Finding Joy in the Journey
PROVERBS 20:24
24 ¶ Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
You cannot understand the path of your own life’s journey because it is the intelligence of God that has designed every detail of your goings in life, and because His thinking is much higher than our thinking, we cannot grasp the reasoning of God behind the many struggles that happen to us along life’s journey – and that is why we need to learn to put our confidence in the providence of God concerning our lives by knowing that he has it all in control and that all will be well.
PROVERBS 17:22
22 ¶ A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
When joy leaves a person’s life and they becomes discouraged in their spirit, then that can do damage to that person’s life almost more than anything else.
JOHN 15:11
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Finding Joy in the Journey
A study in Joy… Sometimes we can lose our joy along the journey of life, and so we need to find it again…
The dictionary meaning for the word Joy:
a feeling of great pleasure and happiness - the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires - to experience great pleasure or delight
*Joy is an inward emotions of our spirit, it is a feeling that we all love to experience, and it is actually something that God has design for us and to have remain in us, and that this joy might be a joy that is full.
*Every normal human being on earth desires to be happy and have their lives filled with joy and peace and contentment, and so if there is a desire in the human heart, then that is a deep that God placed in the human spirit that can only be satisfied by another deep that only God can truly supply.
*That is why the more pleasure the world tries to give through the entertainment and things of this world, the less happy people are becoming because this so called pleasure is not coming from the deep of what God intended to satisfy the human spirit and soul – it is not a type of joy that remains.
People will try all kinds of things to try to bring a greater amount of joy and satisfaction into their lives.
A lot of what people pursue in life is for the end purpose and goal to connect themselves to a spiritual feeling of greater peace and happiness and joy.
Many people even look to their retirement as a goal, and so they labor hard their whole lives in pursuit of what they think will be peace and joy in their retirement years just to find out when they get there that this joy they hoped for was just a mirage of their imagination.
PSALM 16:11
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life (God reveals to you that He has your pathway all mapped out for you): in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
God has design for us for happiness and t be full of joy and to experience pleasures, even pleasures forevermore. God also likes to experience pleasure.
REVELATION 4:11
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
So pleasure is not an evil thing; it is just that Satan has perverted pleasure and joy by connecting it with sin and then lying to the people that that is the main source of pleasure.
Pleasure that is connected with sin is a perverted pleasure, it is perverted from the genuine pleasure that God created us for us, and that is why that sinful pleasure will never bring a depth of lasting satisfaction but will actually lead a person into greater sorrow and death.
**God design us to for the right kind of pleasure of the deepest level of joy that comes with a lasting satisfaction that this world is unable to give you by all of its modern forms of entertainment and technology.
***So God has designed the human spirit to experience the fullness of joy and happiness in that great civilization that is to come by living in his presence forevermore - in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
*But then how do we bring some of this joy into the journey of this life now with all the struggles and trials and upsets constantly flooding into our lives – the answer to this lies in the hope that we are to have within us as believers, and this is why Satan always tries to discourage us away from that inner hope, he tries to wound our spirits and even break our spirits at times. The source of our courage lies in our hope of eternal life in the great hereafters.
PROVERBS 18:14
14 ¶ The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
NEHEMIAH 8:10b
10b .. for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
***Outer strength comes from an inner spiritual strength from an inner joy of the Lord – so this is why we need to have this joy of the Lord within us, because that is where our strength is to come from to endure the trials and pressure of this age.
REVELATION 3:17
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
We can see by this scripture that this end time age is in a condition that is not favorable to attract a situation of joy. So then because of this, this age has to try to create its own source of joy for the people who are living under these conditions of wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
This is why there are so many forms of entertainment in this age – we have become an age that is addicted to the pursuit of pleasure to try to dull the pain of living in Satan’s Eden, but the more pleasure we seem to create, the less joy people have deep within.
