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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Happiness is often tied to what is happening

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Speaker 1: around me, but joy is rooted in who is living

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Speaker 1: within me. Let's talk about it. Hello, hello, hello, ladies

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Speaker 1: and gents, and welcome to this week's episode of the

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Speaker 1: Bottom Beloved Podcast. As always, it's your girl, Kirby Kelly.

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Speaker 1: Back at it again. We are in episode three of

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Speaker 1: our series on the fruit of the spirit, which if

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Speaker 1: you haven't listened to episode one or two, You need

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Speaker 1: to go stream those because we've talked about all the

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Speaker 1: context from Galatians and the fruit of the spirit in

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Speaker 1: the first one, as well as the works of the flesh.

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Speaker 1: In last week's episode, episode two, we talked about the

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Speaker 1: first fruit, which is love. We unpacked that. But today

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Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about joy, and I'm so excited.

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Speaker 1: But just so you know, throughout this entire series, I

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Speaker 1: can't talk now, by the way, because I literally lost

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Speaker 1: both my brain cells after I gave birth. We are

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Speaker 1: coming back to the same foundational truth throughout this series,

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Speaker 1: which is the fruit of the Spirit is not something

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Speaker 1: that we manufacture. It is something that the Holy Spirit

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Speaker 1: produces as we abide in Christ. We don't have to

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Speaker 1: grit our teeth and try harder to become more loving

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Speaker 1: or joyful or the rest of the fruit of the Spirit,

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Speaker 1: which we will unpack in later episodes. We just need

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Speaker 1: to stay close to Jesus and receive his love and

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Speaker 1: his spirit begins to produce love within us, joy within us,

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Speaker 1: peace within us, patience within us, so on and so

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Speaker 1: forth as we abide in him, right? And he abides

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Speaker 1: in us. The same is true for what we're talking

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Speaker 1: about today, which is joy, okay? Because if there is

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Speaker 1: one fruit that I think that we often misunderstand, it's

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Speaker 1: this one. Because I think there's this pressure to be happy,

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Speaker 1: especially as Christians. Like we have to be happy all

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Speaker 1: the time. we know that we're supposed to have joy.

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Speaker 1: We sing about joy. We quote Bible verses about joy.

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Speaker 1: We tell people, you know, the joy of the Lord

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Speaker 1: is my strength. Just like that, no matter where you

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Speaker 1: live in the world, you talk like a Southern Baptist

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Speaker 1: woman who's 48 and makes the best darn casserole in

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Speaker 1: her church of 43 people. Okay. Children's ministry is popping

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Speaker 1: off because Linda just had twins. Literally though, like, We think, like,

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Speaker 1: we quote all these scriptures, but then it's like, sometimes

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Speaker 1: we look at our life and it's like, I just

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Speaker 1: lost someone. Is the joy of the Lord my strength? Like,

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Speaker 1: my relationship is falling apart. My prayer did not get

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Speaker 1: answered like I had hoped. I'm exhausted. I'm disappointed. I'm

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Speaker 1: walking through grief. I'm experiencing anxiety. I am in a

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Speaker 1: season that's not fun, but the joy of the Lord's

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Speaker 1: my strength. Do you really mean that? Do you really

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Speaker 1: mean that, Kathy, or whatever I named her? You really

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Speaker 1: start wondering when you go through hard seasons, if I'm

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Speaker 1: not happy right now, does that mean that I'm not

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Speaker 1: walking in the spirit? Like, do I not have the

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Speaker 1: joy of the Lord? Am I doing something wrong? Like,

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Speaker 1: am I not trusting God enough? Because Christians are supposed

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Speaker 1: to be joyful, right? Like, we're supposed to be known

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Speaker 1: by our joy. And I think the problem is that

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Speaker 1: we often confuse joy with happiness. I want to start there.

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Speaker 1: But scripture never tells us that following Jesus is going

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Speaker 1: to always feel happy. In fact, Jesus was described as

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Speaker 1: a man of sorrows in Isaiah 53. He wept. John 11.35.

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Speaker 1: He grieved. We see that in Matthew 26.37-38. He experienced anguish.

