Bad Habits That Diminish Our Joy: Part 2

Well, thank you again, Mark and Jim. Happy Sabbath to all of you once again. Well, in my last sermon we began to talk about one of the fruits of God's Holy Spirit, and that is the fruit of joy that's listed in Galatians chapter 5, listed right after love. So it's obviously of high importance, high priority, and obviously is generated from having an attitude of love. I've said in the past, as I've talked about this subject, that it is the only fruit that someone can detect you have 10 feet away.

Before they even approach you, they can observe your countenance. They can observe your demeanor and tell whether you have joy in your life or not. It's the only one of the fruits from a distance that someone can sense and see that you have that joy of the Spirit. In spite of the trials that Jesus had, Christ always maintained this very important quality. Also, the Apostle Paul reflected this quality in spite of the many challenges and difficulties that he experienced in his ministry.

So before we get into part two today, let's have a brief recap of what we covered in part one. As I know some of us were not here that day, and some of you that may have been here were in various stages of consciousness, so we'll go ahead and have a brief recap of what we covered in part one. First, a dictionary definition of joy. It's the emotion evoked by well-being, a feeling of great pleasure and happiness, end of quote.

And as we emphasized last time, joy is a choice. It's something that is generated from the inside of us in spite of what's going on in the outside. We are poor creatures indeed, if we have convinced ourselves that everything has to line up in order for us to be joyful. That people have to all act a certain way, that all events and circumstances have to be a certain way before we'll be joyful or happy.

I can trust that you will live most of your life miserable, unhappy, and sour if you think that external circumstances will make you happy. We mentioned John chapter 15 and verse 11 last time. Jesus said these things. I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. A very profound statement by someone who knew in a very short period of time that very evening what he would be facing.

That is his own scourging and punishment and ultimately crucifixion. We also saw what Jesus said in John chapter 10 verse 10, referring to Satan the devil that the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come, Jesus said, that you might have life and that you may have it more abundantly.

So Jesus wants us to live an abundant life and in spite of what we may be facing in our own lives, to make sure that joy, full joy, is inside of us and is radiating from us and can have a positive influence on everyone else whom we meet. Satan wants to steal our joy. That's one of the things that he wants. He wants to steal our joy. He wants to ultimately steal our hope. He wants to steal our opportunity for salvation and we can't allow him to do that.

Then we took a look at the prophet Habakkuk and here's what he said. He said, though the fig trees may not blossom nor fruit on the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no fruit, though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herds in the stalls. So he paints this picture of famine, of people experiencing terrible environmental tragedy in their own culture. He says in verse 18 right after that, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. Now, in contrast to that attitude, how many of us get all bent out of shape and torched because some little thing doesn't go the way we expected it to.

Some little event doesn't happen the way we wanted it to, and we allow it to steal our joy. We allow it to beat us down. Think of what the prophet Habakkuk was saying here, I will joy in the God of my salvation. And again, why do these things happen to us? Why and how do we allow the thief to steal our joy? Well, everything we do every day is from something we call habit, and most of them become automatic because of conditioning.

We do certain things, and because of repetition, we do those certain things a few times. They become an ingrained habit. So we establish those habits. The good ones help us, and they're beneficial, but the bad ones hinder our growth. And the problem with bad habits is they become automatic and instinctive.

We don't even need to think about them anymore. We don't consider the consequences, the insensitivity, and the way that we come across to others because our bad habits are automatic and instinctive.

We say and do things programmed without even thinking about the consequences of those things that we say and that we do. In the last sermon, we began mentioning some of the bad habits that we have that steals the potential for our joy in our Christian walk. Then we talked about those things, and here were some of the habits that we discussed last time. Number one, postponing your goals. Our first goal is to seek the kingdom of God, and God's righteousness in Jesus taught us that in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33.

But what is our second goal and our third goal and our fourth goal? You see, God created us in Him, His image. He is an organizer. He is goal focused. He has plans, and we were created to need the same thing, and we only find fulfillment. We only find contentment when we are doing productive things that develop the talents that we have been given, that stretch us, that push us farther.

