Joy in God through Everyday Joy in God through Everyday LifeLife

Exceeding Joy in God Series [13]Exceeding Joy in God Series [13]

Selected ScripturesSelected Scriptures

August 4, 2013August 4, 2013

Pastor Paul K. KimPastor Paul K. Kim

FOUR COMMON PITFALLS IN PURSUING JOY IN GOD IN EVERYDAY

LIFE• Worldliness: Nibbling on the short-lived joys of the

world, resulting in being full with counterfeit joys.

• Passivity/Distractions: Neglect to “fight for joy” through the means of grace (e.g., the Word, prayer, community, worship, fasting, solitude & silence, etc.)

• Compartmentalization: Having the relationship with God as a compartment of life. (God is not interested in your spiritual life—God is interested in your life.)

• Neglect of the Ordinary: Ignoring God’s goodness in the ordinary and the interconnectedness of the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual in everyday life.

PURSUING JOY IN GOD THROUGH ORDINARY THINGS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

1) Be watchful of YOUR SELF-CARE IN PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL RHYTHMS for your joy in God each day.

Keep a close watch on yourself.1 Timothy 4:16

For [the Lord] gives to his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you... 20 for you were bought

with a price. So glorify God in your body.1 Corinthians 19-20

We must realize the importance of self-care because our body, emotion, spirit are closely interconnected.

Giving proper care for rest, exercise, healthy diet, mental/emotional stability affects our joy in God in everyday life.

Hence, we are to cultivate self-care as indirect pursuit of joy.

PURSUING JOY IN GOD THROUGH ORDINARY THINGS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

2) Rediscover the joy of ordinary things by ACKNOWLEDGING THE GOODNESS OF GOD in them.

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.1 Timothy 4:5

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above...James 1:17

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good...Psalm 136:1

If all good things are from God, we must see God’s goodness in those good gifts to enjoy them without worshipping them.

This prevents two things: (1) broken cisterns & (2) ingratitude.

Hence, we are to be childlike in trust and thankfulness so that we can rediscover the joy of the ordinary as God’s goodness.

All The World A Witness To The Glory Of GodJoy in God is not the same as joy in sex or a sizzling steak or deep ravines or powerful music. But God’s will is that all these—and every part of his good creation—declare the glory of God. All the world, and even the imperfect representations of it in human art, is a witness to the glory of God. That glory is the ultimate ground of all human gladness. Therefore, the created world is a holy weapon in the fight for joy. But it must be “made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:5).

- John Piper

PURSUING JOY IN GOD THROUGH ORDINARY THINGS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

3) Seek and SPEND TIME WITH GOD-SATURATED PEOPLE who help you see God and fight the fight (in real life and in books).

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2

 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 13:20

People’s passion and joy are contagious so we are influenced by the people with whom we hang out most of time.

Seeking “God-saturated people” intentionally and spending time with them lead us to the contagious “fire” of joy in God.

Hence, we are to seek them—both in real life and via books.

Come Near To The Holy Men And Women Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. Moses used the fact that he knew God as an argument for knowing Him better. "Now, therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight"; and from there he rose to make the daring request, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory."

- A. W. Tozer

PURSUING JOY IN GOD THROUGH ORDINARY THINGS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

4) Choose to DO THE HARD AND LOVING THING for the sake of others’ joy (witness, mercy, & global missions).

10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,then shall your light rise in the darkness    and your gloom be as the noonday.

11 And the Lord will guide you continually    and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;and you shall be like a watered garden,

    like a spring of water,     whose waters do not fail.

Isaiah 58:10-11

PURSUING JOY IN GOD THROUGH ORDINARY THINGS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

4) Choose to DO THE HARD AND LOVING THING for the sake of others’ joy (witness, mercy, & global missions).

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation...”

Mark 16:15

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe

in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Romans 10:14

To give ourselves for others’ joy is to join in the joy of Christ in everyday life—esp. in mercy, witness, and frontier missions.

This means that for joy in God we must daringly take risks for the sake of others and the glory of God with our lives!

Hence, we are to give ourselves radically for a radical joy.

THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

1. Which of the four common pitfalls is closest to me—(1) worldliness, (2) passivity, (3) compartmentalization, or (4) neglect of the ordinary things)? What will I do about it?

2. How can I be more watchful of my self-care for joy in God? How can I acknowledge God’s goodness in ordinary things?

3. What would be my first steps toward seeking and spending time with God-saturated people? Toward doing the hard and loving thing for the sake of others’ joy?