"The Spirit of Joy"

"Have You Found Joy?"

As I was reading this morning in Phillipians in chapter four, I began to realize the joy that Paul the Apostle carried with him no matter what was happening in his life. I couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to actually have known and spent time with him. I have heard he was short in stature and kind of rough looking. He was also very outspoken and clever. He had landed himself in prison and courts because of his boldness in public and his pursuasive teachings.

What I saw though about Paul that made him stand out was the fact that he stated that he had come to understand in whatever situation he found himself to be satisfied or complacent. He didn't spend his time complaining or calling his friends on his cell phone telling them all the bad news. He didn't post it on Facebook when something out of the ordinary rocked his world. He simply says that he had come to understand how to accept his situations that he found himself in.

Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

Paul says that he knows how to be "humiliated" based on the Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary and Paul also said he knew how to excel and abound. So Paul had experienced the best and the worst of life. How could it be possible for him to feel satisfied and joyful in both situations? It seems that every preacher these days is telling us how we can be blessed to the point that our barns are bursting and we can have anything we ask for in prayer; even that Cadillac or Mercedes! How does it make us feel when we here that kind of preaching? Do you begin to feel dissatisfied with the car or house you have now? Do you begin to feel discontent? Has the dream of having something better stolen the joy you had? If we get our eyes on the things and off of the Lord's will for our life, it is very hard to be filled with the spirit of joy.

Let's read the next verse,

Philipians 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where(always) and in all things(in whole) I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I added in parenthesis the Greek translation of the words that are stated "every where and in all things" because in the Greek "every where" and "in all things" actually come from the same word.

It actually translates "always and in whole" I am "initiated" to be both "satisfied" completely and to be "famished or crave", both to "superabound or excel" and "to be inferior or be in need"

Then Paul states the verse we all seem to know so well,

Philipians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

Paul explains how he does this! He tells us what he has learned through all of the experiences that he has been through. Many of us will never even have to see, much less go through the types of things that Paul suffered through in his life but you can learn from his wisdom. He was initiated by God through out his life and now he is able to give an account here of his outcome because of his trust in God.

Had he trusted in himself, he may have not been meeting on this day before the Philippians. He may have gotten bogged down in depression and spent the rest of his years being cared for by the doctors and psychiatrist of his day! He could of ended up drinking his way through life and trying to find his joy there as well! He could have decided to find a spot far away on a mountain top or at the sea to relax and get away form it all, using his MasterCard to purchase all the things that would bring him joy!

Paul said that he had been through the things that life offers, good and bad. But he says in verse thirteen, "I can do all things (great, small, full, hungry, comfort, painful, loved, hated) through Christ which strengthens me." How awesome is that? It didn't happen overnight though! He says he was initiated or had to experience it to learn this great truth!

Paul found his joy in the Lord! Will we do the same today?

Let's pray,

My Jehovah, I come to you today, repenting of my complaining spirit in times past. Your spirit of joy is what I want to fill my heart and my life to the point that I can say that I am satisfied, like Paul, in whatever I am experiencing today to know that I can do it through Christ which is my source of strength and joy! Amen.