That's where contentment, that's where fulfillment comes from, and those are sisters of the concept of joy. They're very important. Procrastination will keep us from reaching our goals more effectively than any external obstacle that we may face. We just put things off. We just lack the motivation, and we postpone the goals that will enrich our lives, that will take us to another level, that will help us get beyond the present thinking that we're in.

Brethren, some of us are in ruts so deep. If we looked straight up, we would barely see daylight. We've got to step beyond that, and have goals, and work on those goals. The second thing we talked about was living a mediocre life. God wants us to do things with enthusiasm and with passion. I had a CEO tell me once, regarding his own business, he said, if you don't believe in the resurrection of the dead, you should be here at five o'clock.

Hopefully none of our employers ever say something like that about us. What he's talking about are people who are demotivated, people who are just going through the motions, have no passion, have no enthusiasm towards their work, towards what they're doing, and suddenly they come alive when it's five o'clock. Step out of our comfort zones and remember that many of the greatest pleasures in life include some degree of risk. Happiness isn't about avoiding painful things in life, it's about chasing our dreams, it's about following our aspirations. That's what it's about.

So we need to stop living mediocre lives. The next area we discovered was self-sabotage. This is always due to a lack of self-discipline, because it's a conditioned habit. We get into the habit of saying or doing things that interrupt our progress. They hurt our relationships with other people. It's like the old expression, we're working hard and we take one step forward, but then we sabotage it by saying something or doing something.

We end up taking two steps backward, so we're not really making any progress. Any pattern that keeps disrupting your growth, your success, or your joy has got to stop. God gave us an enormous filter in our heads, and that enormous filter that covers most of what's inside of our heads is called the mind. And what we have to understand, brethren, that's so important is that not everything that comes in our mind should come out of our mouths.

That's what the filter is for, and that's a very important principle. And if we're not doing that, then we end up saying things or we end up knee-jerking things and taking only one step forward, but two steps backward. That's self-sabotage. The fourth thing we talked about was running from our problems. God reveals to us His law, His testimony, His statutes and judgments, so we can clean up our act.

The more we conform to God's law, to God's commandments, to His values, the less discord and internal dysfunction that we'll experience in our lives. When we compromise with God's values, we end up compromising with our level of joy. Why? It's because when we're compromising, in our minds we know we're compromising. So there is that continual simmer of discontent going on in our heads, of feeling uneasy about, I know I need to really work on this and I'm not working on it. I know I really need to overcome this, but I've come, I've compromised and I'm too comfortable the way that I am.

And when that happens, we have this slow burn going on in the back of our heads because we're not doing what we should be doing, and that steals our joy. Let's face our problems and deal with them. Start chasing after the right things instead of running from the problems and the issues we have that we need to confront. The fifth thing that we talked about last time was worrying about our flaws. And again, this is talking about sins. This is talking about physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual flaws. Oftentimes these are related to appearance or they may be personality quirks or traits that we picked up growing up in our families or that we have through our genetic disposition, but it's a choice whether we give them the power to keep us from reaching our goals and holding us back.

And last time I spoke about the example of Phyllis Diller. Here's another example. Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a woman whom her own mother said was an ugly duckling. She had an overbite, a very prominent overbite. And here's what she said. No one can make you feel inferior without your permission. She got it. She understood it. She wasn't worrying about, in her case, her obviously physical flaw from a cultural viewpoint that we have in our world today.

She refused to buy into that, refused to feel inferior because her appearance wasn't what people in the world would consider to be perfect. Indeed, candidly acknowledge our flaws. We need to do that. We need to find our strength in them. We need to make them work for us. And if we're humble, our flaws have the ability to strip away pride and ego. And with that ego removed, then God can often do great things in us with those same flaws. The sixth thing we talked about last time, the final thing we had enough time to talk about, was trying to control everything.

It's very easy in our culture, and depending on what kind of family background we grew up in, we may be control freaks, trying to control every situation and manage the outcome, trying to control every family member and the way they should act and what they should say and how they should talk. Trying to control everything causes stress, and it's an illusion. We can't control anything. The only thing we can control is what goes on upside in our heads. We can't control external circumstances. We can't control other people. We can only control ourselves.

