Your Joy Will Overflow FruitFull (Part 5)

0:00 I'm excited about what's going to happen in this place today. And so y'all ready for the word this morning? All right, pull out your notepads and anything that you have, your smart or dumb phone. We're about to see God do something awesome. We're in week five of a series that we are calling Fruitful. And I'm thankful for all of the people who spoke while I was out. Sister Amberlee Bell and our very own Bree Davis and Pastor Paul Cooper. They did an awesome job. And now we're going to talk about the fruit of the spirit that is found in Galatians chapter 5, 22. And this is just the anchor scripture for this entire series. I want you to look at it. It says, but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Question, who produces this kind of fruit in your life? Okay, so the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.

0:57 Can I help you that the Holy Spirit is supposed to produce something in your life? Like when you become a Christian, it's not just to come and do a religious duty and come to church and then leave the same. It's supposed to start getting in you and affecting you so that it changes in your life. And when I look at these, you know, I don't know about you, but I grew up in church. Some people didn't grow up in church, but I'm going to give you a secret. Sometimes you read scriptures that you hear them so much that they just become cliche. day. Like, it's just like the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace. And for a long time, I just, I just let those scriptures just go past me. Like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, we want love. We want peace. We want joy, but it ain't really happening. But when I really started studying this, God was saying, I gave you the Holy Spirit so that you could have practical love in your life. I'm talking about the love that makes you do something nice for somebody you don't like. like i want it to be practical he wants to give you peace that no matter what the storm is in your life that you can be able to know that everything's going to be okay i remember a story in the bible where the disciples were on a boat with jesus and all kinds of stuff was coming at them and they thought they were about to die and guess what jesus was doing he wasn't up praying he wasn't up casting out demons he was asleep because he knew he was the prince of peace and he's saying that why would y'all start tripping when i'm in your corner it's because they didn't believe that him being there would produce practical peace in their storm situation and it looks like a bunch of believers today i get people coming up to me all the time pastor mike what do you think about the political system what do you think about what's happening in office. What do you think about that? I think it's there. And I think that God's in control.

2:50 And so when I see these things, I don't get all frazzled and messed up over them because I have the Holy Spirit working on the inside of me and he produces the fruit of peace in my life. See so many Christians that I don't even know if they're believers because the fruit is not evident when trials come. How many of y'all know some people that say they believe something, but then when it comes down to it, they don't act like they believe something? Okay, come on, raise your hands. If you don't raise your hands, you're that person. And this is, I'm just playing with you.

3:24 And this is one of the things that I want God to help. So today we're going to talk about a fruit of the spirit that I feel like all of us need. We're going to talk about joy. How many people need some more joy in your life? Come on. You need some more joy. Matter of fact, let's start off by smiling. Everybody just smile. Even if you didn't brush your teeth this morning, just smile. Some of y'all so hateful. Look at y'all still mean mugging. It'll be all right. You'll be all right by the end of the service. Okay. I believe this is one of the fruits of the spirit that is so powerful because the Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord will be our, and many of us are drained, but we don't have the fuel for strength. You're drained in your work week. You're drained in your life. You're drained through circumstances and situations, but he gave you the fuel, which was joy. And many of us don't know where to get joy. We've misplaced it. And today I want us to see how joy is supposed to play a major part in our life. Go to John chapter 15, verse 11, John chapter 15, verse 11. And this is Jesus talking. And this really is like an anchor scripture for me. And maybe more than an anchor scripture, it could be the goal that we want to reach. We want this goal. And Jesus wants this goal for all of us. Look at it. It says, I have told you these things, Jesus talking, so that you will be filled with my joy. Everybody say my joy. This is Jesus. He has a joy. And I can see some of the disciples because that's who he's talking to being like, he wants us to be filled with his joy.

