3 truths to remember about Joy

1. Joy is Measurable

The Lord wants us to be full of joy. Take stock of where you are to see where you fall on the "joy meter." Are you experiencing that fullness, or no joy, or somewhere in between?

Ps. 16:11-- "in thy presence is fullness of joy
John 15:11-- "these things I have spoken unto you... that your joy might be full."o

2. Joy is Loseable

"Where did my joy go?" people often ask. I used to be so full of joy, but now I feel like an ember taken out of the fire-- just cold, and gray.

Ps. 51:12-- "restore unto me the joy of thy salvation"

3. Joy is Transferable

Where does joy come from? Happiness depends on our "happenstances", and comes and goes with emotions and experiences. But what the Lord gives is a stable, calm in the midst of the storm sense that all is well. A deep, abiding assurance in Him and from Him.

Neh 8:10-- "the joy of the Lord is my strength"
Phil 4:4-- "rejoice in the Lord always..."

If you've lost your joy, you can get it back. He is it's source and author. Pray and ask Him to reveal to you why you lost it, and ask Him to restore it you.

When You Lose Your Song

"You have put a new song in my mouth...." is the expressed feeling of one who has given his heart to the Lord. He has a new sense of joy and peace, something to sing about and something new to sing!! An incredible experience. But what happens when we lose our song? Many have "hung up their harps..." as the Israelites did here in Psalm 137.

1. What makes us lose our song? Notice their predicament-- they were slaves, tormented, taunted, longing for home. seperated from family, home, traditions and homeland. Life happens, and we can get torn down, hurt, devastated by circumstances that rob us of joy and even the desire to continue. You can almost feel their lifelessness, and despondency in their response to their taunters. Sometimes it is the result of our own doing, as was the case here. This difficulty came as a harvest to the wild oats they had sown in disobedience to God's will.


2. What is our response when we lose your song? You can tell when you lose your song-- you justify it or disount the need for it and the loss of it with a question--

"how can I sing...." Reworded, ".. don't you know what i'm going through... I have a right to my sorrow, actions, self-pity because such and such has happened to me... "

You feel like you're the only who understands what you're feeling; you tend feel hopelessness and despair, and feel the whole world is crumbling around you and there is not reason to try to make it go away or fight it.

3. How can we get our song back?

RECOGNITION-- of where I am-- "by the rivers of Babylon..." You can't get to where you're going until you first know where you are. If you've lost your song, you've got to realize it, honestly admit it. "Hey, something is missing here, I'm not where I used to be or should be, I've lost my joy..." Many want to deny it, put on a front, or blame someone else for it. You've got to take full responsibility for your situation. And Recognition that I am not alone. I'm here in this desolate place that is not home, but He is here with me. He has not forsaken me.

DETERMINATION-- "If I forget you, may ..." might be translated "there is no way that I will ever...", and reveals a determination to never stop begin faithful to God, or of thinking of Jerusalem. We need to develop that kind of determination-- an antagonism toward sin and temptation. Rather than-- "Oh, I've tried that before, I just can't stop that sin, I've asked forgiveness so many times... " Rather, we need a toughness and strength to say in teh face of temptation-- "Enough is enough. I'm not going to let sin ruin my life, control my home, destroy me any longer. It's not going to ruin my family, drive a wedge between me and God... I am going to deal with this..." A determination to do something about it, not just float on down the stream, caught up with the "flow of life" .

REFLECTION-- "remember..." Then reflect on God's past dealings with you. As David did in Psalm 42 and other places-- It will bring a blessing and encouragement to your heart to think back on the many blessings and touches of God in your life. His past dealing with you will give you the strength to continue, and battle the tendency to forget what God has done in your past.


DECLARATION-- "if I don't exalt..." My soul will yet praise thee..." Ps 42:5-6
There are truths we need to declare because they are true, whether we feel like they are true for us right now or not. Whether we are actually experiencing them in our life right now or not. Our feelings follow our faith.


May this help us find the source of our loss, and get our song back.

