Title: What Takes Our Joy away?
Content: e="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 21px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Gullim'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 13px"> The evidence that appears when you do is joy. But the joy within us is slowly disappearing.
In verse 12, Paul speaks of “rejoicing” on the contrary. Paul in prison exhorts and exhorts us to “rejoice rather”. There are things we have to overcome in order not to lose our joy.
1. Go beyond the environment.
Paul confesses that even though he is imprisoned in a Roman prison while preaching the gospel, he does not become frustrated or discouraged, and the environment of prison does not defeat his purpose. do. A person with a clear purpose does not fall for circumstances. For Paul, who regarded preaching the gospel as the greatest value in his life, even if he suffered tribulation and difficulties, it was not a problem for him and he could not take away his joy.
In all circumstances, God's plan, providence, and will are not given by chance or by bad luck. In the name of the Lord, I pray that you will not forget God's love and hidden things even in a desperate environment. I hope that God's people will discover God's new will and believe in a new life even in situations like dead ends that people say are unhappy and fail.
2. Get over the wrong relationship.
What makes us more difficult than environmental problems are conflicts with other people. Verse 15 records the “those” who aid in Paul’s ministry and the “those” who hinder Paul’s work. These two groups of people are not people who are far apart, but people who live their faith together. The “those” who tormented Paul were not those who were not religious, but those who were zealous for evangelism and service. In this relationship problem, Paul first thought about what God's will is.
It is confessing that ‘I can rejoice if the gospel is also preached through those people.’ (:15) Paul saw not with my own point of view, but with Christ’s point of view and heart.
I hope that we can imitate Paul's broad heart and overcome the problems of relationships.
3. Go beyond death.
Human beings are finite beings, inevitably dying. But remember. We Christians are people who live beyond death to eternal life. People work hard to get money, power, health, etc., and even if they get all those things, they live with anxiety in the face of death.
Paul is in the urgency of not knowing when he will die, but he is not afraid. Because Paul went beyond the matter of death.(:20-21)
We talked about the factors that take away our joy. Now, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will overcome these problems and live by faith without losing the joy that God has given us.