Unleashing the Joy of the Lord
Samuel Acevedo
(Audio: English)
SUMMARY: The passage is about the joy of the Lord and how it's possible to be a Christian without experiencing it. Paul addresses a conflict between two women in the church and diagnoses their issue as joylessness. He commands them to rejoice in the Lord always, but this isn't something that can be manufactured. Instead, it's a byproduct of adopting certain habits and lifestyle practices of living in Christ. The joy of the Lord is not external and can be seen in gentleness, where nothing seems to faze a person and their joy in Christ is evident.
The goal is to become a walking star, to radiate the joy of the Lord in all situations. This requires a conversion to a different lifestyle and adopting disciplines such as prayer, thanksgiving, and studying the life in Christ. Prayer should focus on purging anxiety and trading it for God's grace, forgiveness, and joy. Thanksgiving involves reviewing and celebrating what has gone right in life. Studying the beautiful life means dwelling on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. These practices will lead to the peace of God that transcends understanding and guard our hearts.
God calls us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. We need to study the life of Christ and ask ourselves how we can be better in different areas of our lives. However, it's not enough just to study; we need to practice the beautiful life. We must learn to sing in prison, meaning we need to worship and practice faith, forgiveness, patience, and hope in challenging times. As we practice, we will experience an explosion of joy that comes from the Lord's presence. We should ask God to fill us with His joy and presence in every aspect of our lives.
The goal is to become a walking star, to radiate the joy of the Lord in all situations. This requires a conversion to a different lifestyle and adopting disciplines such as prayer, thanksgiving, and studying the life in Christ. Prayer should focus on purging anxiety and trading it for God's grace, forgiveness, and joy. Thanksgiving involves reviewing and celebrating what has gone right in life. Studying the beautiful life means dwelling on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. These practices will lead to the peace of God that transcends understanding and guard our hearts.
God calls us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. We need to study the life of Christ and ask ourselves how we can be better in different areas of our lives. However, it's not enough just to study; we need to practice the beautiful life. We must learn to sing in prison, meaning we need to worship and practice faith, forgiveness, patience, and hope in challenging times. As we practice, we will experience an explosion of joy that comes from the Lord's presence. We should ask God to fill us with His joy and presence in every aspect of our lives.
Philippians Chapter 4, starting with verse 2. As you’re searching the word you’ve noticed that Pastor Roberto is not here, and he’s not here for good reasons. He is in Spain. I don’t know what time it is in Spain, he could be in the middle of lunch or in the middle of the siesta, which is a legal requirement in Spain, or he could be preparing for a talk in… about to cast out 16 demons from somebody up there. Whatever it is, could you all agree with me right now to bless Pastor Roberto in the name of Jesus.
Heavenly Father, I just thank you for having opened this door. You love that country. You have a purpose for that country. Lord, Father we affirm Pastor Roberto’s apostolic calling. We affirm that you have opened this door, you’ve sent him there. We affirm that greater is he who is in him than he who’s in the world and we ask you Lord God that you just deliver Spain to the Kingdom of God, that you strengthen and affirm pastors, that you bring people under the conviction of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and that you may use our pastor as a wedge to open up the gates of hell, that they may never be closed again to your gospel. Use him in the name of Jesus.
Heavenly Father, I just thank you for having opened this door. You love that country. You have a purpose for that country. Lord, Father we affirm Pastor Roberto’s apostolic calling. We affirm that you have opened this door, you’ve sent him there. We affirm that greater is he who is in him than he who’s in the world and we ask you Lord God that you just deliver Spain to the Kingdom of God, that you strengthen and affirm pastors, that you bring people under the conviction of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and that you may use our pastor as a wedge to open up the gates of hell, that they may never be closed again to your gospel. Use him in the name of Jesus.