4:56 and they start looking like this and then he emphatically says yes look at your joy will overflow somebody say my joy will overflow that's the title of today's message and i want you to realize that that's what god wants for every person in this place he wants joy to overflow in your life he wants you to be joyful or joyful full of joy but if we look at a lot of people's lives, they're not full of joy. They're full of worry. They're full of doubt. They're full of anxiety. And how can we, many people being believers, work on the same level of anxiety and pain and frustration as everybody? And this is what God's saying. I got a key, but you're missing it. I got something I want to give you. I don't want to give you happiness because happiness is dictated by circumstance. I want to give you joy, which is something that I only can give, and it's something that starts from the inside. See, happiness is one of those things that comes and it goes. I mean, some of us, let's be honest, like you wake up happy, then you find out it's raining and you have a bad day. You go to a restaurant and they get your food order wrong, and y'all know once they get my food order wrong i'm tripping and it's a bad day see happiness goes up and down like a roller coaster joy is unmovable joy is an anchor and see a lot of people are trying to find joy but they look in the wrong places so they settle for happiness this is gonna be good see see what ends up happening is happiness is a feeling dictated to me by what is happening externally. But that's busted because I can never control that.

6:53 I can't control if my boss acts crazy. I can't control if my car breaks down. I can't control if I lose my job. And so if I am only happy by what happens on the outside, then I am never in control of my own life. And that looks like a bunch of people that call themselves Christ followers. Most of our prayer requests are about things that we can't control Most of our attitudes are about things that happen outside and god said I got something better for you I got something that will help you sustain in the middle of any storm I have something that will make you smile when things are broken I got something they can all leave you and you can still say stand there and have joy in your heart But it cannot be happiness. It has to be joy and we're confused on the definition of that and so i want you to understand that as i start studying i look up things i get in the dictionary and i start trying to figure out what things mean and i looked up this word joy and i was very disappointed in the one dimensionalness of it in just webster's dictionary it says joy is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness that's all it gave three major components it's a feeling of pleasure and happiness when I begin to weigh that against what I see in the bible that's not enough to make me still serve God and still have joy in the midst of hard circumstances see I think about people like Paul and Silas who were chained in jail and had enough joy to start singing a song. Now, y'all missed it. Because I don't know about you, but when I'm mad, I'm not ready to sing a song. I'm ready to fight. Now, some of y'all are holy and perfect and all that other stuff. But when I'm mad, I'm ready to cuss somebody out. Y'all fake religious demon. I'm going to come to y'all. Y'all the real side.

8:55 but they had something from the inside that allowed them to say, blessed be the name of the Lord. They were able to lift up a song. They were able to sing. We go from glory to glory to glory. Said we up in these chains. We'll never be the same. Like they were able. but that wasn't because of their circumstance because they weren't happy and being chained wasn't pleasurable and they probably felt bad but the bible tells us they still had joy and then it makes me think of people like job who lost everything he lost all of his kids he lost all of his land he lost all of his money but when they told him to stand up and curse God he was able to stand in joy not feeling good he just lost everything not being in a pleasurable state and not even being happy he probably stood in tears and said this statement the Lord give and the Lord takes away blessed be the name of the Lord how do you say that after everything you had have been taken away from you that's not happiness that's joy everybody say that's joy and Jesus is saying I want your joy to overflow look at Jesus go to Hebrews 12 too because this one messed me up when I found it it literally says in the Bible, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.

10:43 Hold up, Pastor Mike. You mean the thing that kept Jesus on the cross from coming down and saying, this is just too much. Cut. Eternity. Hold on. I didn't sign up for all of this. Was joy. he said i stayed on the cross because i knew there was joy set before me that's not a place of pleasure that's not a place of happiness that's not a place of everything's okay and the reason i'm saying that is because many of you have been told the lie and believe the lie because everything's not going good you can't have joy but i came here this morning to change the narrative that god is the one who can give you joy and not just a little bit, but he can make you joyful in the middle of a hard situation. And so that means we must have the wrong definition of joy.

