Bible says, Jesus stepped down out of heaven. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.080 Now, I've talked to people before who believe 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:43.939 that Jesus did not even begin to exist until 00:02:43.939 --> 00:02:49.840 the Christmas story. But he's eternal. He's God. 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:54.979 All right? He existed. He was part of creation 00:02:54.979 --> 00:02:59.080 in creating the earth. I mean, he is God. He 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:02.879 is eternal. But at just the right time, because 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:04.819 he was seated at the right hand of the Father 00:03:04.819 --> 00:03:07.620 in the throne room of eternity, just the right 00:03:07.620 --> 00:03:12.319 time, he stepped down out of heaven. And that's 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:16.819 what the incarnation is about. God took on flesh. 00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:24.680 God added humanity to his deity. Born not like 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:30.379 us, he was not born in sin. Not only was he not 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:36.780 born in sin, he never sinned. So he didn't deserve 00:03:36.780 --> 00:03:40.819 to die for sin. But the incarnation makes it 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:44.300 possible. For him to die for us because we were 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:46.979 in sin and the wages of sin is death. We deserve 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:50.699 to die for our own sin. But someone who had never 00:03:50.699 --> 00:03:57.939 sinned could step in and be our substitute. Amen. 00:03:59.500 --> 00:04:03.479 So the incarnation is important. Incarnation 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:08.039 is important. Advent, that word Advent is. The 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:10.879 definition, pure definition is the arrival of 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:16.600 a notable person or a think. So we don't use 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:20.180 that word a whole lot, but, you know, we have 00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:24.980 used it some. We could say the advent of the 00:04:24.980 --> 00:04:27.939 internet or the advent of smartphones or something 00:04:27.939 --> 00:04:30.699 like that. Something that's notable that would 00:04:30.699 --> 00:04:36.800 change, cause drastic change in the earth, right? 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:43.850 But in the incarnation, we're talking about the 00:04:43.850 --> 00:04:48.930 person, the notable person that's transformed 00:04:48.930 --> 00:04:55.170 the world. Transformed the world. I mean, even 00:04:55.170 --> 00:05:00.709 our year, even our years started counting again 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:06.339 at that point, right? I mean, it's... Jesus is 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:08.779 the most influential character in all of the 00:05:08.779 --> 00:05:13.959 history of mankind. So Advent, we're celebrating 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:17.879 his arrival. We're remembering his arrival, why 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:22.399 he came, what he did. And we're also remembering 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:26.959 some things that he brought with him. Because 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.300 he ushered in the kingdom of God into this earth. 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:35.699 You know, he didn't come just to save us. Even 00:05:35.699 --> 00:05:40.160 though that would be enough. That's not the only 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:43.600 reason he came. He came so that we could experience 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:51.060 his life. It's not just about after we die. It's 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:55.439 about the here and now too. When we come to Christ, 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:58.860 when we're born again, I mean, we become alive 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:03.120 in Christ and we're already living the Christ 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:08.509 life. At least we have the opportunity to. Now, 00:06:08.509 --> 00:06:13.129 it's up to us if we actually do or not. As we 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:15.209 look at these stories, we're preparing our hearts 00:06:15.209 --> 00:06:19.410 to celebrate the birth of Jesus because this 00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:22.290 world is so cluttered and crowded that you could 00:06:22.290 --> 00:06:25.310 go through this holiday season and not even think 00:06:25.310 --> 00:06:29.910 about Jesus. So many people will. But we're preparing 00:06:29.910 --> 00:06:33.430 our hearts to truly celebrate the birth of Jesus 00:06:34.990 --> 00:06:37.970 some of the notable things that he made available 00:06:37.970 --> 00:06:42.230 to us. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about 00:06:42.230 --> 00:06:48.610 hope. Everybody say hope. He brought hope. Last 00:06:48.610 --> 00:06:51.889 week, we talked about peace. Everybody say peace. 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:57.230 Because he brought peace. It's a different kind 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:00.110 of hope and a different kind of peace, not natural. 00:07:00.649 --> 00:07:03.389 hope or peace, not the world's hope or peace, 00:07:03.529 --> 00:07:09.189 but supernatural hope and peace. And today we 00:07:09.189 --> 00:07:10.889 continue, we're going to be talking about joy. 00:07:11.069 --> 00:07:14.129 That's why we sing two joy songs on top of our 00:07:14.129 --> 00:07:16.149 Christmas songs, if you didn't figure that out, 00:07:16.189 --> 00:07:21.110 all right? We're talking about joy because Jesus 00:07:21.110 --> 00:07:27.790 brought a new level of joy that's available for 00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:32.740 us. that had never been available before. And 00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:34.620 next week, we're going to talk about his love. 