And if we face a situation where we're struggling with that, we can ask God to take control and ask God to release us from our need to dominate everything. And if we do that, He indeed will answer. As I said, control is an illusion. If you try to control everything, you will live your life frustrated and angry, because the world doesn't owe you anything. The world doesn't owe you harmony, and people don't owe you obedience. Situations don't owe you the kind of ending or situations you want. So therefore, we have to make sure that we are controlling the one thing that we can, and that is our attitude and our reaction to things that go wrong.

To have control of ourselves is much more reliable and is a greater source of joy than trying to control everything around us. Okay, those were the six things that we covered last time. Now let's begin with number seven, Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1. If you will turn there with me, number seven is blaming others. Blaming others. Galatians chapter 6, beginning in verse 1.

Paul wrote, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, now what he means is someone who's spiritual, and he cautions it in verse 3 to make sure you're not deceiving yourself that you're spiritual and you're really not, you who are spiritual restore, notice not punish, not humiliate, not to attempt to control, but to restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. The law of Christ, of course, is that we love one another. And we need to bear each other's burdens. As we know, someone is struggling with an issue or a problem instead of condemning them, instead of pounding them, instead of being harsh to them, we need to bear their burden with them. Pray for them, encourage them, try to help them in any way that we can. Verse 3, for if anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

So again, he's given caution about that phrase of you who are spiritual to do the restoring. There needs to be a huge dose of humility before we attempt to do that. Then he says here in verse 4, but let each one examine his own work, and he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another, for each one shall bear his own load. So it isn't our job to examine our spouse's work, our children's work, our neighbor's work, everyone's else's work.

Our job is to examine our own work. How am I doing looking into this spiritual mirror? And that's a full-time job. If we're doing that the way we should, we don't have time to point the finger at everything and everyone else. That's a very important principle here. Nothing great has ever come from blaming or accusing others. The way to really be joyful is to be accountable for our own actions.

That's bearing our own load, right? That's examining our own work. Blaming others simply can become a scapegoat for us to avoid dealing with our own problems. If we focus on building our strengths and dealing with our own weaknesses, we have very little time left over to become judge of the world. We've got to be very careful that we don't become more righteous than God. And think that it's our job to go around pointing the finger and pointing out everyone else's flaws and weaknesses and sins.

That's just something that we cannot do. It becomes a scapegoat. And here's a real issue with that. Romans chapter 2 and verse 1. Here's what Paul said, Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, who judge. For in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For who judges practices the same things. Very few of us can look at someone else in this room and say, ah, this person, I'm going to judge this person because they're doing that.

Very few of us could do that without having honestly admit that we've done that ourselves some point in our lives. That sometime we also did that. So what Paul is warning us is you have one sin that's judging, and then you compound it with an additional sin of hypocrisy.

Of judging someone for something that you yourself have been guilty of in your lifetime. Again, if we're focusing on examining our own works, then we don't have time to blame our difficulties, our challenges on other people. Another variation of this situation is using situations or events instead of people as the scapegoat.

So instead of blaming others for not dealing with our problems, we blame situations or events. Oh, it's my clock stopped, the dog ate my homework. It's always someone else's fault. It's some situation's fault. We call these excuses. So we use the excuses to blame instead of accepting accountability for ourselves. Too many of us use poor and illogical excuses to avoid confronting an obvious problem we have. What we sometimes don't realize ourselves is that everyone, we think we're good at hiding that problem, everyone else can easily recognize it. Our family members know it. People who grow close to us in the church know it.

So rather than just blaming others which becomes the scapegoat for not dealing with our own issues, we need to stop blaming others and let each one examine his or her own work. All right, number eight. Habit number eight. Trying to be something you are not.

Trying to be something you are not. Let's go to Philippians chapter 1 and verse 3, and we'll go through a number of verses before we get to the verse that I want to talk about, in which Paul talks about the importance of sincerity, of being who and what we really are, and not putting on a mask or not wasting our energies trying to be someone else.

He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request for you all with joy. So in spite of Paul's persecutions and the beatings he took and how hard his ministry was, he's talking about he wants them all to be with joy. Verse five. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Do you know how encouraging that really is, that statement? He's saying that God began a good work in you. You are God's work. He loves you. He's working with you. God began that work. And God is planning on finishing that work that he began in you. It's his goal to complete it. That's how precious and how special you are in God's sight. Verse seven. Just as it is right for me to think of you all because I have you in my heart in as much as both in my chains and in the defense of the confirmation of the gospel, you are all partakers with me of grace.