11:45 So I want to give you a definition of joy because I don't know about you, but my feelings are fleeting. I mean, they change all the time. How many people, okay, don't leave me up here by myself. How many people have felt one way about something? And then maybe six months later, a year later, you felt different about it. Okay. Some of y'all loved this pair of shoes last year and hate that same pair of shoes right now. Can't even wear them no more. And whatever it is for you, but our feelings are fleeting. I don't know about you, but what pleases me sometimes is not always profitable for me. I love ice cream. My waistline hates it. Do you understand what I'm saying? and happiness is so inconsistent so we need to find out what joy is write this definition down because if the only time i can have joy is when my feelings pleasure and happiness align i'll never find it i want you to see this joy is the supernatural delight in the person the purposes the plan the placement the provision and the people of god i know that's a lot of peas but i want you to remember it see joy is when you are in a place let me just give you the point your joy will overflow as you discover that joy is not a feeling joy is a heart posture it's not feeling something it's where i have my eyes fixed and and that's why joy is a supernatural it's not natural to me it's beyond me it's something that is worked in by the holy spirit that's why when i spend time with god that's when i pray when i come into his house it's something that he begins to work into my life that lets it be more than natural supernatural delight in knowing that God, he's good.

13:43 This is how it works in my life. I say stuff like this, God, you're good. That his purposes are coming to pass. That he has a specific plan for my life. That I am placed right where I need to be. And if I'm off course, his grace will lead me back to the right path. Everything I need will be provided when I need it. And he will give me the right people as community, accountability, and encouragement. What are you trying to say, Pastor Mike? Joy comes from having a fixed perspective on Jesus. It comes from having your focus on something that won't change. Can I help you? The reason you haven't been able to find joy is because your focus changes too much.

14:26 That's why you're only finding happiness because I'm happy by what they're saying on social media today. I'm happy by the amount of money I make. I'm happy by this. I'm happy by this relationship. I'm happy by these drugs. I'm happy by these people liking me. but it has to keep changing because nothing is solid enough to fix your focus on. And that's why joy cannot come if you do not have a fixed focus on something that will not change. That's why Jesus has to be the center of our life because he is the one who is, the one who was, and the one that is to come. But what we do in our 21st century is we focus on whatever gives us feelings of pleasure and happiness at the moment. so when life starts to change or those things start to change our happiness begins to change and god says i want to give you something way i want to give you the upgrade i want to give you the upgrade to happiness and you can't find it nowhere but me i want to give you joy it's that thing that nobody can take from you i don't know about you but i had some old school people in my house and they used to say stuff like this they say um this joy that i have the world can't take it. The world didn't give it. You see, that was my mama over there correcting me because she said it all my life. The world didn't give it. And what's the rest?

15:52 And the world can't take it away. Anybody else had somebody in their life saying that and quoting it? Okay. The reason they can't take it, it's because they don't have it. And the reason that they can't give it is because they don't have it. And as believers, if we choose to live below joy, if we choose to let our circumstances dictate how we feel and why we smile and why we get up and why we do things, we are no better than anybody else who doesn't have Jesus. And he said, I came that you might have life and life to the full. He wants your life to be fruitful, joyful, full, full of everything, but we have to take advantage of the promises of God. And so you want your joy to overflow? You need to know joy is not a feeling. Joy is a heart posture. Can I break it down to you? Because some of you are like, okay, Pastor Mike, I kind of get what you're saying, but I don't really get it. Let me just break it all the way down for people like me who are a little remedial, okay? Joy is a posture of my heart that says two things. God's got it and I trust him. Period. When the waves of life come and they fire me from my job, God's got it and I trust him. When they leave me at the altar and we were supposed to be married, God's got it and I trust him. When my investments go down and I suck my whole savings into it, I have joy because God's got it. Come on and help me. And I trust him. When the economy is turned upside down and my children are acting crazy, I have a faith that stands and says, God's got it. And I trust him. When my children are faced with sickness, with pain, when I've lost everything, I have to have a stance that God's got it.