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Speaker 1: We read that in Luke 22, 44. And he actually

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Speaker 1: sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane because of just how

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Speaker 1: much anguish he was going through. Again, Luke 22, 44.

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Speaker 1: And yet Jesus was perfectly filled with the Spirit. So biblically,

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Speaker 1: Joy cannot mean the absence of sadness. In fact, I

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Speaker 1: think one of the most beautiful things about Christianity and

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Speaker 1: Christian joy is that joy and sorrow can exist within

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Speaker 1: the same heart at the same time. I know that's

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Speaker 1: true for me. I literally wrote a whole book on it,

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Speaker 1: The Fabric of Hope. I know this firsthand that I

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Speaker 1: can grieve and still have joy. I can cry and

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Speaker 1: still have joy. I can be disappointed and still have joy.

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Speaker 1: I can wish my circumstances were different and still have joy.

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Speaker 1: Because Christian joy isn't rooted in what is happening to you.

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Speaker 1: It's rooted in who is living within you. Jesus. That's

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Speaker 1: biblical joy. The word that Paul uses in Galatians 5

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Speaker 1: is the Greek word chara. It means joy, gladness, or delight.

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Speaker 1: And It's closely related to another Greek word that many

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Speaker 1: Christians recognize, which is charis, which is grace. And I

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Speaker 1: love that connection because Christian joy is ultimately a response

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Speaker 1: to grace. It's the gladness that comes from knowing what

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Speaker 1: God has done for us and knowing that what we

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Speaker 1: have in Christ cannot be taken away. It cannot be

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Speaker 1: taken away. That is so different from happiness because happiness Well, first,

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Speaker 1: let me say this. Happiness isn't bad, okay? God created laughter.

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Speaker 1: He created celebration. He created delight. There are so many

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Speaker 1: beautiful things in this world that genuinely bring us happiness.

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Speaker 1: But that's the thing. Things bring us happiness. It is circumstantial.

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Speaker 1: Something good happens. I'm happy. Something disappointing happens. I'm sad, right?

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Speaker 1: Someone treats me well. I'm happy. Someone hurts me. I'm upset.

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Speaker 1: Our emotions change. naturally respond to our circumstances. But joy

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Speaker 1: has a deeper root. Joy says, my circumstances have changed,

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Speaker 1: but God hasn't. My plans may have changed, but God's

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Speaker 1: promises don't. I may not understand what he is doing,

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Speaker 1: but I still know who he is. I may have

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Speaker 1: lost something precious to me, but I have not lost

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Speaker 1: Christ nor my salvation in him. That's why joy can

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Speaker 1: survive when circumstances happen that happiness cannot. Does that make sense?

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Speaker 1: Joy can survive the circumstances that happiness cannot survive. That's

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Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say. Happiness asks, is my life

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Speaker 1: going the way I want? Joy asks, do I still

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Speaker 1: have Jesus? All right. And if I have Jesus, I

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Speaker 1: have a reason to rejoice. Hello, joy. Jesus connects joy

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Speaker 1: joy to abiding as we read through it in scripture

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Speaker 1: as well. And the whole thing that we are talking

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Speaker 1: about in this series that is so prominent about the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit is the

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Speaker 1: key aspect of abiding. John 15 is so key to

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Speaker 1: this series as well because he tells his disciples, abide

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Speaker 1: in me. And then a few verses later in John 15, 11,

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Speaker 1: he says, these things I have spoken to you that

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Speaker 1: my joy may be in you and that your joy

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Speaker 1: may be full. Wow. Like, I don't want us to

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Speaker 1: miss that. Okay. Jesus doesn't simply want you to just

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Speaker 1: have joy. He wants you to have his joy. He says,

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Speaker 1: my joy in you. And he connects that joy directly

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Speaker 1: to abiding in him. That means joy isn't something that

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Speaker 1: we can just go searching for somewhere outside of Jesus. No,

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Speaker 1: joy is found in him. And that is the joy

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Speaker 1: that he wants to give us because he wants our

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Speaker 1: joy to be full. How many of us want to

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Speaker 1: be joyful in the season that we are in right now,

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Speaker 1: in the circumstances that we are in, in the diagnosis

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Speaker 1: that we got, in the changing of the tides that

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Speaker 1: we are kind of like drowning in, if we're being honest.