Living in a Fog

Here is a summary of a message I preached that many have shown interest in:

Life in a Fog--An emotional state that is neither raging anger nor mild indifference. It's more like when you feel someone took your brilliantly colored life, and clicked a button that turned it all to grayscale.

1. What are some causes of a fog?

physical/health issues-- improper diet, lack of excercise

mental/emotional issues-- chemical imbalance, need for help in dealing with difficult issues in past

activities/time wasters/mind numbers-- tv, music,gossip magazines, computer, internet, etc. GIGO= garbage in, garbage out-- what you put in will indeed have an affect on your
emotionsdrugs/alcohol abuse-- causing mind burnout and even brain deterioration

deliberate sin against Goddisobedience to God-- many want to follow God on their own terms.

grief/sorrow/sudden tragedy/traumatic event in your lifesatan

2. What are some characterstics of living in a fog?

it dulls normal beauty-- that around us which is bursting with energy, throbbing with life, brilliant with color is hidden under a blanket of dull, drab grayness in our hearts.

it distorts reality-- what is there is invisible, and what is not really there, often in the shadows we think we see.

it limits vision-- something can be right in front of us, and we can't see it in a fog.

it slows ordinary activity-- can't drive the speed limit in a fog. Living in a fog causes us to become lethargic, withdrawn, hardly able to get out of bed, self-focused, unproductiveit increases chances for death or injury-- "highest rate of fatal accidents per car on the road is during a fog..." (Michigan Insurance Report). Staying in your fog increases the pain, suffering, and struggles in your life. The longer you stay in it, the more intense the pain becomes and the more difficult it is to get out of it.

3. What are some helpful considerations when I'm in a fog?

look at the life of the woman with a blood disorder-- she sought help from doctors. Luke 8:43. Many are skeptical or think it unspiritual to go to a doctor, take medicine, seek counselling, etc. This woman did. I think that's wise. God uses doctors and medicine for our good. There are legitimate physical and emotional needs that medicines can help. Don't miss this possibility.

look at the woman caught in adultery-- she was forgiven of her shame and humiliation. John 8:4Guilt, shame, embarrasment over repeated failures sometimes immobilize us. We feel so shamed, worthless, dirty, condemned... But God says in Rom 8:1, that as His child, there is now no condemnation....

look at the prophet Elijah-- in his depression, he heard the still small voice of God and returned to service IKings 19:12

look at the life of Jonah-- he got his obedience up to date. Jonah 3:1-3, he went back to the point where he had digressed from God's will for his life, and redid it. He obeyed where he had disobeyed before. Some are in a fog because they've disobeyed, and never gotten it right. Back up and do it again.

look at the life of Job-- in his sudden and extremely difficult trials, he clung to his faith. "will I accept good and not evil from the Lord..."; "God gives and God takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord..."; "I know my Redeemer lives..."; Job 1:21, 2:10; 19:25We need, while in the fog, to feed our faith, voice our faith, and act on our faith.

C.S. Lewis, the great writer, Christian, and former atheist, said in Mere Christianity:"... Faith... is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. ... That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods 'where they get off,' you can never be a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro... "He continues to describe how to train the "habit of faith"-- " make sure that some of the main doctrines (of Christianity) shall be deliberatley held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and church-going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we beleiver. Neither this belief or any other will automatically remian alie in the mind. It must be fed." (Mere Christianity, p. 123- 124)2 things generally take care of a fog-- a breeze, and the sunThe Holy Spirit, the breath and wind of God, will blow across our hearts and clear away the fog.The Son of Righteousness will rise in our hearts and burn away the fog and clear our hearts.Fog doesn't stay-- it eventually moves on.

Sometimes it stays longer than other times, but it always moves on, like the fog of Carl Sandburg's poem:

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.(italics added)

May God bless you and may this be a help to you if you find yourself in a fog.

Where has my Joy Gone?

This is a series I began preaching recently that has stirred some interest in this topic:

Our joy is loseable-- that is why David prayed in Psalm 51:12, "restore unto me the joy of they salvation". Something had happened in his life to cause him to lose what he had once enjoyed.