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:38.420 And I believe if we listen with expectation, 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:41.279 because it's really easy just to come to church 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:43.339 and go through the motions and not really listen 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:46.819 or expect anything. But I believe if we listen 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:50.120 with expectation, we just might hear the voice 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:53.819 of God calling us out of the noise all around 00:07:53.819 --> 00:07:56.959 us. I mean, I'm not saying all the noise is bad 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:00.300 because some... You know, we enjoy the things 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:02.620 of the holiday, right? Just as much as anyone 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:09.199 else. But we can't get so wrapped up in the secularization 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:12.860 of the holiday that we miss out the most important 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:18.199 thing. So if we listen with expectation, we might 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:21.519 just hear the voice of God calling us out of 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:27.870 this noise and into the life. that he has for 00:08:27.870 --> 00:08:33.049 us and is made available for us. Now, first week, 00:08:33.129 --> 00:08:37.309 we read about the angel Gabriel coming to Mary, 00:08:37.470 --> 00:08:42.289 talked about her response. Last week, we skipped 00:08:42.289 --> 00:08:46.809 ahead and we went to the shepherds, but now we're 00:08:46.809 --> 00:08:51.250 going to back up because what we're reading today 00:08:51.250 --> 00:08:56.539 took place. In a very short amount of time after 00:08:56.539 --> 00:09:01.960 Mary responded to the angel, we're going to pick 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:07.500 up in Luke 1 verse 39. A few days later, everybody 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:11.480 say not very long. A few days later, Mary hurried 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:15.980 to the hill country of Judea, to the town where 00:09:15.980 --> 00:09:20.279 Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:27.149 Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's 00:09:27.149 --> 00:09:34.110 child leaped within her. And Elizabeth was filled 00:09:34.110 --> 00:09:39.269 with the Holy Spirit. And when she was filled 00:09:39.269 --> 00:09:42.029 with the Holy Spirit, she began to say some things 00:09:42.029 --> 00:09:46.289 prophetically. Everybody say prophetically. She 00:09:46.289 --> 00:09:48.590 began to speak some things that she really didn't 00:09:48.590 --> 00:09:55.710 fully know or fully understand. Look to the person 00:09:55.710 --> 00:10:00.610 beside you and say, God still does that. He might 00:10:00.610 --> 00:10:04.190 want you to be his mouthpiece to somebody else, 00:10:04.210 --> 00:10:07.570 give you the words to say to somebody else. See, 00:10:07.669 --> 00:10:09.669 we're not going to get spooky when it comes to 00:10:09.669 --> 00:10:13.830 prophecy. Some people get too spooky. I don't 00:10:13.830 --> 00:10:15.090 know if you know what I'm talking about, but 00:10:15.090 --> 00:10:17.809 people, has anybody ever been around some of 00:10:17.809 --> 00:10:21.009 that? And people just get spooky, right? The 00:10:21.009 --> 00:10:27.840 Holy Spirit's not spooky. Prophecy, in its most 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.519 basic form, is God speaking to you, speaking 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:34.700 to your spirit, you hearing him, and then you 00:10:34.700 --> 00:10:38.679 just saying what he wants you to say. I mean, 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:40.740 it's easy. We're not going to make it spooky, 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:45.320 all right? We just hear from God, and you don't 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:49.019 have to announce. You don't have to say, thus 00:10:49.019 --> 00:10:53.809 saith the Lord. I just got a word for you, brother. 00:10:55.029 --> 00:11:01.590 We don't have to do all that announcing. You 00:11:01.590 --> 00:11:05.370 know, we can be the mouthpiece of Christ and 00:11:05.370 --> 00:11:11.950 just speak to someone. It's God speaking through 00:11:11.950 --> 00:11:22.240 us to them. Everybody listen. It should happen 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:40.580 a lot. Should happen a lot. So, Elizabeth gave 00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:47.899 a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, God has, see, 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:51.759 this is prophetic right here. This is, God has 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:56.240 blessed you above all women, and your child is 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:03.200 blessed. I mean, she most likely hasn't been 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:11.600 expecting but a week. I mean, it's not like she's 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.080 showing up six months pregnant or something. 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:17.039 I mean, that's why I'm saying it's prophetic, 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:20.820 because how would she know? Unless the Spirit 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:23.120 of God spoke to her and then she's speaking. 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:26.919 Right? God has blessed you above all women and 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:32.700 your child is blessed. Why am I so honored that 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:36.080 the mother of my Lord should visit me? I mean, 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:44.980 she already knows. She already knows. The Holy 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:48.399 Spirit has revealed that to her. Then she said, 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:53.059 when I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb 00:12:53.059 --> 00:13:03.320 jumped for joy. I think she's about six months 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:05.720 pregnant, if I remember correctly. I should have 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:10.620 wrote that down somewhere. The baby in my womb 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:15.779 jumped for joy. You are blessed. Listen to this. 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:21.639 You are blessed because you believed that the 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:28.700 Lord would do what he said. I'm just going to 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:33.820 go ahead and claim that for myself. I'm not pregnant. 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:39.759 Hallelujah, I'm not pregnant. Hallelujah, Ghana's 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:51.059 not pregnant. But I want you to listen to this. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:54.860 You're blessed because you believed that the 00:13:54.860 --> 00:14:05.100 Lord would do what he said he would do. Oh, that 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:11.879 each one of us would truly believe that the Lord 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:15.080 would do in our lives what he said he would do. 00:14:17.870 --> 00:14:28.070 Our lives will be different every day. And then 00:14:28.070 --> 00:14:30.289 Mary responded. I'm not going to read her whole 00:14:30.289 --> 00:14:34.909 response. Because I believe she took off in a 00:14:34.909 --> 00:14:41.710 prophetic line too. Oh, how my soul praises the 00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:48.850 Lord. How my spirit rejoices. And God, my Savior. 