Joy Is Strength
I.
Proverbs
15:13-Sadness is a tool the enemy uses to break and weaken your spirit
A. Sadness and sorrow hurts
your spirit; it beats your spirit down until it’s wounded and incapable of
functioning the way it was designed to function
1.
Through
sadness and sorrow the enemy endeavors to weaken your spirit
a. Sorrow-Grieve, displease, vex; To feel
pain of mind as a result of losing something good, frustrated expectations of
good, to be sad
b. Heart-Mind, will, emotions (Soul)
c. Broken-Stricken (worn), wounded (hurt by violence), smitten
2.
Those
who yield to sorrow are damaging their own spirits
a. Sadness and sorrow is
like spiritual poison that weakens the spirit
3.
Proverbs 15:13
a. ESV-A
glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed
b. CEB-A
joyful heart brightens one’s face, but a troubled heart breaks the spirit
c. ERV-If
you’re happy your face shows it. If you’re sad your spirit feels
defeated.
d. MSG-A
cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get
through the day
e. WYC-A
joyful heart makes glad the face; but the spirit is cast down in the mourning
of the soul
B. Proverbs 18:14-The enemy
wants to infect you with sadness to break your spirit because if your spirit is
wounded, broken, and weak all hope for you us gone
1.
Versions
a. MSG-A healthy spirit
conquers adversity, but what can you do when the spirit is crushed
b. NIRV-A man’s cheerful
heart gives him strength when he is sick-U can’t
keep going if you have a broken spirit
c. WYC-Who can endure with a broken spirit
d. HSCB-Who can survive a broken spirit
e. NCV-No one can live with
a broken spirit
2.
To
walk in victory you need your spirit strong to cast down thoughts and resist
the enemy and stay in faith (to support the weakness of the flesh)
a. When you’re spirit is
weak the flesh will go wild-Ezekiel 16:30
C. Deuteronomy
28:47-48-Yielding to sorrow literally puts you in the hands of the enemy
1.
GW-You
didn’t serve the Lord your God w/ a joyful & happy heart when u had so much
so u will serve ur enemies
2.
Because
YOU-This is something they chose; You have to choose joy
a. Joy and sorrow alike are
decisions we make
b. Because they didn’t chose
joy, they put themselves into the hands of the enemy
3.
You
yield to sadness and sorrow and you’re going to get worked by the enemy
a. Sadness and sorrow
brought lack, bondage and destruction
D. If sadness weakens and
breaks the spirit, joy would have to build it up; Joy is a spiritual vitamin
that when chosen daily will build your spirit up & keep it strong
1.
Proverbs
15:13, Nehemiah 8:10-Joy is a tool used by God to strengthen your spirit
a. Every time you choose joy
you just helped your spirit
2.
Proverbs
24:10-You’re level of strength is directly correlated to your level of joy; If
your joy level is high, your strength level is high, you won’t fail in the day
of adversity
a. NLT-If you fail under
pressure, your strength is too small
b. HCSB-If you do nothing in
a difficult time your strength is limited
c. NCV-If you give up when
trouble comes, it shows that you are weak
d. NIV1984-If you falter in
times of trouble how small is your strength
e. MSG-If you fall to pieces
in crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place
f.
James
4:7, 1 Peter 5:9-You have to resist to win and to resist you have to be strong
E. Proverbs 17:22-So many
times if people would just chose joy, it’d be the answer, the cure, the remedy;
it would restore their situation to a good state
1.
Versions
a. MSG-A cheerful
disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired
b. GW-A joyful heart is good
medicine but depression drains one’s strength
c. NCV-A happy heart is like
good medicine, but a broken spirit drains your strength
d. WYC-A joyful soul makes a
good life
2.
One
of the most unspiritual (carnal) things you can do is walk around with a frown
on your face
3.
If
you stay sad because it stays bad, it stays bad because you stay sad
II.
The Word of God is the
origin and source from which joy comes
A. God gave us His word to
give us joy (Jesus said that to give joy, John wrote that to give joy)
1.
John
15:11-They key to having Jesus’ joy work actively in you and have your joy
overflowing is the Word of God
a. If you don’t hear what
Jesus says you have avenue by which to cultivate joy
2.
1
John 1:4-If you don’t spend time with what’s been written in the Word of God
your joy tank will be lacking
a. You
fill your joy tank up by spending time in God’s word
3.
Jeremiah 15:16-It is important that we
search the Word and find scriptures to fit our situation and then meditate
those scriptures to cultivate joy; Your
words were found
a. ERV-Your
words came to me, and I ate them up. They made me very happy.
b. GW-Your
words were found and I devoured them. Your words are my joy and my heart’s
delight
c. He
found the word and then spent time with the Word He found
1)
Finding the scriptures is not enough,
you have to eat them; You have to get them on the inside of you by meditating them
2)
Joy comes from the word of God that you
get into your heart not the word you know in your head
3)
Joy is not always going to come the
first time you hear it, see it, or say it, but if you will stay persistent in
the word joy will come
4.
Sadness, sorrow, discouragement,
depression is simply the result of a poor spiritual diet; the remedy for
sadness is the word of God
B. Satan
targets the Word of God in your life because it is the origin of joy
1.
Mark 4:15-Satan comes to get the Word from you,
he comes to take your word-time from you and distract you
2.
If Satan can steal the Word from you he can get
your joy; If he can get your joy, then he can break your spirit and keep it
weak; If you’re weak you can’t resist and if you can’t resist, you will not win
C. Joy
is an out flowing expression of faith in God
1.
Psalm 5:11-Those who aren’t rejoicing aren’t
trusting
a. Those
who have no joy have no faith
1)
Sadness and sorrow is simply evidence that you
don’t believe
b. Trust-Bold,
secure, feel safe, careless (these all go hand in hand with joy)
1)
If you’re in sorrow you’re not bold, secure,
careless, you don’t feel safe
2)
ASV-But let all those who take refuge in thee
rejoice, let them ever shout for joy b/c you defend them:
3)
LEB-But let all who take shelter in u
rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy
b/c u spread protection over them.
2.
Romans 10:17-Faith comes by hearing the Word
a. The
more Word I hear, the more I trust, the more I trust the more joy that flows
out
b. Faith
provokes joy, it stirs it up
D. Joy
will come to anybody who will commit to spend time with God in His Word
1.
Psalm 40:16-Many people have no joy simply
because they aren’t seeking God
a. To
seek Him and stay depressed violates spiritual law
1)
If you’re sad or sorrowful you couldn’t be that
way if you were seeking Him
b. The
less you require and desire God, the less you joy you have
1)
Seek-Require,
desire
c. NCV-Let
those who follow you be happy and glad
d. NIRV-Let
all those who look to you be happy and glad
2.
Psalm 16:8-11-If you’re sorrowful you haven’t
been with God
a. NIRV-You
always fill me with joy when I am with you
b. MSG-Day and night I'll stick
with God; I've got a good
thing going and I'm not letting go. 9-10 I'm happy from the inside
out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to
hell— that's not my destination! 11 Now you've got my
feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since
you took my hand, I'm on the right way
c. 8-God
didn’t set Himself before Him rather he set God before him
d. 9-That’s
why my heart is glad
e. 11-Many
people are sad, sorrowful, and Heavy because they’ve been spending time with
wrong fellow