Hey, this is Pastor John Ryan Cantu from PNEUMA Church in Houston, Texas.

Thank you for listening to the message today.

I hope that it blesses you and all those. that you share it with.

God bless you.

Take a seat for a moment.

Amen.

Praise God.

God is good.

All the time.

Amen.

Praise God.

A couple announcements that I have.

Just well one really the serve conference.

I'm gonna be hitting it every time I get um before before that day.

But if you are a worker or you're not a worker yet, but you're a member of this church and you're asking yourself how can I get more involved in serving my church and serving the community, this this conference is is for you.

We'll have different speakers.

We'll have uh breakout sessions uh with very um specific types of of topics.

Uh we'll have free food, we'll have good fellowship, and it's gonna be a good time in the presence of God.

So that's December 6th.

Please register.

We need you to register because we're we order food, right?

And it's free.

So we we need you to register before we pay a bunch of money for people that I'm going to eat.

Amen?

Praise God.

Um we this morning we have a good I would say maybe sixty to seventy-five people missing from from church today. because our our women, we got about 40 to 50 women out at a at a retreat, and we know that a lot of those women bring their husbands to church.

Some some some some husbands don't come on their own.

So praise God if you are a husband who came without his wife today.

Praise the Lord.

Come on, give him give it up for some men of God, right?

Some priests that lead by example.

But yeah, so pray pray for the pray for the women.

I know that they had a a good time.

I'm ready for my wife to come back two two days without her in my bed.

It just it don't feel right.

Amen.

So um they're they're on their way back and just um I know that they had a a a joyful time.

Um I want you to go with me To Philippians chapter 4.

Philippians chapter 4.

It's funny because this morning uh angel brought the word in Spanish and it it was Was very much in alignment with this word.

So I believe that God has a whole word for the church this morning.

Philippians chapter 4.

This is the final chapter that was written to the church of Philippi.

This is a church that was founded by Paul about 10 years before he wrote this letter to them.

And he's writing it from prison.

But as somber as that seems, Paul's mission uh with this letter is to actually hit on the theme of Rejoicing.

That's what he does in four short chapters.

He touches on joy about eighteen times.

This church is apparently in the middle of some type of suffering, a lot of toiling.

There's a lot of disagreements within the church, but But Paul's focus for them is to look ahead and to rejoice.

How many of you know that sometimes you've got to look ahead and rejoice?

You can't be fixated on what's behind you, right?

You can't.

I was talking to a brother yesterday, he gave me some wisdom.

He said, you can't drive, right, when all you're doing is looking at the rear-view mirror You gotta look in what's in front of you.

And so that's what Paul is trying to do.

Look ahead and rejoice, even in their sufferings.

And he can tell them this because he's sitting in prison telling them to rejoice.

Um Man, there's a lot that I love about this letter, but what I really love about it is the way that Paul ends it.

Here we see a pastor, and he's speaking to his sheep from his pastoral heart, and he's speaking from experience.

He's not just giving them Instruction.

He is encouraging them from everything that he's learned and everything that he's lived in his life as it correlates to his walk with Christ.

Those are the lessons that are the hardest.

Amen.

When I could preach a message out of something that I've lived, I I will preach it with a whole new level of conviction and passion.

That's why I believe if you're a pastor, listen, if anybody's got that pastoral calling over their life, God is gonna have to teach you some very hard lessons first.

Hard lessons that will make a pastor demonstrate pastoral care in a way that simply learning theology will never do.

When I when I was called into pastoral ministry, I immediately went to pursue a master's degree in theology.

I thought that was what God needed me to do.

And um uh you know aside from my student loans, I don't regret that decision.

But it was silly of me to think that that was all that God wanted me to learn.

He was gonna teach me some real hard truth in life And so when I read this passage from Paul, that's what I see.

I see a man he's been through a lot of stuff in his life, and he's learned a lot of lessons, and he wants to share those lessons to his church.

So I'm going to ask you to stand Philippians chapter 4, 8 through 13.

It says, finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.

Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.

You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.

Not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content.

I know how to be brought low.

I know how to abound.

In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger and abundance and need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for this word that you have spoken to your servant.

My God, I pray, Lord, that I would speak it, my God, directly from your heart.

I pray that you would be on my lips, Holy Spirit, my God, that this this would not be of me, but of you, Lord.

I pray, my God, that you would captivate hearts this morning, Father God, that you would open up our ears to receive this word, Father God.

And apply it to our lives.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

You can take your seat.

I want to speak today using the title Teaching Moments.

Teaching Moments.

But I also want to talk about mindset because, you know, it's it's hard to learn things with the wrong mentality, right?