For God is my witness how greatly I long for all of you with the affection of Jesus Christ, and I pray that my love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment. Verse 10. Now we're getting to the verse that I want to punch here. Verse 10. That you may have proved the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offenses till the day of Christ.

This works sincere. The Greek is a licorinus. A licorinus is spelled E-L-I-K-R-I-N-E-S, and it means something that's judged by the sunlight. You know, the sunlight magnifies and it brightens everything so you can see it as it really is. So he says, I want you to be genuine. I want you to be pure. I want you to be your heart and your life as if it's an open book judged by the sunlight.

He wants the brethren in the church here to be the best version of whom God called them to be. In a celebrity worship culture like we live in today, it's easy to want to emulate someone that you admire. Many years ago in the 70s, I was part of a church, and the founder's son was on the TV, he was on a radio, he was a very charismatic man, and everyone wanted to be like him. I remember one time people were asking, well, is it okay to wear bell bottoms?

Are bell bottoms godly? And around the church everyone would discuss that, and no one wore bell bottoms until this man was seen on a TV program wearing bell bottoms, and all the males ran out and bought bell bottom pants. It suddenly was acceptable, and people tried to talk like him and have the same gestures he had and act like him and dress like him.

The problem with that is they weren't being whom God called them to be. Do you remember the young David when he was preparing to go out and fight Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17? And King Saul suggested that David put on his armor, so David went ahead and he put on Saul's armor and he tried to move in it, but you know what? He took it off. It didn't fit. He said, quote, I'm not used to it. What's the lesson behind that story?

The lesson is that David wasn't called to be like Saul. He was called to be David, and in a similar way, you weren't called to be like any other human being on earth. You were called to be the best version of who God made you to be through the power of his Holy Spirit. God gives us his law and his commandments in a huge outer frame, and we are to live, if we want to live in harmony and peace, we are to live within that huge outer frame that provides structure and morals and purpose to our existence.

Inside of that large frame is a huge amount of room for your individuality and uniqueness. Don't try to be like someone else. I see a lot of young people in our culture today, they get tattoos because their favorite celebrity has a tattoo, or they want to buy tennis shoes because their favorite celebrity endorses a silly tennis shoe, or they want to wear a dress like Princess Whoever, or they want to have a hairstyle like someone else.

God didn't make us to be like someone else. Why do so many people want to be something they're not? What would it take for us to be joyful with who we are and to celebrate our unique gifts and talents? Brethren, God is not creating yellow pencils. He's creating some different colored pencils, some various felt tip pens, some ballpoint pens, and he's even calling a few bright highlighters now and then.

Don't compare yourself with anyone else. Don't try to be something that you are not. Be the best version of whom you can be and allow the power of God's Spirit to guide and direct you on making those changes so you can be the person that God wants you to be. Don't compare yourself with anyone else. Look in the spiritual mirror and see who God made you to be, changed and blessed by obedience to his law. And then build on that foundation. All right, number nine. Number nine is constant complaining. This is a one that is really difficult in our culture today because we live in an entitlement culture and if you turn on the TV, if you read the media, if you virtually do anything, you will find a society in which everyone thinks they're entitled and everyone is complaining. The glass is always half empty. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 12. If you'll turn there with me. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 12. Something for us to think about as we lead into Thanksgiving Day this coming week.

Philippians chapter 2 and verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. This was a prison epistle. He was in prison. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So it shows there's a part that we play in our salvation. It's our choice. We have to yield and allow the Spirit of God to work within us. Verse 13. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. And see, working with you is pleasurable to God.