00:14:51.350 --> 00:14:53.509 Everybody remember what your soul is, right? 00:14:55.049 --> 00:14:59.590 Your soul is your thought life, your mind, your 00:14:59.590 --> 00:15:06.570 will or your desires, and your emotions. That's 00:15:06.570 --> 00:15:10.970 our soul. We are spirit beings created in the 00:15:10.970 --> 00:15:16.659 image of God. We have a soul and we live. in 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:22.799 a body. Okay? So she says, oh, how my thought 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:25.799 life and how my desires and how my emotions, 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:29.679 with all of that, I am praising the Lord and 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:38.200 how my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. It needs 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:43.360 to be us every day too. So today we're going 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:47.090 to focus on An advent that I've already described 00:15:47.090 --> 00:15:57.429 to you, but the advent of supernatural joy. Now, 00:15:57.529 --> 00:16:00.529 in each one of these messages, we've talked about 00:16:00.529 --> 00:16:08.429 natural, right? We talked about natural peace 00:16:08.429 --> 00:16:12.509 last week, what the world calls peace, what the 00:16:12.509 --> 00:16:20.080 world... has to offer as peace. I mean, the world 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:25.059 has a natural joy that people can experience 00:16:25.059 --> 00:16:30.720 who are not in Christ. But the issue that we 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:34.179 face is that even though we're in Christ, many 00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:38.799 times the only peace and joy that we experience 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:44.259 are natural peace and joy. which are connected 00:16:44.259 --> 00:16:50.559 to the circumstances going on around us. But 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:52.500 the Bible is talking about something higher than 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:57.539 that. Not natural, but above natural. Don't freak 00:16:57.539 --> 00:17:00.279 out over the word supernatural. That just means 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:04.920 God is putting His super on the natural. It's 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:09.000 just above. It's the next level. It's greater 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:15.730 than. Because in this fallen world, the peace 00:17:15.730 --> 00:17:21.410 that people can experience is broken compared 00:17:21.410 --> 00:17:27.430 to the peace in heaven, compared to God's peace. 00:17:28.789 --> 00:17:33.750 The joy that people can experience, right? Has 00:17:33.750 --> 00:17:36.529 anyone ever heard this song, This Joy That I 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:42.500 Have? Does anybody know that song? You always 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:44.160 give me a hard time when I sing it by myself, 00:17:44.380 --> 00:17:48.779 but you want me to sing it anyway. Because this 00:17:48.779 --> 00:17:53.500 joy that I have, the world didn't give it to 00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:57.420 me. Y 'all heard that? This joy that I have, 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:03.799 the world didn't give it to me. This joy that 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:08.619 I have, the world didn't give it to me. Here 00:18:08.619 --> 00:18:12.109 we go. The world didn't give it. the world can't 00:18:12.109 --> 00:18:16.130 take it away. See, if the world gives it to you, 00:18:16.190 --> 00:18:21.230 the world can take it away. But if you have a 00:18:21.230 --> 00:18:24.970 joy and a peace that's not of this world, then 00:18:24.970 --> 00:18:30.029 the world can't take it away. Natural occurrences 00:18:30.029 --> 00:18:37.230 can't take it away from you. So, the arrival 00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:43.599 of supernatural joy. You remember, it was last 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.680 week we talked about shepherds, right? I'm just 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:48.640 giving you a little bit more because we talked 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:54.839 about the baby jumping with joy. Well, the angel 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:58.720 talking to the shepherds, last week we focused 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:04.579 on them saying, you know, peace on earth, but 00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:11.039 they also said joy to all people. So Jesus not 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:14.579 only brought supernatural peace on earth, he 00:19:14.579 --> 00:19:17.119 also makes it available for us to have supernatural 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:22.900 joy, all of us. The angel reassured them, don't 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:27.400 be afraid, he said. I bring you good news. Everybody 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:30.319 say good news. I bring you good news that will 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.480 bring great joy. Everybody say great joy. Great 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:39.420 joy to all people. Now just that word joy. And 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:44.920 the Greek is already exceedingly, exceeding joy, 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:49.599 great joy. So the angel even put another great 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:57.859 in front of it. So it's like great, great. That 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:04.220 word joy is kara. I wanted to go ahead and guess 00:20:04.220 --> 00:20:10.200 that one. Try to say it. Kara. It means exceeding 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:15.619 our great joy. Exceeding our great gladness. 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:22.240 Exceeding our great cheerfulness. Exceeding our 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.140 great delight. See, it's next level. It's not 00:20:25.140 --> 00:20:27.640 just joy, gladness, cheerfulness, or delight. 00:20:27.799 --> 00:20:33.660 It's exceeding our great. That's what the word 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:35.559 joy means. Every time you read it in the New 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:39.539 Testament, that's what it means. That's what 00:20:39.539 --> 00:20:42.900 it means. I know I've shared this before, but 00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:46.880 I'll share it again. You know, I heard a good 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:53.700 preacher one day say, well, you know, happiness 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:59.460 is like the rapids on top of a fast -flowing 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:06.059 river. You can see that. You can see it. But 00:21:06.059 --> 00:21:09.910 joy, He said with a big stern face, and I repeated 00:21:09.910 --> 00:21:14.470 it for years. Joy. Everybody get real serious. 