17:43 and I trust him. That's the only way you can stay on the cross. That's the only way you can lose everything and still say, blessed be the name of the Lord. That's the only way you can be in chains and still happy because you have an anchor that is dropped, and the waves may blow. You're not going under because my anchor is God's God. Woo! And I trust him. Somebody just say it with an attitude. God's got it. And I trust him. There's a situation you're going through right now and it looks bigger than you, but I promise you it's not because God's got it. And I trust him. You've been looking at money situations. You've been looking at pain in your life. You better square up and tell yourself God's got it. And I trust somebody take a moment and give God a shout of praise.

18:41 Yeah, God's got it and I trust him. This sickness is not bigger than me. This job layoff is not bigger than me. Who's in government is not bigger than me. God's got it. And I trust him. That's where joy comes from.

19:04 So a situation can come, but I'm chilling. Are my feelings hurt? Yeah. Is it uncomfortable? Yeah. Is my happiness a little up and down? Uh-huh. But I still have joy. Why? Because God's got it. And I trust. Somebody's going to be walking around your house all week. You're going to be, you're going to be, God's got it. And I, y'all better stop playing with me. Because I will take off around this church. I am not even playing. God's got it I don't care what comes God's got it and I trust somebody's getting it faith is coming into somebody God's got it and I trust it oh y'all God's got it. He's got you.

19:59 He's got your kids. He's got your family. He's got your career. He's got your family. God's got it and I trust Y'all better sit down I'm only on point one I'm only on point one Y'all better sit down I'm only on point one But when you remember how God brought you Through that situation And you think back About how he's going to bring you To this situation All you can step back and say is God's got it And I trust it So when you have that knowing When you know that When you know that It doesn't matter what comes Some of y'all I can see you college students I don't know about tuition next year I don't know if I'm going to get validated You weren't even supposed to be here this year and God took care of you then why are you getting in doubt now God's got it

21:12 So this is what God wants for you. He wants joy. Not happiness. The unmovable thing that when you lose the job and when you get incarcerated and they won't give you one. God said, I'll make you an entrepreneur. I'll build the business out of you. I'll take everything. He's like, I got you. And so what happens, second point, your joy will overflow as you discover joy is only Jesus generated. See, this is the problem. Most people want joy, but they look for it in the amount of money that they want. They look for it in a relationship. They look for it in a career. Some of y'all got more degrees than a thermometer, a PhD, a DDD, you in the MBA and the MBA. Like, do you understand what I'm saying?

22:04 You got all these degrees, but you still don't have joy because it's not coming externally. It's coming in turn. It's only can come from Jesus. So I'm trying to let everybody get the key to this thing that God wants your joy to overflow. But joy is only Jesus generated. We were in John 15, chapter 11. I want to scoot back up six verses into chapter five. I mean, verse five. and look what Jesus is saying to him. He was like, yeah, yeah, guys, I know y'all want to do great things for me, but I just need you to remember this one thing and I'm going to paint this picture for you. He said, I'm divine. you're the branches. Okay. So, so don't get it. Don't get it twisted. I'm the source and I'll resource you to do what I've called you to do. See, we got it so twisted. Some of y'all think you're the source. You don't have any ability to make anything happen. You are just the resource. But when you remove yourself from God, you cut all yourself off from the source.

23:07 you missed it when jesus is the source the vine he says you as my child are are a source and i will resource what you need as long as you stay connected to me and so it says i'm the vine you're the branches he who abides everybody say abide circle that underline it write that tattoo it on your arm abide he who abides in me and i am them bears much fruit or becomes joyful or has fullness of joy for without me you can do nothing pastor mike that ain't true i can do stuff without you you can't do anything that lasts you you only can do temporary things that you have to sustain and some of y'all are so tired of life because you've been trying to sustain whatever you've tried to build and it's wearing you the hell out.