How do we lose that joy that was once so vibrant and burning in our hearts?
Here are 8 common reasons:

1. The Normal Routine of Life-- sometimes the "daily-ness" of life gets me, the rut wins, the habits of life are so strong it is difficult to break them and start with new habits and routines. Sometimes life has me too pooped to focus; too preoccupied with other things to really go on with God. It takes an intentional effort to break to power of routine, much like a space-ship breaking away from earth's gravity into the freedom of space.

2. Necessary Responsibilites -- the dishes have to be washed, the clothes folded, the kids have homework and get hungry. It seems the responsibilities never end, and ever demand more of our time. How can I have a quiet time when it looks like I may have to take a second job just to make ends meet? I've got responsibilities. Mark 4:19 reveals that the "cares of this world can enter in, and choke out" those more important things. There is a difference between urgent and important, and sometimes the urgent takes priority. It shouldn't.

3. Negative Influences of Life-- The negative influence of friends, the defilement of a world that is ungodly and anti-god takes a toll on a believer's joy. You know how it happens-- the deadness, glibness, the innuendo, the unending barrage of negative, dirty language; how can my joy last in that situation? "Bad company corrupts good morals" Paul said (1 Cor. 15:33)

4. Non-surrendered areas of Life -- If there is secret sin in your life, it will allow satan to have a foothold in you and rob you of the joy of the Lord. 2 Cor. 2:11 encourages us not to let satan get advantage of us. David spoke in Ps. 90:8 of secret sin. If you harbor areas unsurrendered to your Lord, you'll lack His joy. Baptism, certain habits, living arrangements, sexual relationships, all are common struggles of surrender. The believers of Acts 19:4 had no idea they needed to be baptized, but immediately surrendered to that truth when confronted by it. They got their obedience up to date. Many lack joy, because their's is not.

5. Non-resolved issues of Life-- "Baggage" still being carried from past issues, past relationships, past hurts, etc. can have very real present results. Many, for example, run from one marriage to another, blaming the other partner, only to face the same set of problems in the next marriage. They change partners rather than deal with their own baggage. Emotional baggage from your past has serious present day consequences on your spiritual life. We are created as one being, and all of our being, body, soul, and spirit, must be one. We can't separate our "church life" who we are, though many try.

6. Neglect of spiritual disciplines -- Joy comes from a believer practicing the spiritual disciplines. By defininition, a discipline is something it takes work to develop. It doesn't just happen, nor is it done for you. Like a person who gives up after taking a few months of guitar lessons because it doesn't happen fast enough, many miss the joy's of walking with Christ because they do not stay at it-- praying, in the Word, worshiping, fellowshiping with God's people. Jesus, when inviting disciples to come after Him, didn't paint an easy path--'if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

7. Deliberate Sin-- Think what Adam and Eve enjoyed with God, a perfect life in a perfect place that none had ever experienced before, walking with Him in the cool of the day... . But when they deliberately disobeyed God, the joy was immediately turned to shame and guilt, and they went and hid themselvs in humiliation and fear. Sin always creates a barriar between us and God, a hindrance to our fellowship, and loss of joy. David's loss of joy was a result of his sin with Bathsheba. "your sins have separated you and God..." Isaiah 59:2

8. Superficial faith-- when a person has enough faith to cry, but not enough to come clean; enough faith to get excited, but not to obey; enough faith to receive God's blessings, but not enough to endure His testing; enough faith to stand and sing, but not enough to hold on in suffering and pain; enough faith to smile and laugh, but not enough to sacrifice or serve. Jesus said there are those like that, who were touched in their emotions, but not in their very spirit. Mark 4:16-17 records His observation of different types of hearts, and He says there are those who "hear the word, and immediatelly receive it with joy, but having no root in themselves, tey endure but for a time. "


"The joy of the Lord is our strength." May He show you any cause that has robbed you of His joy, and help you, with David in Psalm 51, get your joy back.