00:21:14.569 --> 00:21:22.369 Say joy. You know, joy. Joy. You can't see joy. 00:21:24.150 --> 00:21:28.750 Joy is the current that keeps the river moving. 00:21:30.390 --> 00:21:32.369 Every once in a while we can experience some 00:21:32.369 --> 00:21:36.380 happiness that can be seen on the outside. But 00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:39.380 nobody can see joy, he said, because it's that 00:21:39.380 --> 00:21:45.519 current. It just keeps flowing. I can't believe 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:47.839 I repeated that nonsense without looking it up. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.140 I thought he was real spiritual and smarter than 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:55.500 I was. But then one day I just looked it up and 00:21:55.500 --> 00:22:00.440 I'm just like, what? I think if I have exceeding 00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:03.319 great joy, exceeding great gladness, exceeding 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:06.430 great cheerfulness, Has anybody seen a cheerleading 00:22:06.430 --> 00:22:13.529 squad before? Exceeding great delight. I believe 00:22:13.529 --> 00:22:20.970 you could see that. You can see it. So everybody 00:22:20.970 --> 00:22:24.809 go home and look in the mirror and see if you 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:32.539 can see the joy of the Lord on your face. So 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:34.420 many people in church today look like their mama 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:45.720 raised them on lime juice. It needs some joy. 00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:51.799 It needs some supernatural joy. Yeah. So that's 00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:58.920 what the word means. I don't believe that that's 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:06.500 invisible. Topical lexicon from this word says 00:23:06.500 --> 00:23:10.660 this. Joy, everybody say joy. Joy in the New 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:18.240 Testament is more than emotion. It is settled, 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:27.259 spirit -given delight that arises from something. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:29.039 This is going to tell us where it comes from. 00:23:29.930 --> 00:23:35.210 It arises from the redemptive acts and abiding 00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:40.130 presence of God. That's where supernatural joy 00:23:40.130 --> 00:23:47.529 comes from. It comes with the Spirit. Hey, if 00:23:47.529 --> 00:23:49.430 you're born again, the Holy Spirit lives on the 00:23:49.430 --> 00:23:52.569 inside of you. Your body is a temple of the Holy 00:23:52.569 --> 00:23:58.339 Spirit. He's here. He's... Now... Many times 00:23:58.339 --> 00:24:03.660 we don't acknowledge him, but he's here. And 00:24:03.660 --> 00:24:09.819 he's the one who gives us this delight that arises 00:24:09.819 --> 00:24:15.039 from the redemptive acts of God. Now, again, 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.339 some people, when you think about the redemptive 00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:21.279 acts of God, you're just thinking about salvation. 00:24:24.539 --> 00:24:28.329 But it's more than that. It's more than that. 00:24:31.349 --> 00:24:38.230 See, I inserted the word grace here because I 00:24:38.230 --> 00:24:45.690 believe God's grace is through God's grace that 00:24:45.690 --> 00:24:54.410 he reveals his redemptive acts. But Jesus purchased 00:24:54.410 --> 00:25:03.150 more. than salvation. I think we have some cards 00:25:03.150 --> 00:25:05.329 back there. If you don't have one, if you already 00:25:05.329 --> 00:25:07.269 have one at home and you've already taken one 00:25:07.269 --> 00:25:09.450 home, we probably don't have enough for everybody. 00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:13.990 But we did a series where we went through all 00:25:13.990 --> 00:25:17.069 of Paul's letters and we looked for the words 00:25:17.069 --> 00:25:24.480 in Christ, in him, through him, by him. And if 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:26.500 you haven't heard me say this, or maybe you've 00:25:26.500 --> 00:25:29.240 heard me say it, but you've never really triggered 00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:32.380 in on it, listen, every time you see that in 00:25:32.380 --> 00:25:35.599 the New Testament, in Christ, in him, through 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:39.319 him, by him, you need to stop and pay attention. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:48.700 Because when you see that phrase, right around 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:54.079 it is going to be a redemptive act. Of God that 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:58.019 is available to you. That Jesus purchased for 00:25:58.019 --> 00:26:03.119 you. In his death. And sealed for you in his 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:12.000 resurrection. So. His redemptive acts. I mean 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.740 again. I'm not downplaying salvation. Because 00:26:16.740 --> 00:26:22.079 that's the most amazing. Act. Right. I'm not 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.599 downplaying that. Don't take this as I'm downplaying 00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:32.299 that. But he came so that we could have life 00:26:32.299 --> 00:26:37.160 and life more abundantly, not just in the sweet 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:45.019 by and by, but in the nasty here and now. So 00:26:45.019 --> 00:26:48.619 the spirit -given delight arises. Here's how 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:52.740 you're going to partake of it. By acknowledging 00:26:52.740 --> 00:26:55.220 the Holy Spirit and acknowledging the things 00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:57.619 that God has done for you, that Jesus provides 00:26:57.619 --> 00:27:00.680 for you, by acknowledging those things, recognizing 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:03.640 those things, and then getting happy about them. 00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:09.819 And not just getting happy about them, listen 00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:16.720 to me, staying happy about them. Because in this 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:19.799 world, we're going to run into some situations 00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:25.289 that... It's like, I know God said this, but 00:27:25.289 --> 00:27:27.190 look at what I'm experiencing right now. And 00:27:27.190 --> 00:27:29.930 sometimes we let this earthly, natural experience 00:27:29.930 --> 00:27:36.789 overwhelm us, and we lose the supernatural joy 00:27:36.789 --> 00:27:42.289 that Jesus wants us to have, that he came to 00:27:42.289 --> 00:27:48.750 make available to us. I'm preaching all over 00:27:48.750 --> 00:27:53.609 what's coming up, but anyway. Natural joy fades. 