Philippians 4:4 - 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
It has been said that people are like tea bags. When they’re in hot water, you find out what’s inside. When trouble comes your way, when you’re in “hot water”, how do you respond – or, what “comes out?”
Well that's what we talked about tonight. And we actually brewed a few cups of tea....one licorice, which didn't look or smell too good...and one chai tea, which, though it didn't look great, the aroma that came from it was very pleasant.
We talked about how our joy is not found in what’s going on in our lives, stuff, or even how we get along with other people. Our joy can only be found in the presence of the Lord (Nehemiah 8:10b, Psalm 16:11).
For a visual, we discussed a list of circumstances and relationships that could rob us of our joy. With each one we talked about, we added food coloring to a clear vase of water. By the time we were through, our "hearts" were pretty dirty and didn't look very joyful.
Then we discussed the four ways Pastor Billy told us we could rejoice in the Lord always.
- Have a knowledge of God (Psalm 1:1-3). We also talked about ways we could get to know God better (i.e. read His Word daily, memorize Scripture, etc...).
- Understand how awesome our salvation is (1 Samuel 2:1, Psalm 71:23). We again talked about ways we could do this (sing praise and worship songs, tell God through prayer how awesome He is and grateful we are, etc...).
- Walk in the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We talked about the fruits of the Spirit and ways we could display each of them.
- Believe that God will supply all of our needs (Matthew 6:28-44). We talked about our "stuff" that seemed so important to us at the time we had to have it and now sits unused or even broken in our homes. We talked about ways to always remember this valuable lesson about God (keep a journal of all the ways He provided for us in the past, thankful journals, memorize Romans 8:28, etc...).