It brings him joy in spite of our flaws and weaknesses, in spite of the things that we struggle with. It's his pleasure to help us to grow and change and be transformed into the mind of Jesus Christ. Continuing, do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless. Children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

There's that word joy again. He says, I look forward to rejoicing. That's my hope, that you're there when Jesus Christ returns, that you are part of that first resurrection, that all of this that I did, Paul says, and all the suffering I experienced was for nothing. I don't want it to be in vain. I want you to be there. I want you to participate in that resurrection. Verse 17, yes, and if I'm being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all for the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

So how are we and complaining? You know, it's hard to complain when you live a life filled with gratitude. Did you wake up in a bed this morning? Do you have shelter and food? When you woke up, did you have that little miracle box on a wall where you can go out there and you can move a little thing and the heat comes on and maybe got up a couple of degrees and made you a little warmer?

Did you have that big metal box somewhere in your house that actually keeps food cold? In many parts of the world, they still have to shop every day because they don't have any food preservation in their homes and they have to go to market every day and buy food to eat just for that day because it'll spoil in the temperatures in the part of the world that they live in.

One month ago, the World Bank reported, and this is a quote, nearly half the world's population lives on less than five dollars and fifty cents a day. What can you do with five dollars and fifty cents a day? You can't do much. Be grateful for all of God's blessings you enjoy. Food, warm shelter, relatively good health, our relationships, family, physical family, our spiritual family, a healthy mind. When you catch yourself complaining, take a moment to look around you. Take a look at our culture, our own society, and be very humbled and be deeply grateful for what you have. This coming week, as we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States, I'm encouraging you to take a few moments to thank God for His blessings, His blessings He's given you in your life, and let's shine as a light to the world, and a light doesn't make noise.

You know, I started out my career many years ago as an electrician, and I learned that the only kind of light that makes a noise is a light that's going bad, and you're soon going to have to replace the ballast or do something to get rid of the irritating noise that that light was generating. Lights, healthy lights, just glow, and sometimes they give warmth, but they do not make an irritating, obnoxious noise. And that's really what complaining is. Complaining is telling God that you haven't given me enough, that I am not happy with what you have already given me. And that's not a good attitude, a good perspective to have.

Number 10. Being upset when things don't go according to your plan. Being upset when things don't go according to your plan. Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 28. Isaiah 40-28.

We make plans. We should make plans. God is a planner. He wants us to make plans. He wants us to have goals. But sometimes, I might dare say that oftentimes things don't go according to plan. Have you noticed that in life? That oftentimes you have the best of intentions and you've created this pathway, you've created this plan, and things happen as we say in the gardening world. Compost happens.

And your plan doesn't go according to what your hopes were. Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 28. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, neither feints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. God is doing something in your life that you can't even comprehend. Only if you could comprehend eternity could you understand the unsearchable like God does. Because when He's working with you, He's working with eternity. He's not working on what we'll do next week or next month. He's working on what will get us to a certain level so that we can serve Him for eternity. Verse 29. He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. So when we do things and they don't happen according to our plan, realize that that's just part of life. That is part of God's personal development plan for you. Do you want to know how to make God laugh? Yesterday I had a birthday and so I had opportunity to think about my life and a lot of things that led me to where I am today. And I'm going to tell you how you can make God laugh. Here's how to do it. Tell God what your plans are.

And He'll go, I have no idea what I have planned tomorrow for Him or her. Now again, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't plan. We most certainly should. But God looks at our existence and our purpose from the long term, from an eternal perspective. He knows what we need. He knows what is really good for us. And we don't always have the right perspective regarding those things. When things go wrong, don't get angry. Don't get upset. Get up and keep doing what you can. The late Dr. Randy Pausch stated in something that he gave. He had pancreatic cancer and he gave something called the last lecture. By the way, you can find it on YouTube if you're interested in hearing it. But here's something that he said that I think was very profound. Quote, the brick walls, he's talking about obstacles we face in life when things don't go according to plan. He says, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. End of quote. You see, God is in the character-building business. This means that obstacles and barriers are there to provide resistance. Overcoming that resistance, those roadblocks, the sense of disappointment that we feel, overcoming that resistance creates character. Again, God is in the character-development business. That is part of God's plan for you. That's part of God's plan for me. So when things don't go according to plan, when that sudden unexpected financial thing hits us that we didn't save for, that we weren't expecting, or that health trial comes upon us, or something else goes wrong, don't get bitter, angry, upset. Just keep doing the right things. Don't allow the many setbacks in life to steal your joy. No one ever said things have to go according to our plans. That is not a promise made anywhere in the scriptures. Remember, God's plans for us have an eternal and a sanctified purpose, and they're beyond our comprehension at this point in our existence to know why God allows things to happen in our lives. All right, number 11. The 11th habit, and I see this among some people, only living in the past or only living for the future? Only living in the past or only living for the future? Psalm chapter 118 and verse 24. Very short but beautiful Psalm, 118-24.

