Four Essentials of Joyful Living

From Sunday's sermon...

Who do you think lives the ultimate lifestyle? Millionaires? Celebrities? Executives? Retired people?  The people who are really living the ultimate lifestyle are those people who have joy in their lives.

"Happiness" comes from the word "happenstance" from which we get the word "circumstance". It depends on happenings. Joy is internal. Happiness is external. You have a happy time at Disneyland, you leave and you lose your happiness. Joy is constant, it comes from within. 

Four essentials to living a joy-filled life:

1.  RIGHT PERSPECTIVE:

We all have problems. You brought them here with you this morning. They may be health problems, work problems, family problems, or money problems. It's easy to get discouraged about personal circumstances, or to take unimportant events too seriously. But Paul teaches us that our problems aren't as important as our perspective towards these problems. What is perspective? Perspective is a right evaluation of your circumstances. You need the right perspective in your life.

 God has a purpose in each of my problems. God never wastes a hurt. God has a higher purpose in every problem that you have,  You need this perspective. You need to know that God has a purpose in what you're going through. No matter what it is, God has a purpose for you. God never wastes a hurt. I need a perspective to live from.

2.   THE RIGHT PRIORITIES:

When life gets tough, you need your priorities to be clear.

HERE'S THE LESSON FOR US: We need to focus on what's really important. We need to focus on God's priorities in my life. We need to start living according to God's priorities rather than our own priorities.

3. NEED GOD'S POWER:

We need a power to live on.  God has the power to take care of all your needs.  With God's power, We have everything that We need. With God's power you can maintain your joy, because you know that God will provide everything that you need, just when you need it.

4. NEED A RIGHT PURPOSE:

What's the secret to joy? It's found in having the right purpose. The best use of your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it. If your purpose is to live for Christ, then he gives you a purpose for living that will outlast your life. He gives you significance. He plants within you the ability to accomplish eternally significant. He wipes out all the mistakes and sins of your past. And he gives you the assurance that your life will last for all of eternity.    Joy comes from putting Jesus at the center of my life.