And these are two things that Paul touches on here in this passage.

I've said before, and I strongly agree, I strongly believe that God will never waste a moment.

Never.

He will never waste a moment.

He can and will use anything to draw glory to himself because that's that's what he does.

He is a glorious God.

And so that means if I'm a child of God and I'm in some type of moment, I'm in the middle of some type of, I don't know, you call it drama, you call it It.

Pain, affliction, sickness, you can name it.

But if I'm in some type of moment and I know that God is going to somehow get the glory from it, I've got a responsibility to ask God, Lord, what can I learn from this?

What are you showing me here in this moment that you've got me in?

Whether that be in poverty or wealth or sickness and in health.

What can we learn in these moments that God has us in?

That, you know, that's true discipleship.

That's the posture of discipleship You know, um, discipleship isn't simply learning the word.

You hear me?

Discipleship is not just learning the word, it's learning how to apply the word.

And I I hate to sound cynical, but I've I've been in ministry a very long time.

And for a very long time I've had peace people come to me, say, Pastor, I want to I want to teach the word.

I want to preach the word.

Give me give me a Sunday.

Give me a Wednesday.

Let me let me teach.

I've learned that a lot of people want to teach the word, but they don't actually want to disciple people.

Teaching the word, can I tell somebody, is the easy part of discipleship.

But but discipling people when it comes to bearing with their mistakes and their immaturities and seeing them fall.

Every single day and trying to get them up and trying to bear with people and holding grown men and grown women's hand in the faith, that takes a lot of care and that takes a lot of patience.

And not everybody wants to do that.

Teaching people how to live out what they have been taught.

That is true discipleship.

And if you're not willing to do that, I don't know if you're willing, I don't think you should be teaching.

It had to be frustrating for Jesus when the disciples, he spent three years with the disciples, right?

And and Jesus, look, Jesus preached some amazing messages Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, the most beautiful message ever preached.

And how often do we hear Jesus saying in the gospels, how long do I've got to bear with you people?

How long do I got to deal with this little faith that you show me?

I'm giving you everything that you need to know intellectually.

How long until you apply it practically?

One of the most frustrating things for me as a pastor, and I I think any preacher is to hear the church say amen to things in here that they don't intend on living out there.

Don't don't give me an amen in here if you ain't gonna live it out there.

That's discipleship though.

It's bearing with people.

At the end of the day, as a pastor, I don't care if you know the word, if you can't apply it I don't care how much scripture you know, you could quote it better than I can.

If you don't apply it, it means nothing.

And and the way, listen, I want you to hear this: the way that we apply the word, are you listening?

The way that we apply the word is by being allowed to pass through moments that test what we have learned in the word.

That's teaching moments.

How many of us in here know intellectually the importance of faith?

We all know it.

We know that without faith it is impossible to please God.

But it is not until you've been stripped of everything that you've been counting on as security.

Where all you've got left to depend on is God that you learn faith.

That's when you actually learn it.

How many of us know about self-control?

We know the importance of it.

We know that it's a fruit of the spirit.

But it's not until somebody's actually provoking you to anger.

It's not until someone's actually tempting you to sin that you learn self-control.

Many Christians know the Bible, but they fail to apply its principles.

And I don't know, maybe it's because we haven't matured fully yet, maybe it's because we don't know the word.

Or maybe it's because we're not looking for the lesson.

You're not realizing that God is trying to teach you peace in your chaotic moment, somebody.

You don't realize that God is trying to teach you patience while you've been waiting.

I want to challenge you today to look for the lesson.

Look for the lesson.

Look for the opportunity in your moment to glorify God.

God never wastes a moment.

Can I tell you, I've been in moments where I've I've had There was a moment a few years ago where I was just I was living in fear.

I had so much uncertainty surrounding me.

Every single day it felt like a plague of uncertainty.

I got to a point where I finally opened up my mouth and I told my wife, I said, babe, I think I'm falling into a depression.

Because every single day, the only thing that I look forward to is going to sleep I I never got to the point where I had thoughts of suicide, but I I just I wanted to turn in the it could have been 7:30, and I'm like, you know what?

I'm not sleepy, but I don't I'm not looking forward to anything.

I just want to go to sleep.

And it wasn't until I I took my butt to my prayer room and I went one-on-one with God and I said, Lord, I know you're doing something in this moment.

I told him, man.

I told him like with man to man, God, I know you're doing something in this moment.

I don't know what it is.

But I said, maybe, maybe if right now what I have is fear, maybe you're trying to teach me faith.

And I gave it to God in that moment.

And I said, God, I'm not gonna be walking around in fear anymore.