In context, this is talking about a feast day, but certainly relates to any day in God's creation. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. You see, it's the only thing we're given that's right now. That is today. So this is a day that's special. God made it. It is a gift. There's no promise of another tomorrow, so therefore we will rejoice. That's joy.

We will rejoice and be glad in this period of time that we call today, that we call right now. God has given us three great periods of time to surround our existence, and each deserves reflection and appreciation. Again, since I had a birthday yesterday, I was thinking about these things. First, He gives us a past. Our past. These life experiences that brought us to where we are today. It should be composed of fond memories and wonderful experiences, and yes, some very painful lessons.

We all have done some really stupid things in our past. We all have done that, but we have those experiences to learn from those painful lessons, so we don't need to repeat them. Because if we don't learn a lesson from God, we will have to repeat that same lesson over and over again until we get it.

We can't change the past, but we can allow the things we learned the hard way, the spiritual bruises and scars that we have to help change us, to make us better, to make us a better people. So that's one of those three areas. That's the past. Then another period that engulfs our existence is the future.

God's Word gives us many wonderful and rewarding promises, including eternal life, the privilege to be a member of God's family as His child. And it's important for us that we allow ourselves to be motivated and inspired by the sure promises of God. That's one of the wonderful things about reading the scriptures is they're filled with God's promises. Prophecy itself can be very encouraging, very motivated, very inspiring. So we have a past and we have the future. And then we have a period of time that's the only period of time in which we really have any personal choice over.

We can't change the past. It's etched in concrete, so that's why it really does no good. Once we've learned the things and processed the difficult things we've done, not to relive them over and over again, because, as I've said before, the ending's always the same. You're not going to change it. That's in concrete. It's done. It's history. It's preserved. It's not going anywhere. The future is all in God's hands. It's all according to God's grace. Someday I'm going to grow old and die.

And all of the beautiful future that God promises are completely in His hands. But a choice that I can make regarding that third period of time is today. It's the only period of time that we have any personal choice over. We can't change the past. We realize the future is due to God's grace, but the decisions that we make each and every today will affect our eternity. As a gift, we're only given one today at a time. And it's important. And we need to relish each and every day and get the most out of redeeming the time and using that day effectively.

Jesus stated in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 11, He said, give us this day our daily bread. You see, it's one day at a time, and then we go back and we ask again the next day for our Father's love and His mercy. That's very important. You see, we only get one day at a time to do the right things, and if we're fortunate, if we are blessed, then we get to do it again tomorrow.

But there's no promise that we get another day, that we get another tomorrow. Jesus also mentioned later in verse 34 there in Matthew 6, therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things sufficient, for the day is its own trouble. So we need to focus on one day at a time. That doesn't mean we don't plan for the future. That's a good thing, but we don't live totally for the future. We appreciate the experiences of the past.

We're hopeful and are inspired by what God promises for the future, but in between is something that we have control over right now. And that's how we act, how we think, how we conduct our lives each and every day, which in itself is a gift and part of God's grace. All right, the final point that I want to mention today. This is number 12, and it's kind of strong, but that's okay. Yeah, I left it for last because I think it's very important.

Another bad habit that many of us struggle with is being self-centered, being self-centered. Many years ago, I remember a religious leader who said that there's two ways of life. There's the way of give and there's the way of get. And we have to be very careful that we're not all about get, get, get, get, and forget about the importance of giving, of sharing our talents with others.

And that's so essential, and particularly in the culture that we live in today. Luke chapter 6 and verse 35 says, but love your enemies. Do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he that is God is kind to the unthankful and evil. In the summertime, it rains in my yard, just like it rains in the yard of other people who are living in that neighborhood, and they may not be living a very good moral lifestyle.