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Speaker 1: Joy is only found in him. Psalm 1611 says, You

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Speaker 1: make known to me the path of life. In your presence,

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Speaker 1: there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are

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Speaker 1: pleasures forevermore. Not in perfect circumstances, not in getting everything

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Speaker 1: we prayed for, not in finally reaching the next milestone.

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Speaker 1: It's in his presence that there is fullness of joy.

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Speaker 1: I think that this confronts something within me because I

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Speaker 1: know I often say, I will be happy when blank.

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Speaker 1: I'll be happy when blank. For some of us, it

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Speaker 1: might be, I'll be happy when I get married. I'll

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Speaker 1: be happy when I have the baby. I'll finally be

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Speaker 1: happy when I get the job. I'll be happy when

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Speaker 1: the ministry grows. I'll be happy when the follower account grows.

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Speaker 1: I'll be happy when I make more money. I'll be

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Speaker 1: happy when this difficult season ends. I'll be happy when

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Speaker 1: God answers this prayer exactly how I want him to,

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Speaker 1: when I want him to, how I want him to.

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Speaker 1: And without realizing it, we begin to attach joy to

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Speaker 1: an outcome, to a specific circumstance. But the thing is,

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Speaker 1: is that a lot of this is out of our control.

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Speaker 1: Outcomes eventually change. Seasons end. Okay. Accomplishments eventually just become normal.

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Speaker 1: And then what? All right. possessions get old and fade away.

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Speaker 1: If my joy is rooted in something temporary, my joy

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Speaker 1: is always going to be temporary. Math is math, okay?

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Speaker 1: But Jesus doesn't change. So when Christ becomes the source

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Speaker 1: of my joy, my circumstances, they can fluctuate without completely

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Speaker 1: determining the condition of my soul and my joy. This

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Speaker 1: is where I think we really need to be careful

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Speaker 1: as Christians, okay? is the fact that joy exists within

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Speaker 1: the things that we're going through, and that includes the

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Speaker 1: seasons of suffering that we go through. Because joy doesn't

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Speaker 1: deny suffering. It is resilient within suffering. It exists within suffering.

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Speaker 1: Biblical joy doesn't pretend that everything is okay when it's not.

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Speaker 1: So understand that as well, okay? It's not a spiritual denial.

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Speaker 1: I have gone through really tough seasons in my life.

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Speaker 1: You know, both of my parents, they died from addiction.

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Speaker 1: I've gone through some really hard things in even relationships

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Speaker 1: where it was like, wow, this really sucks. And I

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Speaker 1: had a really incorrect view of joy to where it

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Speaker 1: just felt like toxic positivity in a way where it's like, no,

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Speaker 1: like God is good all the time. And all the

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Speaker 1: time God is good. Like I would just say that.

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Speaker 1: And it's like, but I'm still suffering. Do I really

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Speaker 1: mean that? Like, what does it even mean that God

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Speaker 1: is good and that the joy of the Lord is

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Speaker 1: my strength? Sometimes we feel like as Christians, joy is

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Speaker 1: just like putting on a smile when my heart is

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Speaker 1: breaking and saying, you know, everything's going to be fine.

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Speaker 1: God is good. When what you really need to do

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Speaker 1: is grieve the situation. Lament with God. Scripture gives us

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Speaker 1: permission to lament, okay? David lamented. Job lamented. Jeremiah lamented. Again,

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Speaker 1: Jesus wept. We joke about that being the one Bible

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Speaker 1: verse that everybody has memorized, but God himself wept. Wept.

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Speaker 1: Having joy does not mean you stop being human and

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Speaker 1: experiencing all the other human emotions when really hard stuff happens.

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Speaker 1: James 1, 2-4 begins by saying, Count it all joy,

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Speaker 1: my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. James

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Speaker 1: doesn't say, Consider these trials enjoyable. All right. He doesn't

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Speaker 1: say pretend this doesn't hurt. He says we count it

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Speaker 1: as joy because we know God is going to do

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Speaker 1: something through the trial. God is still in this place.