00:27:55.650 --> 00:27:59.589 For those of you who haven't seen my rock, this 00:27:59.589 --> 00:28:03.349 is natural. Everybody say natural. This is the 00:28:03.349 --> 00:28:11.029 best that we can do on our own. And for so many 00:28:11.029 --> 00:28:18.869 years, I tried to do on my own and my own strength 00:28:18.869 --> 00:28:22.220 and my own ability. I tried to work on myself 00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:27.220 and polish myself up to try to be good enough 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:31.920 for God, to try to be accepted by God. Has anyone 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:37.400 ever gone through that track before? I've even 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:41.980 prayed and asked God to work on me and to polish 00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:49.140 me. But here's the deal. God wants us to exchange. 00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:58.119 Not just polish up the natural, but to exchange 00:28:58.119 --> 00:29:04.480 for him, for his supernatural, for in Christ. 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:15.519 I've been crucified with Christ. I no longer 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:22.390 live. This is what God wants for us. I've been 00:29:22.390 --> 00:29:29.970 crucified with Christ, so I no longer live. It's 00:29:29.970 --> 00:29:33.569 Christ living in me and me living in him, right? 00:29:37.329 --> 00:29:48.289 That's the glory. So human joy, natural joy fades. 00:29:49.069 --> 00:29:55.920 It comes and goes. Comes and goes. Just like 00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:00.339 anybody else. Any natural person can experience 00:30:00.339 --> 00:30:05.960 human joy. But Jesus wants us to have a joy greater 00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:08.200 than that. That doesn't come and go. That doesn't 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:13.940 fade. He wants us to have his joy. And not just 00:30:13.940 --> 00:30:17.380 for us, but his joy to the degree that it overflows. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:28.690 Everybody say overflows. Natural joy will leave. 00:30:28.769 --> 00:30:32.569 It'll fade. It'll leak out when we face disappointment, 00:30:32.990 --> 00:30:38.809 when we face discouragement, when we face delay, 00:30:39.369 --> 00:30:48.710 when we face exhaustion, when we face fear. Natural 00:30:48.710 --> 00:30:56.470 joy will leak out quick. It'll fade fast. Has 00:30:56.470 --> 00:30:58.349 anyone ever bought some battery -powered Christmas 00:30:58.349 --> 00:31:03.029 lights? I used to have a stocking. I don't know, 00:31:03.049 --> 00:31:04.849 do I still have it? I haven't seen it in a long 00:31:04.849 --> 00:31:10.029 time. My stocking that had batteries in it, that 00:31:10.029 --> 00:31:14.089 had lights on it. Yeah, we've shuffled around 00:31:14.089 --> 00:31:17.210 a few times since then. I used to have a stocking 00:31:17.210 --> 00:31:20.740 that you put... AA battery in the top of it. 00:31:20.839 --> 00:31:23.460 Jeffrey's got a little Christmas tree. Put a 00:31:23.460 --> 00:31:26.859 little battery in it. And we would just turn 00:31:26.859 --> 00:31:29.440 that on at the beginning of the season. And you 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:32.940 know what? It would make it. It would make it 00:31:32.940 --> 00:31:38.200 for about 25 days, 28 days. But as we got closer, 00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:43.299 it got dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. But it stayed 00:31:43.299 --> 00:31:46.920 lit up. It stayed lit up. But it dimmed. It faded. 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:51.000 But the ones that we have plugged into the wall, 00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:54.700 like we had lights on all night last night. Ganna 00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:57.099 normally likes it to be just pitch black, no 00:31:57.099 --> 00:32:00.220 light whatsoever, but for some reason during 00:32:00.220 --> 00:32:02.200 the month of December, the Christmas tree can 00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:05.680 stay on. She can sleep right through without 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:07.779 seeing the light. I don't know how she sees the 00:32:07.779 --> 00:32:10.259 light with her eyes closed anyway. I can't figure 00:32:10.259 --> 00:32:12.240 that out because when I close my eyes, it gets 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:19.890 dark. But those that are plugged in, They don't 00:32:19.890 --> 00:32:23.750 dim and fade. So I just thought about that because 00:32:23.750 --> 00:32:28.970 the natural is going to fade. But if it's plugged 00:32:28.970 --> 00:32:34.849 in or plugged into Christ and he's in us, it's 00:32:34.849 --> 00:32:39.069 not going to fade. Elizabeth told Mary, when 00:32:39.069 --> 00:32:41.970 I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped 00:32:41.970 --> 00:32:47.940 for joy. Jumping up and down is an expression 00:32:47.940 --> 00:32:50.460 of joy. That's not part of the definition, but 00:32:50.460 --> 00:32:53.740 in the Old Testament, everybody say Old Testament. 00:32:54.619 --> 00:32:57.359 Old Testament, if you research the word rejoice 00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.660 in the Old Testament, which is a form of joy, 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:03.220 it means to spin in circles, jump up and down 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:05.720 and shout is what it means in the Old Testament. 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:11.519 Should not have told her of that problem. I'm 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:15.200 just playing. At this point, You know, Elizabeth 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:19.400 is an old lady. She's old. She's past childbearing 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:23.160 times. She's six months pregnant. Mary was pregnant. 00:33:24.359 --> 00:33:26.259 Everything with Joseph hadn't been worked out 00:33:26.259 --> 00:33:30.059 yet. Remember, this is like immediately she went. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.799 You know, just a few days, maybe a week, she 00:33:33.799 --> 00:33:39.079 went. Short time. So Joseph probably didn't even 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:44.630 know yet. I mean, this is like... It's still 00:33:44.630 --> 00:33:48.609 in the could be. Everybody say could be. It could 00:33:48.609 --> 00:33:53.750 be very interesting, right? When she got back 00:33:53.750 --> 00:33:59.430 to Nazareth and, you know, because when she came 00:33:59.430 --> 00:34:01.730 back now, you might be able to see that she's 00:34:01.730 --> 00:34:05.309 expecting. She's got to go talk to her fiance. 