Someone asked me, because we were talking about the series we’re learning in service, if the default mindset is always negative. I said it doesn’t have to be, but I’m not sure that’s true.
James 4:4 states that, “you can’t be a friend with the world without making yourself an enemy of God.
We need to find a way to divorce ourselves from the world. The only way that happens is to think about the situation you are in. The present.
The present is all we can deal with even if thinking toward the prize that is set before us might help us put perspective on our trial.
Joy comes from the Holy Spirit and is much different than happiness. Happiness relies on instant gratification, but Joy is maintained through a sustained absorption in things Heavenly. We need both to remind us to see and receive the kind of joy Jesus had, and that Paul received, to go through that which God has set before us.
And, it’s available.
It was not just Jesus that needed it, or Paul, but it is you and I that need the joy which is more fulfilling than the things of earth.
Receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit
They are eternal
Pastor Brent