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Speaker 1: The joy is not in what happened. It's in knowing

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Speaker 1: that God won't waste what's happening. Romans 5, 3 through

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Speaker 1: 5 says that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character

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Speaker 1: and character produces hope. That's why Christian joy is looks

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Speaker 1: so strange to the world. It's not, you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: so happy this happened to me, right? But it's, I

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Speaker 1: hate that this happened, but I trust that God is

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Speaker 1: still here and he can redeem all these things. He

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Speaker 1: is still who he is. Like this hurts, but God

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Speaker 1: is still good. I don't understand, but God is faithful.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't have chosen this, but he hasn't abandoned me.

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Speaker 1: These things are still true. Sometimes joy looks like laughter,

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Speaker 1: but sometimes it looks like worship. Worship in the storm.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes joy looks like tears running down your face and

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Speaker 1: you whispering, Jesus, I still trust you. I still got

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Speaker 1: you and you still got me. Like that can be

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Speaker 1: joy too. I think about Paul writing the book of Philippians, okay?

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Speaker 1: We call Philippians the letter of joy. It's often titled

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Speaker 1: or known as the letter of joy and attributed to joy.

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Speaker 1: But because Paul repeatedly tells believers, you know, rejoice, rejoice.

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Speaker 1: But when Paul is writing this letter, he is imprisoned.

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Speaker 1: He's imprisoned. His circumstances aren't necessarily joyful. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you've ever been to prison, but think about that.

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Speaker 1: You're like, I'm in a prison right now. My boyfriend

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Speaker 1: won't text me back and he might break up with me.

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Speaker 1: That's real. But Paul was in prison when he wrote this, okay?

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Speaker 1: He's not rejoicing because prison is wonderful. He's living in

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Speaker 1: the most wonderful conditions. No, he is rejoicing because... Prison

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Speaker 1: can't take Jesus away from him. This is why the

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Speaker 1: gospel gives us such incredible security. If my greatest treasure

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Speaker 1: is something that this world cannot take away, Christ, then

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Speaker 1: I don't have to live in fear of losing it.

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Speaker 1: The world cannot take away Jesus from me. My greatest

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Speaker 1: treasure is Christ. I will not be disappointed. I will

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Speaker 1: not feel disappointed. fear failure or ender suffering without hope.

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Speaker 1: Like death, nothing can take away Jesus from me. Nothing.

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Speaker 1: That's why Christian joy is so resilient. It is anchored

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Speaker 1: in something, somewhere, someone that suffering cannot reach and take away.

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Speaker 1: It cannot take away Jesus from me because he's not

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Speaker 1: going to abandon me and I'm going to abide in him, period.

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Speaker 1: So how does the Holy Spirit produce joy in us? Okay,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about that. What do we actually do to

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Speaker 1: see joy abound in our life? Because maybe you are

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Speaker 1: just in the pit in this season. Trust me. I

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Speaker 1: was just there. I'm diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety.

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Speaker 1: And I've really had to go through it this season.

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Speaker 1: And you know what it looked like? Abiding. Returning to abiding.

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Speaker 1: First and foremost. That's the first thing. Returning to abiding.

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Speaker 1: It is a fruit that the Holy Spirit produces within us. Joy.

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Speaker 1: But I think that there are also some practical ways

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Speaker 1: that we can position our hearts to ready the soil

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Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit producing joy within us. And us

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Speaker 1: being able to recognize and receive that joy that he

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Speaker 1: wants to produce within us. And the first is we

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Speaker 1: need to remember God's faithfulness. Getting into the spiritual discipline

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Speaker 1: of remembering. That I could just do a whole podcast on.

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Speaker 1: But I will say this. One of the fastest ways

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Speaker 1: that we can lose joy is by developing a spiritual amnesia.