00:34:05.549 --> 00:34:08.909 She's got to talk to her friends. She's got to 00:34:08.909 --> 00:34:13.389 talk to her parents if she hadn't already. Joseph 00:34:13.389 --> 00:34:17.010 wasn't fully on board yet in the world. Talking 00:34:17.010 --> 00:34:19.150 about the Messiah, everybody thought the Messiah 00:34:19.150 --> 00:34:22.630 was coming to, you know, free them from Roman 00:34:22.630 --> 00:34:25.829 rule and they'd be free and under their own government. 00:34:28.570 --> 00:34:31.690 So as far as the world was at this time and as 00:34:31.690 --> 00:34:33.829 far as their lives were at this time, it was 00:34:33.829 --> 00:34:38.090 kind of chaos. It wasn't really necessarily a 00:34:38.090 --> 00:34:41.989 time of great joy. But right in the middle, everybody 00:34:41.989 --> 00:34:44.269 say right in the middle, right in the middle 00:34:44.269 --> 00:34:49.130 of all that, joy overflowed because Jesus was 00:34:49.130 --> 00:34:55.809 present. You might say, well, nobody could see 00:34:55.809 --> 00:35:00.530 him, but he was there. Even the baby in Elizabeth's 00:35:00.530 --> 00:35:03.630 womb jumped for joy because Jesus was there. 00:35:03.690 --> 00:35:12.789 The Messiah was there. So joy is a response to 00:35:12.789 --> 00:35:16.690 God's presence. Maybe sometimes we don't have 00:35:16.690 --> 00:35:19.349 joy because we're not acknowledging God's presence. 00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:26.989 If your joy is fading, it means you're not acknowledging 00:35:26.989 --> 00:35:32.610 the presence of God enough. Joy is a response 00:35:32.610 --> 00:35:36.550 to God's presence. This supernatural joy is not 00:35:36.550 --> 00:35:41.469 a response to perfect conditions. After Jesus 00:35:41.469 --> 00:35:44.710 talked about, listen, after he talked about the 00:35:44.710 --> 00:35:47.789 importance of staying connected with him, you 00:35:47.789 --> 00:35:51.210 might recall, I'm the vine, you are the branches. 00:35:52.289 --> 00:35:56.789 If you abide in me and my word abides in you, 00:35:56.949 --> 00:36:06.639 he goes on to say, apart from me, you can't do 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:10.219 anything. You might say, well, I can do some 00:36:10.219 --> 00:36:16.559 stuff. Nothing that matters in eternity, you 00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:18.820 can't do anything that matters in eternity apart 00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:24.480 from Christ. Jesus began to talk about his love 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:26.739 and the Father's love for him and his love for 00:36:26.739 --> 00:36:29.860 you. And it's talking about relationship. Everybody 00:36:29.860 --> 00:36:33.039 say relationship. After he talked about those 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:35.059 things, he's divine. We need to stay connected 00:36:35.059 --> 00:36:37.980 to him. You know, we need to experience his love, 00:36:38.059 --> 00:36:40.400 all those things. I couldn't read, you know, 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:45.440 15 verses before I got to this one. But after 00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:47.880 he talked about that, he made the following statement. 00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:53.880 I've told you these things so that you will be 00:36:53.880 --> 00:37:01.880 filled with my joy. Exceedingly great joy, gladness, 00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:08.000 cheerfulness, delight. That's why he told us 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:14.199 these things. And then he said, yes, your joy 00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:24.639 will overflow. Look at the person beside you 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:27.579 and say, overflow then. Overflow. Let's get some 00:37:27.579 --> 00:37:30.719 overflow. Let's get some overflow joy going on. 00:37:31.860 --> 00:37:34.300 Like we had some overflow laughing during the 00:37:34.300 --> 00:37:42.519 offering, let's have some overflow joy. If we 00:37:42.519 --> 00:37:46.059 were living in the supernatural joy that Jesus 00:37:46.059 --> 00:37:52.000 made available for us, we would be changing the 00:37:52.000 --> 00:38:05.980 world. got quiet after I said that. Natural joy 00:38:05.980 --> 00:38:10.719 is emotional. Our emotions are fickle. They can 00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:14.400 go up and down. God gave us emotions. Right? 00:38:16.579 --> 00:38:20.440 But he wants our emotions to be spirit controlled 00:38:20.440 --> 00:38:24.480 and not world controlled or flesh controlled. 00:38:30.349 --> 00:38:33.070 Y 'all are thinking really too hard. Natural 00:38:33.070 --> 00:38:35.369 joy is emotional, but God's joy is spiritual. 00:38:36.010 --> 00:38:40.030 Listen, God's promise for supernatural joy is 00:38:40.030 --> 00:38:42.750 not the promise of happy feelings all the time. 00:38:44.550 --> 00:38:47.530 Because we walk by faith and not by sight. We 00:38:47.530 --> 00:38:50.449 walk by faith and not by our emotions or our 00:38:50.449 --> 00:38:56.190 feelings. Because we are spirits connected to 00:38:56.190 --> 00:39:00.489 God. Now, we spend a lot of our years just learning 00:39:00.489 --> 00:39:03.909 how to function as souls and flesh in this world. 00:39:06.550 --> 00:39:11.090 We've got to rise above that. So it's not a promise 00:39:11.090 --> 00:39:14.590 of happy feelings, but it's a promise of supernatural 00:39:14.590 --> 00:39:18.809 joy. Mary responded, my soul praises the Lord. 00:39:18.909 --> 00:39:23.510 My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. Her joy 00:39:23.510 --> 00:39:26.690 wasn't from her comfort. It wasn't from certainty. 00:39:27.630 --> 00:39:29.769 outside of faith. I mean, she couldn't see it. 00:39:30.570 --> 00:39:34.050 It didn't come from her sight. It came from her 00:39:34.050 --> 00:39:39.210 faith, right? Didn't come from clarity. She still 00:39:39.210 --> 00:39:41.130 didn't fully understand how it was all going 00:39:41.130 --> 00:39:46.090 to work out. And if she would have waited on 00:39:46.090 --> 00:39:48.230 all that stuff, she wouldn't have had joy. She 00:39:48.230 --> 00:39:50.869 wouldn't have been praising God and rejoicing 00:39:50.869 --> 00:39:54.369 if she had to wait on that before she would. 00:39:59.849 --> 00:40:02.449 Another line from the topical lexicon is this, 00:40:02.550 --> 00:40:06.769 joy is rooted, the joy of God is what we're talking 00:40:06.769 --> 00:40:11.289 about, not natural joy, but God's joy is rooted 00:40:11.289 --> 00:40:18.650 in divine initiative. That means that it doesn't 00:40:18.650 --> 00:40:20.929 start with what's around us, it means it starts 00:40:20.929 --> 00:40:24.670 with God. It's a divine, a God initiative. He 00:40:24.670 --> 00:40:29.940 initiates this joy. And it's supposed to be experienced 00:40:29.940 --> 00:40:34.260 in all believers. And it's supposed to be expressed. 00:40:34.420 --> 00:40:37.059 Everybody say expressed. At least smile when 00:40:37.059 --> 00:40:40.340 you say the word expressed. It needs to be expressed 00:40:40.340 --> 00:40:50.480 now. And in heaven. And in heaven. But it needs 00:40:50.480 --> 00:40:53.960 to be expressed now too. Should be expressed 00:40:53.960 --> 00:41:02.489 now too. Shared this last week. Romans 14, 17. 