345-3 LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.9
God says this church of the Laodicean Age is "wretched". That word comes from two Greek words which mean 'endure' and 'trial.' And it has nothing to do with the trials that come to a true Christian for God describes a Christian in trial as "blessed" and his attitude one of joy whereas this description is phrased as "wretched and miserable". How strange. In this age of plenty, in this age of progress, in this age of abundance, how can there be trials? Well now, it is strange; but in this age of plenty and opportunity, when everyone has so much and there is so much more to be had, what with all the inventions to do our work and so many things to give us pleasure, SUDDENLY, we find mental illness taking such a toll as to alarm the nation. When everybody ought to be happy, with really nothing to be unhappy about, millions are taking sedatives at night, pep pills in the morning, rushing to doctors, entering institutions, and trying to drown out unknown fears by alcohol.
Yes, this age boasts of its tremendous stores of worldly goods, but the people are less happy than ever.
**They are less happy because the pleasure that this age calls pleasure is not coming from the presence of the Lord but from the presence of Lucifer.
HEBREWS 12:2-3
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The reality of what God had promised Jesus in the future gave him the endurance of spirit to go through the experience of the cross and to despise the shame of it. Just the same as if you were to promise an ice-cream to a child that is about to go to the dentist – you promise that if they are good and endure the pain with patience then you will buy them an ice-cream right after the dentist visit, and it is that hope of that future joy and the anticipation of the pleasure of eating the ice-cream that gives energy to the child’s spirit that helps them get thought the pain of the dentist visit. It is what we call incentives and rewards.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
I PETER 4:12-13
12 ¶ Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
For our joy to be full, there will be times when we have to experience sorrow.
**The real battle takes place at the unseen frontline of the battlefield that is in the mind of the human spirit – this is where the greatest battle of man is fought, not against flesh and blood, but in the human mind of our human reasoning of the word of God.
**So having joy in the journey of our Christian life by the hope that is set before us is very important, because if we let that joy leak out of us allowing the enemy to bring doubts in the promises of the word of the joy that is set before us, then that dulled sense of hope within us can make the journey of life a lot harder to bare.
JUDE 1:24
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
We must realize that God is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless – our hope is in the Lord – He has it all in control – all things work together for the good – all your goings are of the LORD.
118-1 SMYRNAEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.4
The cloudy skies and storms of life are no signs of God's disapproval. Neither are bright skies and still waters signs of His love and approval. His approval of any of us is only IN THE BELOVED. His love is elective which He had for us before the foundation of the world. Does He love us? Ah yes. But how shall we know? We shall know because He SAID SO, and manifested that He did love us for He brought us to Himself and gave us of His Spirit, placing us as sons. And how shall I prove my love to Him? By believing what He said, and by conducting myself with joy amidst the trials that He in His wisdom allows to come to pass.
JAMES 1:2-4
2 ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Sometimes we want our trials to end quickly, but God knows how long our trials must go on for in order to bring your life into the maturity level of what the trial was sent to achieve in your life – so we must let God bring the trial to an end in his own time and not so that we can have relief.
We must have patience and let the trial do the work in our lives of what God sent it for in order to shape our character to be fit to rule in His great kingdom.
PSALM 37:23-24
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
**When King David sinned by his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah, we know that he did not lose his salvation, but he lost the joy of his salvation, but then look at the repentance that David expressed, he is showing us of the way out of sin and the reinstatement of joy by repentance.
PSALM 51:1-13
1 ¶ To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 ¶ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Look at the dark pathway that David had to go through for him to be able to write this psalm. His sin had cost him the loss of his joy, but that joy was eventually restored to him, so even though you may lose your joy for a season, there is a way that your joy in the journey can be restored.
*It has been said of Winston Churchill in his role as the Prime Minister of Britain during the Second World War, that when things were good Winston was good, but when things were bad, Winston was superb.
And the reason for this is that he believed in the providence of God over his life in that he was raised for a purpose and that all would be well in the end.
He believed that he was raised by God for such a time to lead the people of Britain through the Second World War and into victory.
Winston Churchill once said that "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."