They may not be acknowledging God's existence at all, but it still rains in their yard. He's still merciful. He still gives them his love, even though they're unthankful, and in some cases they may be evil. Continuing, therefore be merciful just as your father is also merciful. God's merciful to us even when we don't deserve it. And he's saying that we need to be merciful to other people, even when they don't deserve it. Verse 37, judge not, and you shall not be judged, condemn not, and you shall not be condemned, forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Then he says something here in verse 38, that great metaphor. It's like going up to a grain silo that's filled with grain, and you open the little door, and the grain that comes flooding out of it. The impact is so great it almost knocks you to your feet and covers you up with a big pile of grain. That's the abundance that God wants to give us. So let's take a look at the metaphor here. Verse 38, give, and it will be given to you. Not take, not be selfish, not be thinking about ourselves all the time, and what I want, and what's convenient for me, and how I can control a person or control a situation.

Given, it shall be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put in your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. If we're selfish, we're going to get selfishness back. People are going to respond to us back. God ultimately will respond to us back in a negative way, if we're just selfish. On the other hand, if we're doing these things that Jesus says we need to do, loving our enemies, not judging, being merciful, not condemning, forgiving others, then those are all the qualities that God will give us back.

Those are the qualities that we want. Self-centered people spend their emotional resources judging everything and everyone. And trust me, we have little desire to give and serve others when we are absorbed in ourselves or when we're judging other people. In the sermon last time, I briefly mentioned that judging and joy are contradictory actions. You can't have both at the same time. You're either doing one or you're doing the other. Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Are we doing those good works or are we too concerned with self? What's convenient for me? When we stop thinking about ourselves and serve others, we fulfill the reason God created us. It says here, we are His workmanship. We were created not to please ourselves. We were created for good works. That's outgoing. That's service-oriented. And that's so very important. As Winston Churchill said, we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

God expects us to be merciful, to do good, and to give to others. And all of those are traits of love. Remember that important fruit that precedes joy, and that is love. And when we're being selfish, we're not loving others. We might be loving ourselves, and maybe too much. But when we are being selfish, we are not expressing that kind of love that we should.

So in conclusion, one more scripture. Let's discard the habits that have been stealing us of our joy. People should look at us of all people on earth and say, that person is different. Look at the smile. Look at the joy that person's radiating.

I see them across the room. They're happy. They're joyful. Well, people should see that kind of contrast when we're shopping in the store. They should see that kind of contrast in the workplace. They should see joy radiating from our hearts and from our minds, because joy comes from the inside, not due to external circumstances.

Early in the sermon, and last time, I quoted from the prophet Habakkuk about his understanding that you can experience joy because it comes from the inside, not because of trials or famines or anything else we may be going through. Let's see another example, our final scripture today, 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6. Let's see Peter's perspective on this truth that we've been talking about. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6.

He says, in this you greatly rejoice.

Though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. So here are people who are going through various trials. We don't know the details of them, but Peter commends them because they are greatly rejoicing in spite of those various trials. Why? Because they got the key. They understand that it comes from the inside. It has nothing to do with external circumstances. Verse 7. That the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold it perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Whom having you not seen, you love. So you love Jesus Christ even though you don't have the advantage that Peter had. Peter could literally touch his body. Thomas could put his finger in the scars in the side of Jesus Christ. John in one of his epistles says, look, I was there. I touched him. I beheld him. He's real. We don't have that advantage, but Peter's commending the church that you love him even though you've never seen him. Though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. If the audience he was talking to could be going through various trials and still rejoice with joy inexpressible, then why can't we? What's holding us back? Continuing, receiving the end, that is the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. So, brethren, Jesus, let us never forget, wanted his disciples to experience the same level of joy that he experienced shortly before his arrest, before his beating, before his trial, and before his crucifixion. He was filled with joy, and throughout eternity he wants his disciples to have that same level of joy. It's a personal choice that we can have in our minds that transcends whatever is going on on the outside. Can we make that choice? Can we realize that that is the kind of light that Jesus Christ wants us to be to this world? The kind of light that people can see from a distance, even, and say, that person's different. That person, there's something going on in that person's life that makes them unique, and that's something going on should be the power of God's Holy Spirit residing and working within us. Well, thank you. Have a wonderful Sabbath day, and we hope to see all of you shortly.