24:09 I know this ain't the church for everybody, but I just had to say it because you look like it. It's on your face. It's wearing you out and God's standing back like you, you want me to do it? You want me? I can, you know, I can do that with my pinky. Like this ain't, this ain't even hard for me but as long as you want to do it i'll let you do it because i'm a gentleman i only step in when i'm asked and today god wants to make some of your joy full but he you're gonna have to invite him into it he said don't forget if you abide in me you will not be able to sustain without the joy of Jesus. In this one chapter, in these few verses, he mentions that word abide seven to ten times in seven verses. If you abide in me and my words abide in you and if you don't abide in me, he literally is trying to get a point across. I want you to abide, stay connected. That's what that word means. It means stay for a long time. Get with me. That's why I don't understand people who try Christianity for a month. I tried. I tried to live, say, I tried not to sleep with him. I tried not to cuss. I tried not to do this. I tried. How long did you try, baby? 32 days.

25:33 And it's just not working. So I went to swing and I went to this and I'm saying, no, no, no, no, no, no. What seed have you ever planted that you kept picking up every day out of the dirt Beared fruit And that's what we do I'm in church right now But I'm not in church now I'm gonna serve you But it's my birthday Y'all know what I'm talking about So how do you expect to bear fruit But you won't stay planted Pull up an orange tree every day Every month Every year And see how much fruit it gives But that's why God's saying just abide with me Stay with me if you mess up come back tell somebody Confess your sins one to another you're already saved Salvation is already taken care of Your eternity is cool but I don't want you to live hell on earth And then get escape to heaven He's like I just want you to live this life I paid for I already paid for it Will you please order the hors d'oeuvres Will you please order the dessert?

26:41 Will you? It's just like somebody paying for a five-star meal and all you want is the bread. it's already paid for and you just could you just bring more bread there's steak waiting for you and you want bread and ranch Take full advantage of the life that God has given you And part of that life is being joyful But it only is generated by Jesus Let me give you a practical step to abiding Just practical Read your Bible Read the word of God Pastor Mario, you always say that every Sunday I'm going to say it every Sunday from now on Because it's the whole Thing, like that's everything Like you can be saved and not ever even come here If you just get your Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to be alive in you It can change your whole life And I started to think about this analogy It's hard to be joyful naturally When you're hungry How many people get a little attitude when they get hungry?

27:56 Come on, let's be attitude Some of y'all is just evil Like some of y'all, don't talk. Do not talk to me until I get this McDouble. Like do not. Like there's certain times where I know I should stop talking to my wife and just slide her some chicken nuggets. Because you understand what I'm saying? But then I started thinking about it in the spiritual. It's hard to be joyful when your spirit is hungry.

28:25 Let me help you. But if we pray over God's word to eat it as spiritual food, it nourishes, satisfies, and makes us glad. But some of y'all are so spiritually starving. Like you don't spend time in God's word and so you can't abide and it's hard to be joyful when your spirit is hungry. I saw this commercial and it reminded me of this and I want you to check it out right now. Check this commercial out. Check this commercial out. Can we try to make it say nothing? Can you feel that? What? Eat a Snickers. Please. Every time you get hungry, you turn into a fever. Just eat it. It's all exist. Okay.

