Title: Let's live happily (2 Timothy 1:16-18)
Contents
In the Jewish Talmud, there is a teaching that says, "Even if your parents have died, you should not mourn for more than a month. Even if you have been fined in court, you should come out with a whistle." We should live happily in this world if we can. Joy is the oil of life. Just as a car needs oil to move, life needs joy to live a healthy life. Joy in the heart is the medicine that heals us. Proverbs 17:22 also says, "A joy of the heart is good medicine, but a troubled spirit dries up the bones."
The ancient Greek physician Miletus said, 'The Greek word gelos, meaning laughter, comes from the Greek word hele, and its meaning is health. laugh a lot Laughter incapacitates tumors and even viruses. If the world can't make me laugh, I just have to make the world laugh. That is 'health'. No more waiting for laughter. The world doesn't give us anything to laugh at. I try to make the world laugh. Then the world greets me with a smile. Furthermore, share the 'Laughing Flower' with someone. The world is soon filled with the scent of joy. Now, the philosophy of sharing must be found not only in material things but also in spiritual values.
Living joyfully is our Christian trademark. It is a trademark of us Christians. It is said that people generally regret three things before they die. One is the regret of “becoming more patient”. Usually, many misfortunes are caused by unbearability. So, I have a lot of regrets for not being able to bear it. The second is the regret of “giving a little more”. I regret that I was stingy for not being able to give to those in need of my help by just grabbing on to this and that. And the third is to regret saying "I want to live more gracefully". There was nothing to be annoyed, jealous, and quarrelsome over the performance, but he said that he regretted that he did a lot of things that made me suffer and make others suffer.
Among these, there is one that I am particularly interested in and want to think about today. It is about wanting to live happily. There is nothing more important than that a person lives happily. Because our members believe in Jesus and know Jesus and live their lives, it should be really pleasant.
In today's text, the story of Onesiphorus, who made others happy as well as himself, is recorded. 2 Timothy 1:16 “I pray that you have mercy on the house of Onesiphorus, who encourages me often, and I am not ashamed that I am in chains.” However, the Revised Bible says, "I pray thee, have mercy on the house of Onesiphorus, who often delights me, and is not ashamed to be bound in my chains."
I compared 7 or 8 translations. However, I found a very interesting translation. According to the modern English Bible, "May the Lord take care of Onesiphorus and his family. He often visits me and encourages me, giving me refreshment as if taking a full breath of fresh air. He has no reluctance when he comes to visit me in prison." It wasn't the attitude."
The word “pleasant” is translated as “encouragement,” “increases courage,” “invigorates,” “encourages and refreshes me, as if breathing in fresh air.”
The meaning of the name Onesiphoro is "bearer of benefits." Onesiphorus was a person who spurted out his strength like a breeze of cool air. We Christians should live a pleasant life ourselves, but we should also live in such a way that everyone we meet can be pleasant to everyone we meet.
As I was reading the Bible today and preparing for the sermon, I had a strong thought to myself that I should now live a little more pleasantly, and that I would like to hear from anyone who met me at least once that I became pleasant after meeting that person. . In other words, I thought that this sermon was a sermon addressed to me. Even if our lives are pleasant, there is no reason why we want to keep living unpleasantly even though our lives are short. We are saved through Jesus Christ. With this fact alone, we should be able to live really happily. It is only right that we can only be happy because we leave all the results in the hands of God. Dear saints, let's all live happily.
So where does joy come from? How can I get pleasure? A pleasant day and a pleasant life come from the Lord.
People are happy when they hear the good news. The Lord is good news. It is the good news that God is with us, and it is the good news that God has forgiven us sinners. Life without the Lord can never be pleasant. Efforts to be delightful without the Lord will ultimately result in falling into deeper sin.
Also, a happy heart is God's desire and the Lord's command. “Rejoice in the Lord,” he said. God is a God of joy, and Jesus rejoices with the Holy Spirit. Some may ask, "How can we rejoice when everything is going wrong and there is no reason to rejoice?" However, the joy that the Holy Spirit gives us is the joy of being able to rejoice in spite of our problems. It is the joy of believing and rejoicing that all things work together for good. If you develop the discipline to rejoice even when you have minor problems or disappointments, you will be able to rejoice in the Lord even when a great disaster or unexpected tragedy approaches. This transcendent joy is an attitude that only those who have grown up spiritually can have.
A person is made happy by a person who is not ashamed of himself. And the fact that you live happily is also achieved when you overcome your shame. The Apostle Paul was rejoiced when Onesiphorus did not feel ashamed of his bondage and did not leave him, although everyone else was ashamed of his imprisonment and had left him.
There are female college students who commit suicide because they do not like plastic surgery, and there are women who are grateful that they are alive with a strong attachment to life even after 11 surgeries with third-degree burns all over the body.
Don't be shy about your own handicap. Please do not be ashamed of your inferiority complex or your weaknesses. Others don't even care about that. It's okay that you're tied to it and you can't get out of it. What do other people care about? It's not like other people are living my life. You have to overcome your own shame. The Lord is not ashamed of me, and there is no reason for me to be ashamed.
A person becomes cheerful when he is encouraged and when he becomes an encourager. Go where you can be encouraged. Find someone to encourage you. And I want you to be an motivator. Encourage yourself when there is no one to encourage you.
It's fun when the outside and inside are the same.
In the Old Testament, Proverbs 23:16 says, “If your lips speak uprightness, my heart will rejoice.” When people speak the truth with their lips, confess the truth responsibly, put the truth into practice, and live a life of witnessing the truth with their lips, it becomes pleasant. Because God will surely bless such a person. A person is happy when the thoughts he holds inside and the actions that appear outward are the same. When the thoughts you embrace and the actions you see on the outside are different, when the inside and the outside are at odds, you can never be happy. The bigger the difference between the inside and the outside, the bigger the conflict.
It is said that joy comes as a result of repentance. Wasn't it fun when you settled your debt? It feels good when the blockage is released. As it is said in Acts 3:19, "Repent, therefore, and turn, that your sins may be blotted out, that the days of rejoicing will come from the presence of the Lord." He said that if you repent, you will be rejoicing. An unrepentant soul is uncomfortable. My heart aches. But the spirit of repentance and returning to the Lord is rejoicing. Those who are converted after true repentance will receive a pleasant day as a gift.
To be forgiven of sins means to be washed away from sins. If you repent and turn back, you can live a changed life after that, but the defiled life before that does not disappear. God is going to wash it away. As long as you believe in Jesus and return to God, He will forgive you for the things you used to do.
A woman had a son. But it was Manny. One day, while we were arguing, he put his son in front of him and said, "I'd rather have another child than fuss over you and wash you." In a way, God might do that by looking at us. Aren't we those of you who don't know if it's better to be born again than to wash you? However, it is saying that it is God who does not prove that no matter how full of sins it may be, it will be washed away. Let us all be washed from our sins by the blood of the Lord and live a joyful life.
Everyone is walking their own path of life once given. This path is given only once and cannot be repeated. Unfortunately, however, there are not many people who happily walk through this life once given. Through today's message, we hope that our families of faith can become pleasant step by step. As Christians, we should live joyfully. Believe in Jesus and have a pleasant life and pleasant days. May your life be always pleasant through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of the Lord.