God’s Formula for Joy
Philippians 4: 4-7
“Rejoice in the LORD always, again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The LORD is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
If you haven’t noticed yet, the world is a mess. I do not the validity of this news report, but police in Battlecreek have issued a statement to the affect of several of the Kellogg mascots have been found dead or are missing and presumed dead. They are sure they are dealing with a cereal killer.
Seriously. . . .A lot of the mess the world is in comes from a general discontent and unhappiness with life’s hassles. The guy who cuts in front of us on the highway; the inconsiderate telemarketer that calls during dinner, the child; no matter the age, who just doesn’t have a clue about life and seems to be proud of it; street construction that will go on forever; crime; fires and the like are all things can and will rob us of our joy if we let it. It is a matter of us letting it; we control our emotions – they should not control us. (On a side bar> Being sad is not a choice sometimes. There are clinical reasons for sadness and depression. There are some very effective medicines The Great Physician has provided that can help correct those health problems.) But even then sometimes life just runs us over and we can lose our God given right as part of the family of God to be happy! It is not only our right to be happy as children of God – it is commanded of us to be happy, to be joyful!
Rejoice in the LORD always, again I will say, rejoice!
This isn’t a suggestion it is a command. That is why Paul says it twice, for imperative emphasis. Rejoice in Jesus – let me tell you rejoice. Be happy – hear me, be happy!!!
The scripture never tells you to do something without telling you how to do it. That is then what Paul goes on to do. He gives you the Formula for Joy!
We need the Proper Attitude
We need the Proper Perspective
We need the Proper Prayer
to have
The Proper Peace.
The Proper Attitude
Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men.
This gets down to attitude.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines forbearing spirit as “sweet reasonableness”. Let your sweet reasonableness be made known to all men. If you feel yourself getting angry with someone> let your sweet reasonableness shine through. That telemarketer I mentioned before, that person who cut you off in traffic, that hard headed child are all diversions Satan puts up to steal your joy. If you can approach those situations with a sweet reasonableness to work them out – you won’t lose your joy.
*Get an answering machine for your phone, or turn the ringer off during dinner.
*Pray for the person who is so reckless in traffic. You do not know what pressure they are under or the problems they may have that cause them to act that way. Don’t retaliate.
*Love your kids or grandkids> which ever is causing you grief through their hardheadedness. Always remember the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. Seek family counseling of some kind, if you need to – even if your kids are adults. Never let unresolved issues keep you apart.
*Remember it is not against people we stand, it is against Satan – remember what the Father tells us through Paul in Ephesians 6: 10-12
Ephesians 6:10-12 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The Proper Perspective
A) The LORD is near.
It can be argued that Paul was referring to the fact that Christ, at His ascension promised to return soon. However, there is another way to look at this. Please turn in your Bibles to II Kings 6:8-17 and follow along with me. “8 Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he counseled with his servants saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp." 9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there." 10 The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, more than once or twice. 11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?" 12 One of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom." 13 So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him." And it was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." 14 He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" 16 So he answered, " Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, " O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Psalm 34: 17&18 “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
B) Be anxious for nothing,
Attitude again- do not be anxious – trust God!!. Paul doesn’t give you a choice in this matter. Don’t worry – Be happy.
Jeremiah 17: 7&8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.”
The Cure for Anxiety Matthew 6: 25-33 ”For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ’What will we eat?’ or ’What will we drink?’ or ’What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
The Proper prayer
but in everything, by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.
Talk to God!! Tell Him what is on your mind, tell Him what is bothering you – this is prayer!!
Ask for His provision and trust Him to provide – this is supplication!!
1 Chronicles 5: 19&20 “They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.
Psalm 9: 9&10 “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Psalm 20:6-8 “Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.”
Psalm 34:17 “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles”
Psalm 34:19 “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;”
Psalm 37: 25 “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”
Psalm 37: 39&40 “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”
Psalm 55: 22&23a “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. But you, O God, will bring down the wicked;”
Psalm 64:9&10 “All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!”
Proverbs 10:3 “The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked”
Luke 6:37&38 “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Father God is prepared to take care of us no matter the situation as long as we let him know about it. And trust Him to do it.
I want to say a little bit about that phrase “with Thanksgiving”
There are a lot of Christians who treat God like a great Automatic Teller Machine in the sky. GIMME, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. Oh, God, why do you hate me so, I don’t have a new car like so and so, my house isn’t as big as so and so’s. What have I ever done to you?? I go to church most Sundays, I drop a 10 into the offering plate, I don’t cuss in front of ladies and small children like the Good Book says. Why don’t you just, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme.” Some one once said the sweetest words ever said besides “I love you” is “Thank You”. Please understand that God wants us to be grateful for what He has done for us. If we are not grateful, we do not appreciate it. He wants our thanks and praise more than He wants any other kind of sacrifice.
Psalm 69:29-31 “I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me. I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.”
Psalm 95: 1-3 “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.”
Jonah’s Prayer from Jonah 2
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
4 I said, ’I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.
7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord."
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
1 Corinthians 10: 15-17 “I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
1 Timothy 4: 3-5 “They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
The Perfect peace
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
We know that peace is allusive. There have been thousands of treaties of peace signed and all but a few have been broken. As long as Satan prowls the earth, there will never be outward peace, especially for the believer. Satan will always be throwing something or someone in our path to disrupt our walk and our peace of mind. We have to continually be on the alert, continually aware of our heart and mind condition, believe that God is near to protect us and trust Him to do that.
Psalm 85: 9-11 “Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.
Proverbs 12:20 “There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace.
Proverbs 14:30 A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
Isaiah 32: 13-20 “and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers- yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.
14 The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field.
17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
19 Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely,
20 how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.
1 Timothy 2: 1&2 “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