29:16 Thank you. Better. It's better. Will you get your knees out of the back of my seat? You're not you. We're not. Now, I saw this commercial and it preached to me. Because in the middle of their car ride, the friend says, every time you get hungry, you turn into a... My question is, every time your spirit is hungry, what do you turn into? Every time you're spiritually hungry and you won't feed it the word you turn into a liar You you turn into a lust bucket is what I call it. That's what I used to be That's not might be you, but that was me Every time I don't feed on the word of god. I turn into somebody who will manipulate the situation. I'll turn into somebody who's judgmental And some of you are sitting around here starving Your spirit man And i'm here to say like the friend said to you every time you get hungry You turn into a and all you have to do is eat on the word of god And and and listen to the tagline it says it says you're not you when you're hungry I came to tell you you're not you when your spirit is hungry When you're not able to feed on the word of god, you're not you and some of y'all been walking around saying that's just how I am That's just how I am. May I say you're so malnourished that you think this is normal you so bulimic out here that if you ate a Snickers it changed your whole life if you read Philippians one time it'd wake you up and you said I've never met me before I'm a brand new person you're not you when you're hungry and the tagline says Snickers it satisfies I'm gonna steal that and say the word of God It satisfies I want you to be practically helped today That's how you abide Look at this and this blessed me when I found this scripture jeremiah 15 16

31:21 It says when I discovered your words when I discovered when I uncovered it I devoured them Y'all know when you're hungry some of y'all will eat without breathing Do you understand what i'm saying? How many of y'all have eaten food hot because you were so hungry? Like you're trying to blow on it and take it in.

31:48 Do you understand what I'm saying? But when you're hungry, it doesn't matter. You'll devour it. And God is saying to some of you, you need to get in your word. And it might be hard and it might be hot. But you need to take that mug in. Oh, you can go ahead and give God praise right there. Yeah. Thank you. Now watch how beautifully the word of God works together It said when I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy Remember what we're talking about we're talking about having joy in our life that our joy would overflow God said practically if you want joy, you have to know it's jesus generated. How do I get close to jesus? How do I abide in him? And he said if you read my word, he said it'll be your joy You read my word. It'll be a joy and your heart's delight Joy is only jesus generated So let me give you my third point Your joy will overflow As you discover joy is not an option. Joy is an outcome Joy is not like oh i'm gonna decide to be joyful today No, it's an outcome of things that you do To get in a place with god. Let me help you I'm gonna give you this analogy. It's a little lengthy, but I want you to hear it It says the secret of living is joy The secret of joy is being fruitful The secret of being fruitful is abiding The secret of abiding is obeying And then the secret of obeying is loving And the secret of loving is knowing Knowing who? Jesus You want joy? Find Jesus You want joy? Know Jesus You need more joy? Get more Jesus Because once you get to know Jesus It will help you to love him once you love him. You'll start obeying him once you obeyed him You'll start abying or staying close to him once you stay close to him You'll start bearing fruit like him and once you start bearing fruit like him. It'll bring you a lot of joy See But that's an outcome of knowing jesus And pastor mike it sound like you're saying the same thing. I really am

33:55 I'm, just trying to get it in our hearts and our minds in a different way If you want that thing that nobody can steal from you Like if you want that thing that's better than happiness know Jesus. And in the face of hard circumstances and broken situation, you will be able to stand and people will come up to you and be like, how are you? How are you holding it together? Why are you still smiling? Why did you even come to help me? I know what you're going through. I know you just lost your job. I know you just failed that test. I know your family's going through, like, why are you doing this? And it's not because of you, it's because of who you know. And when who you know starts to reflect who you are, you found true joy.

34:38 Psalms 30 verse 5. This is David talking and David's real emotional. He's emo. And David is always in this paradox. He's always fearful but faithful. Safe but scared. Hopeful but hiding. Like he's been in these places and this is what he writes. for his anger lasts only a moment but his favor lasts a lifetime weeping may last through the night but what joy comes with the morning i came to encourage somebody that it may look dark right now but this message is your morning like this message has been the thing that god wanted to remind you that I don't care how dark it is in your life. I send joy constantly so that you know you always have a brand new opportunity to experience it. He could have used the analogy to anything else, but he said your joy will come in the morning because one thing is guaranteed.

35:41 No matter how long the night feels like it lasts, the morning's coming. I came to encourage somebody today that your joy is not far away, that I know you're broken and you're downtrodden in the situation's bad right now, but joy is coming in the morning. But as I start walking this out in my own life, I found something for me and my life, me and my wife, that kind of gave me a new perspective on this. The scripture says joy comes in the morning like with the sun, but I found it to be true that many times joy comes in our morning. the things that we feel like we lost, the things that we feel like are a disadvantage, the things that we feel like in life are unfair.

