Comfort and Joy Week 3
Sharable notes for the December 17, 2023 message. You can post these notes on your social platform!
Scriptures used: Psalm 16:8-11; 37:4; 98:4-8; Philippians 2:13; Galatians 5:16-17: Luke 2:10; 2:20; 2 Corinthians 4:16;
The path we’re carving out to pursue happiness is a waste of time. There’s a path already laid out for us to find fullness of joy in Christ.
God wants to give you desires that will benefit your heart.
Find your joy in the Lord, and then through the joy you have in that relationship, He will begin to produce in you, or give you, desires that will fulfill your heart.
When we are in pursuit of happiness instead of following Christ, we are sacrificing fullness of joy for fleeting highs.
The gospel elicits joy not fear. God takes our focus off the worlds fears and gives us reason for joy.
The possession of joy is not the absence of sorrow. The possession of joy is the presence of God in our life even in the midst of sorrows.
Joy was lost in the garden when death came through sin, but joy returned to the earth when Jesus Christ was born and conquered death.
We’re too often pursuing happiness and failing to fully understand that Christ has pursued us.
When joy has escaped you, it’s time to worship. When life has crushed you, it’s time to worship. When the devil has robbed you of happiness, it’s time to worship. When Satan or circumstances are bringing you down, it’s time to worship...you can’t live in God’s presence and not have joy." Tony Evans
It’s not something that you need to be happy, it's someone. His name is Jesus.
Reflect or meet with someone to discuss:
How would you say that you pursue happiness in life?
What kind of things rob you of happiness?
How has Christ helped you to find joy even in the middle of sorrow?
What do you have to be joyful for?
Click the image to start a new 7 day devotion in YouVersion:
Do life’s greatest joys take root in great pleasures, or is there something deeper going on? In this compelling 7-day plan, discover a surprising truth within the Christmas story. Emmanuel, God with us, enables true joy to grow in the soil of our pain.