00:41:03.610 --> 00:41:06.130 The kingdom of God. Jesus ushered in the kingdom 00:41:06.130 --> 00:41:08.449 of God when he came. Ushered in the kingdom of 00:41:08.449 --> 00:41:10.909 God to this earth. So what's the kingdom of God 00:41:10.909 --> 00:41:16.170 about? Old Testament. Everybody's looking at 00:41:16.170 --> 00:41:22.429 rules. Keeping the rules. How to be the best 00:41:22.429 --> 00:41:24.929 person that they could be. How to polish their 00:41:24.929 --> 00:41:28.809 rock as best they could. It's Old Testament. 00:41:31.500 --> 00:41:33.420 Jesus ushered in the kingdom and the kingdom 00:41:33.420 --> 00:41:35.659 of God is not eating and drinking. It's not about 00:41:35.659 --> 00:41:40.159 the rules. Doesn't mean we throw out the rules 00:41:40.159 --> 00:41:46.599 and don't care. But if you live spirit -controlled 00:41:46.599 --> 00:41:50.400 lives, you don't have to think about individual 00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:53.039 rules because you're walking with God and following 00:41:53.039 --> 00:41:59.380 God. Right? Live in the spirit. You won't hang 00:41:59.380 --> 00:42:02.940 on to the... lusts of the flesh when you're living 00:42:02.940 --> 00:42:07.800 spirit -controlled lives. The kingdom of God 00:42:07.800 --> 00:42:09.599 is not about eating and drinking. It's not about 00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:14.119 the rules. It's about righteousness. Gift righteousness. 00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:18.420 Not works righteousness, but gift righteousness. 00:42:20.659 --> 00:42:28.599 Because of salvation, we take off our unrighteousness. 00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:34.139 It's just like filthy rags. And we are clothed 00:42:34.139 --> 00:42:39.980 in Christ's righteousness. The Bible says we 00:42:39.980 --> 00:42:43.420 become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, 00:42:43.639 --> 00:42:47.800 if you want to search for that verse. So the 00:42:47.800 --> 00:42:50.440 kingdom of God is about discovering that we're 00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:52.599 righteous based on what Jesus did on the cross. 00:42:52.699 --> 00:42:57.800 We're in right standing with God. It's also about 00:42:57.800 --> 00:43:01.320 peace. Everybody say peace. Everybody say joy. 00:43:04.300 --> 00:43:08.400 Listen, if your religion and your experience 00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:13.739 with God is not about being right with God through 00:43:13.739 --> 00:43:16.340 what Jesus did on the cross, having the peace 00:43:16.340 --> 00:43:18.820 of God that surpasses understanding, having the 00:43:18.820 --> 00:43:21.579 joy of the Lord that's your strength, if that's 00:43:21.579 --> 00:43:24.179 not what your religion's about, you're in the 00:43:24.179 --> 00:43:27.880 wrong spot. Because that's what the kingdom of 00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:34.539 God's about. It should be our focus. Not just 00:43:34.539 --> 00:43:38.039 at Christmas. When we go through those words 00:43:38.039 --> 00:43:46.019 of Advent, it should be all the time. Peace and 00:43:46.019 --> 00:43:52.519 joy in the Holy Spirit. It's initiated from God. 00:43:56.360 --> 00:43:59.199 It will not be initiated from God in your life 00:43:59.199 --> 00:44:09.019 until you fully acknowledge him. Joy doesn't 00:44:09.019 --> 00:44:13.320 rise from circumstances. Joy rises from revelation. 00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:23.579 Everybody say revelation. Revelation is when... 00:44:24.619 --> 00:44:28.840 The Holy Spirit takes the things of God and makes 00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:34.679 them known. To where all of a sudden you say, 00:44:34.820 --> 00:44:39.219 it's mine. It's really mine. God said it was 00:44:39.219 --> 00:44:43.900 mine. So I've received this revelation. It's 00:44:43.900 --> 00:44:47.380 not just the hearing, it's the coming alive. 00:44:51.199 --> 00:44:54.059 Have you read the Bible? and you've read a verse 00:44:54.059 --> 00:45:00.739 a hundred times, but all of a sudden, there's 00:45:00.739 --> 00:45:06.659 revelation. And it's like, I've read this a hundred 00:45:06.659 --> 00:45:13.980 times, and I've never seen this. This is, and 00:45:13.980 --> 00:45:16.119 you just are filled with joy because of this 00:45:16.119 --> 00:45:19.360 revelation, right? Who knows what I'm talking 00:45:19.360 --> 00:45:26.269 about? Joy rises from revelation. The revelation 00:45:26.269 --> 00:45:31.409 of what is available to us in Christ. And it's 00:45:31.409 --> 00:45:34.289 applied by the Holy Spirit. So it's in Christ 00:45:34.289 --> 00:45:38.110 and it's in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness, peace, 00:45:38.409 --> 00:45:47.010 and joy in the Holy Spirit. Taking hold of the 00:45:47.010 --> 00:45:54.730 revelation just like Mary did. Natural joy is 00:45:54.730 --> 00:46:02.010 fragile, falls apart. God's joy is strong. Again, 00:46:02.050 --> 00:46:06.369 happiness depends on what happens. Supernatural 00:46:06.369 --> 00:46:19.070 joy depends on who is present. Each one of us 00:46:19.070 --> 00:46:26.880 has the opportunity. To walk in the presence 00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:34.340 of God. Each one of us has the opportunity to 00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:39.360 be, I'm going to put it this way, to be a carrier 00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:49.619 of the presence of God. Each one of us has the 00:46:49.619 --> 00:46:52.500 opportunity that when we walk into the room, 00:46:53.739 --> 00:46:56.579 Because we are carriers of the presence of God. 00:46:59.460 --> 00:47:06.099 Everybody's lifted. This is just different language 00:47:06.099 --> 00:47:08.820 for the series that we did when I ask you every 00:47:08.820 --> 00:47:15.420 week, how's your flow? Because God's supposed 00:47:15.420 --> 00:47:20.159 to flow not just in us for our enjoyment and 00:47:20.159 --> 00:47:23.269 for our edification, but... He's supposed to 00:47:23.269 --> 00:47:26.829 fill us to such a way, Jesus said, that rivers 00:47:26.829 --> 00:47:41.210 of living water flow. Nehemiah 8 .10, we sang 00:47:41.210 --> 00:47:44.570 this. It's one of our songs that we've been singing 00:47:44.570 --> 00:47:48.170 lately all the time. The joy of the Lord is your 00:47:48.170 --> 00:47:56.500 strength. Let's talk about Peter a second. Jesus 00:47:56.500 --> 00:48:01.619 came walking on the water. Peter said, Lord, 00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:10.219 if that's you, call me out there with you. So 00:48:10.219 --> 00:48:13.039 what could Jesus say? He couldn't say it's not 00:48:13.039 --> 00:48:18.519 me, right? Because it wasn't. So in response 00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:24.579 to his question, he says, come on. Peter stepped 00:48:24.579 --> 00:48:30.340 out of the boat and began to walk on the water 00:48:30.340 --> 00:48:45.039 to Jesus. But, look at these waves. This is dangerous. 