36:37 God somehow turns those situations to an awesome opportunity to experience joy that doesn't move us by our circumstance. I should be sad, I should be broken, I should be mad right now, but joy is coming out of this morning. Can I help you? And church, I'm going to be very real with you right now because me and my wife have been experiencing this in our life. This is my son, MJ. MJ just celebrated his second birthday and he turned two on the 20, what was it? The 26th of October. He's the most amazingly cute boy in the world. So MJ, me and my wife this year have been praying, serving God, serving this church, doing everything that we know how to do. And we noticed that MJ wasn't developing and talking and doing certain things like Isabella, his older sister. And so we went to the doctor and there's like, yeah, he's not, developing and doing things like other children are doing. He's like, I think he has some developmental delays. And me and my wife are like, no, not our son. We prayed, we fasted, we've cried, we've dedicated him to the Lord. Not happening. So we took him to some other therapists and some other people in faith, knowing that God is bigger, knowing that we trust God and We got him and he said, we're not sure about it.

38:10 He's not old enough to tell yet, but he looks like he might have some signs of autism. and I don't know if any parents in this house have ever been told something has happened to your children or something that you can't control, but for us, me and my wife went through a season and are still going through a season of mourning,

38:33 believing and trusting in what God has said, but knowing that it's not always a fair situation. And as we celebrate his second birthday and he's not saying any words yet. as he sat there yesterday enjoyed his trucks and enjoyed his friends and his family being around him. Me and my wife, we looked at each other every time he smiled. And we were so excited because what we thought was the death of a dream in our life, and he may never play football, and he may never do this, and he may never do that.

39:35 We saw the grace of God at work in a situation where we had to mourn. and I stood in faith and I told the therapist I said I know what the reports are saying and I know we haven't had them tested and I know all these other things are happening but I'm believing God for a miracle I said, I'm believing God for a miracle. And then God took me to the scripture that has helped me through many days because the joy is not coming in the sun that came up. It's coming in the loss and in the disappointment of something that I thought. And I'm reckoning and trying to figure out, God, what are you doing? I served you.

40:26 I told you I'd serve your people. I do all this other stuff. But how is this all making sense? He says, son, it's not something I'm doing to you. it's something I'm doing for you. He said, I'm using your son that carries your same name to teach you about my faithfulness, to teach you about my grace. See, it's not going to come from the likes on Instagram because he's cute. It's going to come from the inside. It's going to come from you being connected to me. It's going to come from you trusting that I got it. And I have to have the response that I trust you. And he took me to James chapter 1, verse 2, and it said, Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. I never looked at that scripture with much faith because nothing had happened to me that hit me to my core like this.

41:32 but it changed my perspective on how I was looking at this situation because God knew it was going to happen. And so if God didn't put James chapter 1 verse 2 in the Bible for anybody else, he put it in there for me. Because he said, Michael, don't worry when troubles of any kind come your way. I want you to change your perspective and I want you to consider it an opportunity for your joy to grow, for your joy to be full for you to be joy full for there to be fruit to come out of this he said for you know when your faith is tested and it has been he said your endurance has the chance to grow so then he tells you like it's gonna be okay let it grow don't don't fight it don't deny it don't try to act like his hands the enemy tried to get me not to share it to think that people will label my son and all this other stuff and God said just let it grow he said I'm gonna get the glory out of this I'm gonna do a miracle behind this I'm gonna be the one that is high and lifted up and I'm gonna be the one to get the glory but you gotta know that your joy is not external that your joy is internal that it comes from me and I got it and you have to trust me Glory to God.