As message believers, by the election and the providence of God we have come into the truth of what God has spoken in this hour and have not hurried off as if nothing has happened like so many have done.
And there is so much power in this truth that has been freely given to us in this hour that it is able to lead the entire bride to a great victory in this hour, and so there is no need for us to doubt and be sad because we have a far greater leader that is with us that what Britain had that led them to victory during the Second World War.
GOD'S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP_ SHP.LA V-7 N-4 SUNDAY_ 65-1128M
199 …You've got to stand on something. That's right. You're--you're standing on something.
200 Churchill once said, held up two fingers and said, "We’ve got the victory." And England stood by that, they believed Churchill.
201 And believe it or not, this morning, you are standing by something. There's only one thing that you can live and stand by, and that's Christ, the Word. True!
Notice how he is talking about speaking the word of victory will bring you into victory – this is how wars are won, by speaking and going forward. This is how Churchill did it, and this is how we are to do it also – speak the word and go forward.
In the message – why cry, speak, we learn that like with Moses, when humans get into a crisis, they are more often prone to cry out and speak about the negative things rather than to speak the word of the victory that God had promised and go forward.
If we could only realize that we have power over all circumstances because of the providence of God – this is what God is trying to bring us into the reality of a victorious walk in this life where we can bring all things are under our feet in subjection to the word and the providence of God concerning his promises for our lives.
**We are in the line of duty, and there is a power and an intelligence of the providence and power of God that is far higher than ourselves watching out for us in every detail of our life’s journey to bring us into victory.
According to historian Andrew Roberts, Winston Churchill in 1891 at age 16 predicted that he would defend London and the empire from disaster.
He had mapped out his destiny and did not deviate from it until aged 65 and considered by many including Hitler as a hopeless has-been, he came to power and walked with precisely the destiny he had prescribed from himself almost half a century earlier.
Churchill became certain that the number of times he had narrowly escaped death meant he was a man of destiny whose being saved for great things.”
The historian outlined all of Churchill's close calls with death and said: “Even if we strip away the number of times Churchill could have died in five wars he fought on four continents as a soldier, including the 30 times he ventured into no man’s land when serving in the trenches of the Great War.
Churchill was born two months premature. He had three car crashes including a very serious one on Fifth Avenue in New York and two plane crashes. He was concussed for days after jumping 30 foot off a bridge.
He was staying in a house that burnt to the ground in the middle of the night. He very nearly drowned in Lake Geneva.
He was stabbed as a schoolboy and had four serious bouts of pneumonia - one that nearly killed him as a child. As well as a series of strokes and heart attacks.”
Brother Branham quoted Longfellow’s poem "Psalm of Life." many times throughout the message…
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
BROKEN.CISTERNS_ JEFF.IN V-5 N-13 SUNDAY_ 64-0726E
121 Why not turn from this system and cisterns of the world, to the faithful system of God, which is the artesian well, Jesus Christ? Why don't you turn to Him, where God is our abundant supply of joy, our abundant supply in praises, our abundant supply in satisfaction? The calmness of my nerves comes from God.
When I'm tore up, I find my satisfaction in Christ, not in a cigarette, not in the things of the world, not in joining some creed; but in finding Him, the promised Word that He said, "If I go away, I'll come again to receive you." I find my joy in that. He is my Joy.
This reality needs to become a greater experience in our lives in the face of the onslaught of all the cheap and short lived toxic pleasure that the world is feeding on in this evil age of Satan’s Eden. Our abundant supply of Joy can be found in nothing else but Christ – He is the only resource that we can turn to for true joy in this hour.
"If I go away, I'll come again to receive you." I find my joy in that…
JEREMIAH 31:13
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
There will be times of sorrow in your life – Jesus was a man acquainted with sorrow and grief, but we must understand that that is only for a season and that is not the will of God for us to stay in that condition.
MATTHEW 25:21
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Serving the Lord and serving others – that is one of the ways to bring more joy into your life.