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Speaker 1: by becoming so consumed with what God has not done

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Speaker 1: yet that we forget everything that he has already done

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Speaker 1: in scripture, in the lives of others, in the history

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Speaker 1: of Christianity, but also our own lives. For those of

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Speaker 1: us who have been walking with the Lord for quite

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Speaker 1: some time, sometimes joy begins by remembering. Remembering the prayers

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Speaker 1: that he has answered. Remembering how he came through in

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Speaker 1: previous seasons. Remembering his provision, remembering the cross and what

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Speaker 1: was accomplished on that and the resurrection of Christ. The

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Speaker 1: second thing that has helped me to have joy in

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Speaker 1: my life is actually practicing gratitude. And I'm not saying

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Speaker 1: that to sound like all like a woo-woo new age,

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Speaker 1: like gratitude. No, gratitude is a biblical principle. It's a

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Speaker 1: biblical concept. Gratitude does not ignore what's difficult and disappointing

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Speaker 1: in the season we're in. It just refuses to let

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Speaker 1: what's difficult become the only thing that you see, the

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Speaker 1: lens in which you operate. You can say, this season

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Speaker 1: is hard and God provided for me today. I'm grieving

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Speaker 1: and God gave me people who love me. I don't

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Speaker 1: have the answer yet and I'm still able to be

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Speaker 1: in his presence. Gratitude trains your eyes to see and

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Speaker 1: experience the grace of God in so many ways. in

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Speaker 1: which He is active and alive and breathing in our life.

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Speaker 1: We also need to stop postponing joy, okay? How much

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Speaker 1: of our lives do we spend waiting to enjoy what

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Speaker 1: God has already given us because we're just so focused

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Speaker 1: on what we don't have yet? It's like, I will

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Speaker 1: feel joyful when I have this thing, when I reach

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Speaker 1: this accomplishment, when I get to the other side. I'll

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Speaker 1: have joy when, I'll celebrate when, I'll rest when. But like,

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Speaker 1: some of us need to actually embrace the joy of

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Speaker 1: the season that we are in today and the little

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Speaker 1: blessings that are within it. The little miracles, the little

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Speaker 1: God winks, if you will. The fourth thing is we

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Speaker 1: need to stay in the presence of Jesus. Remain, abide, okay?

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Speaker 1: Because he is the source. We talked about this. He

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Speaker 1: is the source. It's not the gratitude journals and the

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Speaker 1: positive thinking and pretending everything's wonderful. No, it's Jesus. Psalm

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Speaker 1: 1611 says, you make known to me the path of life.

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Speaker 1: In your presence, there is fullness of joy. At your

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Speaker 1: right hand are pleasures forevermore. When joy feels distant, don't

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Speaker 1: simply chase the feeling. That's something that a lot of

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Speaker 1: us might do. Don't chase the feeling. Return to the person.

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Speaker 1: Return to joy himself, Jesus. Open his word. Pray. Worship.

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Speaker 1: Sit quietly with him. Remind your soul of what is true.

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Speaker 1: Because we're not just pursuing joy for joy's sake. We're

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Speaker 1: pursuing Jesus. And joy is the fruit of being with him.

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Speaker 1: So as we wrap, I have three questions that I

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Speaker 1: want you to honestly ask yourself and audit within your

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Speaker 1: own life. The first question is, what have I attached

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Speaker 1: my joy to? Have I attached my joy to a

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Speaker 1: relationship or a dream, money, success, motherhood, ministry, someone else's approval,

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Speaker 1: the prayer that I want answered, right? Complete this sentence,

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Speaker 1: if you will, if this will help you. I will

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Speaker 1: be happy when blank. Your answer might reveal where you

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Speaker 1: have been looking for something that only Jesus can ultimately provide, joy. Second,

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Speaker 1: the second question I want you to ask yourself, maybe

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Speaker 1: you need to pause these and ponder for a minute,

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Speaker 1: but the second question is, have I confused joy with

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Speaker 1: pretending I'm okay? I think a lot of Christians can

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Speaker 1: fall into this trap, but I want you to know,

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Speaker 1: That you have permission to grieve. God grieved. Jesus grieved.

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Speaker 1: You can love Jesus and be sad. You can trust

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Speaker 1: God and have questions. Bring them to him. Bring your sadness.

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Speaker 1: Bring your questions. Bring these things to him. You can

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Speaker 1: operate in the fruit of the spirit and still cry.

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Speaker 1: Still have a bad day. And the third question is,

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Speaker 1: am I pursuing joy or am I pursuing Jesus? Am

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Speaker 1: I just trying to chase a feeling or am I

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Speaker 1: actually abiding in Christ, the one who gives me joy?