42:56 Glory to God. Glory to God. So let it grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. I can see how that works now because I'd give anything for my son to say words. You wouldn't have to give me no more clothes. and God said when I work this miracle on your behalf you're gonna see that the things that you think are really important are not important at all that's how Paul and Silas they had been in jail before they had been shipwrecked the scourging that Jesus got Paul got that so many times it was usual so when they did death threats and all this it didn't affect his joy he said because I've been through things that should have taken my joy, but my joy is not external. It comes from Jesus. today I don't know what the enemy has been trying to tell you about your life but you have so much to be joyful about as you abide and you stay connected to him that's the only thing that's kept me in this time that's the best messages that I preach those things that you said pastor you preaching I've been going through crap in the background trying to hold on to my faith but I knew God had it and so when you come and see me or you see me laughing or anything that's not happiness because my situation's not the best but it's joy that comes from the inside and the world didn't give it autism didn't give it sickness didn't give it and it can't take it God, I worship you.

44:45 I dare somebody to just thank God for who he is, for what he's doing. I dare somebody to get joyful. If you would just remember who God is and how he's been so good. God, we trust you. Because you got it. God, I pray over every person under the sound of my voice. Who the enemy has tried to steal their joy. who we've tried to be convinced that it's too bad. Father, I thank you, God, that we take a posture of knowing who you are, Father God. I thank you, Father, that our joy will begin to overflow, Father God, that we will begin to keep our minds stayed on you, Father God, and you will do something in our life that doesn't come from the external, Father, but it comes from the internal. Be it what comes, Father God, I don't care. I have faith in you.

45:37 I believe you are good. and we as a church will serve you and trust you and we will have joy. Our smile will not be because of our circumstance. Our smile won't be because of our feeling but it will be because you are a good father and we are connected to you and we trust you and you've got it. In Jesus' name. Somebody give God a shout of praise in this place. Come on, give God a shout of praise in this place. the God who makes us fruitful.

46:11 Bring me that water real quick. I want to show you this. Don't cut the tape yet. I just need everybody to see this. I was going to go without it, but just bring it out. See, this is what I want you to understand real quick. The last point I want to give you right now is that your joy will overflow. Sit down. Two minutes, please. And I'm following the spirit right now because somebody needs to see this. It says your joy will overflow when you change the concentration.

46:39 When you change what you're concentrating on. See, this is what life looks like. This is you. Remember that, John? Can you put that John 15, 11 scripture up real quick? Because I just want to teach this with an example real quick. John 15, verse 11. And it says, I've told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. This is your joy. Okay? But the thing about my joy, is that I can't control what life throws at me. I don't know what is going on. And I don't know that God may have some situations that he allows into my life to throw some disappointment, some frustration, some hurt. I can't control that.

47:33 So what is it doing, Pastor Mike? It starts affecting my joy. And where I was clear, I start to look a little blue. but put the scripture back up there. The scripture tells us that now this is your joy, but I want to fill you with my joy. Can you bring me out Jesus joy, please? See, Jesus joy is clear and Jesus joy is full. This is the difference though. See, there's a concentration of blue dye that is in here that has overtaken the amount of trust and purity and clarity that was in here. But when we change our concentration to the word of God, see, you've been focused on how blue it is. And God says, focus on how big I am. You've been focused on how it's affected you.

48:27 And God's saying, focus on how I can affect it. And when you start pouring the word of God in, our faith overflows. But as it overflows, it takes out everything that's, it takes out every somebody better rejoice with me and our our joy begins to overflow i dare you if you're in this place to begin to shout unto god with the voice of triumph that he's taken everything that's been blue in your life and he's gonna take your joy and he's gonna overflow and everything that's not like him is coming out hear me when I tell you change the concentration The only reason joy was restored was because the concentration changed. There was less dye and more water.

49:25 There was less worry. There was more word. And it changed the concentration. Don't ever forget That God Through Jesus Wants to give you his joy And your joy Will overflow Amen Give God a shout of praise in this place