00:48:47.960 --> 00:48:55.269 I mean, and when he took his eyes, Off of Jesus. 00:48:57.309 --> 00:49:03.409 I've never seen anybody begin to sink. But the 00:49:03.409 --> 00:49:11.329 Bible says he began to sink. Because every time 00:49:11.329 --> 00:49:14.949 I've sunk, I've just sunk quick. I didn't begin 00:49:14.949 --> 00:49:20.150 to sink. Jesus reached out and took him by the 00:49:20.150 --> 00:49:27.199 hand. Here's the deal. We're talking about walking 00:49:27.199 --> 00:49:35.480 by faith and not by sight. But everybody in this 00:49:35.480 --> 00:49:40.760 room agrees with what you're talking about, including 00:49:40.760 --> 00:49:48.019 the preacher, right? But here's why. Because 00:49:48.019 --> 00:49:50.719 all of a sudden, in this natural world, we're 00:49:50.719 --> 00:49:54.289 overwhelmed by what we see. We're overwhelmed 00:49:54.289 --> 00:50:00.210 by what the doctor says. We're overwhelmed by 00:50:00.210 --> 00:50:07.710 our bank account. We become overwhelmed by things 00:50:07.710 --> 00:50:14.769 that we see. By things that we feel. And so many 00:50:14.769 --> 00:50:17.349 times it's not even reality. What we're feeling 00:50:17.349 --> 00:50:21.329 is not even reality. Right? Are you agreeing 00:50:21.329 --> 00:50:26.900 with me? The things that bring us fear is not 00:50:26.900 --> 00:50:31.280 even reality sometimes. It's worrying about something 00:50:31.280 --> 00:50:38.199 that could possibly happen. And this is all of 00:50:38.199 --> 00:50:43.639 us. See, again, if we think that we're the only 00:50:43.639 --> 00:50:45.519 one that goes through it, a lot of times that 00:50:45.519 --> 00:50:49.619 will take us to a really bad place. Because we 00:50:49.619 --> 00:51:01.849 think we're the only ones. Listen, right in the 00:51:01.849 --> 00:51:08.409 middle of what you see, right in the middle of 00:51:08.409 --> 00:51:19.130 what you feel, you can still have supernatural 00:51:19.130 --> 00:51:24.909 joy and supernatural peace. You don't have to 00:51:24.909 --> 00:51:31.579 sink. You don't have to sink. The reason why 00:51:31.579 --> 00:51:35.960 we sink is because we allow the things going 00:51:35.960 --> 00:51:42.079 on around us to overtake us. But listen, when 00:51:42.079 --> 00:51:46.320 that happens, I think I did this the first week, 00:51:46.340 --> 00:51:52.739 but you are a spirit. You have a soul. You live 00:51:52.739 --> 00:51:59.760 in a body. Who's supposed to be in charge? Of 00:51:59.760 --> 00:52:06.139 your three parts, who's in charge? It's supposed 00:52:06.139 --> 00:52:13.719 to be your spirit. That's who you are. It's time 00:52:13.719 --> 00:52:20.199 that our souls and our flesh are not the dictators 00:52:20.199 --> 00:52:27.320 of our being. That's how we're going to step 00:52:27.320 --> 00:52:32.940 up. You've got to recognize it if your soul is 00:52:32.940 --> 00:52:36.380 trying to take over, if your emotions are trying 00:52:36.380 --> 00:52:38.900 to take over, if your thoughts are trying to 00:52:38.900 --> 00:52:43.619 take over. We've got to learn to be spirits. 00:52:43.659 --> 00:52:51.300 We've got to recognize that. And we've got to 00:52:51.300 --> 00:52:55.300 stand up and say, I know what I'm seeing and 00:52:55.300 --> 00:52:57.619 I know what I'm feeling, but this is not right. 00:52:57.780 --> 00:53:00.679 This is against. what God has promised, what 00:53:00.679 --> 00:53:03.460 God has made available to me, and I will not 00:53:03.460 --> 00:53:07.000 allow you to be the dictator over my being anymore. 00:53:11.400 --> 00:53:19.820 Because we can have, as the old songwriter put 00:53:19.820 --> 00:53:25.480 it, peace in the valley. We can have it. We can 00:53:25.480 --> 00:53:30.119 have it. that we walk in the natural through 00:53:30.119 --> 00:53:37.420 the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear 00:53:37.420 --> 00:53:44.139 no evil. That's your spirit standing up. No, 00:53:44.159 --> 00:53:47.719 no, no. Fear, you're not going to be the dictator 00:53:47.719 --> 00:53:50.659 of who I am anymore. Because God hasn't given 00:53:50.659 --> 00:53:52.659 me a spirit of fear, but a power and love and 00:53:52.659 --> 00:53:58.309 a sound mind. So you just sit down and shut up. 00:54:00.530 --> 00:54:06.309 You have to take authority over your soul, over 00:54:06.309 --> 00:54:12.829 your thoughts, over your desires, over your emotions. 00:54:13.110 --> 00:54:16.789 You've got to rise up. You're a spirit. You are 00:54:16.789 --> 00:54:22.690 a spirit. You rise up and tell that old soul 00:54:22.690 --> 00:54:35.489 to shut up. Spiritual joy, it's not something 00:54:35.489 --> 00:54:37.849 that you work up. See, if you're trying to work 00:54:37.849 --> 00:54:42.269 it up, all you're trying to do is polish your 00:54:42.269 --> 00:54:47.170 rock. If you're trying to work it up, all you're 00:54:47.170 --> 00:54:50.309 doing is polishing your rock. You don't work 00:54:50.309 --> 00:54:57.250 it up. You receive it. Joy in the Holy Spirit. 00:54:57.309 --> 00:55:02.159 It's initiated by God, and you receive it. From 00:55:02.159 --> 00:55:14.699 the one who is joy. Set your mind on things above. 00:55:18.199 --> 00:55:23.079 Set it. I can't set it for you. You've got to 00:55:23.079 --> 00:55:30.519 set your own mind. I can't set it for you. But 00:55:30.519 --> 00:55:32.849 I'm trying to help you. Know that it's possible 00:55:32.849 --> 00:55:38.809 for you to be able to set it. It is possible. 00:55:41.090 --> 00:55:47.349 Joy came wrapped in humility. And just strips 00:55:47.349 --> 00:55:54.869 of cloth. Came crying in a manger. Feed trough. 00:55:55.590 --> 00:56:02.090 That's what a manger is. Feed trough. And he 00:56:02.090 --> 00:56:08.610 came to be with us. Everybody say Emmanuel. He 00:56:08.610 --> 00:56:11.389 came to be with us. He didn't just visit for 00:56:11.389 --> 00:56:15.429 those 33 years and then leave. He came to be 00:56:15.429 --> 00:56:22.070 with you. And he came to be in you. And he wants 00:56:22.070 --> 00:56:29.510 you to be in him. He wants to be in you. Let's 00:56:29.510 --> 00:56:34.519 pray. God, thank you. Thank you for your truth. 00:56:34.579 --> 00:56:39.159 Thank you for your word. God, I pray that it 00:56:39.159 --> 00:56:45.639 will be planted in our hearts in good soil. That 00:56:45.639 --> 00:56:48.860 the cares of this life won't pluck it up out 00:56:48.860 --> 00:56:52.380 of our hearts, but it'll be planted in our hearts 00:56:52.380 --> 00:57:00.110 in such a way that it grows. in such a way that 00:57:00.110 --> 00:57:06.429 we grow and take hold of the things that you 00:57:06.429 --> 00:57:14.989 have for us, not only for our personal fulfillment 00:57:14.989 --> 00:57:20.090 and enjoyment, but for the sake of your kingdom 00:57:20.090 --> 00:57:25.929 in this world. I pray that your word would grow. 00:57:28.519 --> 00:57:38.900 In our hearts. We yield to you. Holy Spirit, 00:57:38.980 --> 00:57:46.619 we yield to you. Do your work of transformation 00:57:46.619 --> 00:57:53.760 in our lives. Conforming us. Into the image of 00:57:53.760 --> 00:58:00.530 Jesus. Amen. This online worship experience was 00:58:00.530 --> 00:58:02.929 brought to you by the friends and partners of 00:58:02.929 --> 00:58:03.650 Elation Church.