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Speaker 1: Because it's a fruit of the Spirit, us abiding in

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Speaker 1: Him and Him and us. I want you to kind

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Speaker 1: of like picture an anchor, okay? When you look at

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Speaker 1: a boat, that is sitting on water during a storm,

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Speaker 1: everything above the surface is moving, right? The waves are moving,

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Speaker 1: the wind is blowing, the boat is rocking. Everything that

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Speaker 1: you see up top looks unstable, unstable. But beneath the surface,

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Speaker 1: something is holding. It's that anchor. That anchor is the

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Speaker 1: thing that is holding to keep that ship where it

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Speaker 1: needs to be so it doesn't get blown away and

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Speaker 1: so it doesn't wander off either, okay? That is a

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Speaker 1: picture of biblical joy. Joy doesn't mean the wave stops.

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Speaker 1: Joy doesn't mean that the storm disappears. Joy doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: that your life suddenly becomes calm. Sometimes everything above the

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Speaker 1: surface is moving. Maybe that's how you feel right now.

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Speaker 1: You're like, girl, I'm seasick. Get me off this boat.

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Speaker 1: You know, your circumstances, your emotions, your expectations, your plans,

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Speaker 1: it's just moving. Storming. But beneath all of it, if

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Speaker 1: you are anchored in Christ, you're going to be good.

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Speaker 1: Christ is still Christ. God is still God. His promises

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Speaker 1: are still true. His presence is still with you. The

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Speaker 1: gospel is still the good news. And your eternity is

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Speaker 1: still secure and he is going to be faithful. That's joy.

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Speaker 1: Not a life that is a void of storms. It's

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Speaker 1: a soul with an anchor. anchored in the truth of

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Speaker 1: who Jesus is. So maybe today you can stop forcing

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Speaker 1: yourself to just try and be happier and simply drop

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Speaker 1: your anchor a little bit deeper. Abide with Christ. Cling

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Speaker 1: to his promises. Find the little things of joy, the

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Speaker 1: little blessings he's given you to have gratitude for. Abide

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Speaker 1: in him. Remain in him. Because Jesus never promised us

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Speaker 1: that the things that we were surrounded by would be

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Speaker 1: the source of our joy. No, he gave us something

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Speaker 1: infinitely better himself. He is our joy. Now, before we

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Speaker 1: wrap up, I just want to remind you, you don't

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Speaker 1: have to pretend that your circumstances are joyful in order

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Speaker 1: to actually have the joy of the Lord as your strength.

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Speaker 1: You can grieve. You can have hard questions. You can

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Speaker 1: walk through genuinely difficult seasons and, And underneath all of that,

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Speaker 1: you can still have this deep confidence of, I have Jesus.

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Speaker 1: And because of Jesus, I still have hope. And if

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Speaker 1: that is something that you are walking through or just

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Speaker 1: need more something on, I don't know, like encouragement in,

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Speaker 1: I should say, read the word of God and abide

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Speaker 1: in him first and foremost. But I wrote a book

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Speaker 1: about it. It's called The Fabric of Hope. You can

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Speaker 1: check that out. I'll link it down below. It's all

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Speaker 1: about how God redeems and restores, that we can have

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Speaker 1: hope in His promises, His plans, His personhood, His presence.

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Speaker 1: We can have hope in Him and joy in Him

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Speaker 1: despite what's going on. Next week, we're going to be

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Speaker 1: talking about the fruit of the Spirit, which is peace.

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Speaker 1: And I can't wait. I'm excited for that. specifically how

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Speaker 1: the peace of God isn't found in gaining control or

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Speaker 1: the circumstances that we are in. No, it's in trusting

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Speaker 1: in the God who is already in control. And I'm

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Speaker 1: excited about that. But until then, I love you guys.

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Speaker 1: Be joyful. Be joyful in the Lord. He will give

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Speaker 1: you the fullness of joy. Pursue his presence. Abide in him.

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Speaker 1: I love you guys. I'll see you next week. Bye.

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Speaker 1: For more life-giving faith-based podcasts just like this one, check

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Speaker 1: out lifeaudio.com, a proud partner of the Botten Beloved Podcast.