I'm not gonna be walking around in all of this uncertainty.

I'm gonna trust in you.

And can I tell you It was in that moment that I learned faith like I had never known it before.

I don't care how much faith I can faith uh scriptures I can quote in the Bible, that was a whole new level for me of learning But I had to learn it through the moment that I was in.

What is God trying to teach you?

Tell the person next to you, this is the teaching moment.

Tell them like you mean it and like you're not bored.

Tell the other person.

Try one more time.

This is the teaching moment.

Paul, you know, there's there's a lot that I like about Paul, man.

I love Paul's boldness.

This dude went up against kings and and governors and philosophers, had intellectual conversations with them.

His plan was to go all the way to the top.

He was trying to get to Caesar.

To tell Caesar, hey, this is why you should believe in Jesus.

I love his boldness.

I love his compassion.

He was bold, yet he was compassionate.

He desired everybody to receive the gospel.

I love his passion.

I love his commitment.

There's a lot of things that I love about Paul.

But you know what?

More than all of this, what I love about Paul is his mindset.

The man had a really tough mindset.

And the reason that Paul could demonstrate joy in his own suffering and tell other people to rejoice in their suffering is because Paul had the right mentality.

Mindset matters.

Because with the wrong mindset, you're gonna learn the wrong things.

Or you're gonna miss the lesson completely.

Think about it, man.

Before Paul became a Christian, he was A highly respected, highly intelligent Jew.

He was educated by some of the best teachers in his day.

He was a dull citizen.

He had access as a Roman citizen and a Jew.

I mean, he even says it, man, I have so much reason to boast.

He says it in this in this in this book in Philippians.

I have so much reason to boast.

But then he becomes a Christian, and all of a sudden things take a turn for the worse.

Now, as a Christian, he's being flogged in the streets, he's being beaten.

His credibility as an apostle is being constantly questioned.

He's being shipwrecked.

He's being bitten by snakes.

He's in prison.

Paul had every reason to say, I don't need this anymore.

How many of you have said that before?

You don't have to you don't have to raise your hand Your hand if you're ashamed.

Um, but I know I've known people had a great life without the Lord, and then they come into communion with Jesus, and now it's like they're suffering every single day.

Paul had every reason to say, I don't need this.

I thought Jesus was supposed to make my life better.

I thought my problems were supposed to be gone with Jesus.

I thought there were only nice people in the church.

Have you ever thought like that?

There's gonna be a lot of thoughts that you have that you develop as you walk with Jesus.

I mean you can be a a 40 year old a veteran Christian or you could be a a you know a four-day year old Christian.

As you walk with Jesus As you're tempted, as you're attacked, you're gonna develop thoughts about God, about people, about the church, about the pastor, about ministry.

And if you allow the wrong thoughts to infiltrate your mind, you may find that as you walk with Christ, you do so without joy How many Christians do we have walking without the joy of the Lord Look, I know what it's like to walk with joy and how and what it's like to walk without it.

I know that the joy of the Lord, when I'm walking in the joy of the Lord, it brings clarity and sound mind I can walk through anything knowing that I'm gonna be okay.

I can walk through anything, keeping my faith, keeping my patience, keeping my peace.

I also know that without joy, everything looks bleak, everybody's to blame, and you're the victim.

Somebody say amen, or you say ouch.

You got Jesus.

Why don't you also have joy?

You know, just like in marriage, I like using marriage examples, but you can be a faithful partner to your spouse, and you can serve her with excellence and love and commitment.

You can do all the nice things for her.

You can rub her back.

You can rub his feet.

You can prepare a meal for him at the end of the day.

You can do all of the all of the things that you should do as a good spouse and still be miserable in your marriage.

And I'm telling you, you don't want to be in a miserable marriage.

And you don't want to be a miserable Christian.

But I see it.

I see it sometimes.

You can serve God, you can love God, you can fear God, and you can still have no joy as you walk with Christ.

I've seen it so many times.

The Old Testament The Old Testament is full of dudes who were anointed, gifted, and and uh holy, but they were miserable.

Jonah, the dude was miserable, hated people.

Elijah was miserable, always on the run, depressed.

Jeremiah, today he's known as the weeping prophet.

Scholars actually call him the weeping prophet.

I would hate to be called called a crybaby crybaby 4,000 years later.

But that's Jeremiah.

Moses, bro.

I I don't I don't know how Moses survived ministry.

And he's always complaining.

But you know what?

Paul tells us that these men were forward-looking.

They were looking forward to something better.

That is how they endured through so much hardship and kept going with the call of God over their lives.

They knew that something greater would one day come for God's people.

And guess what, church?

The better has already been given to us We are on this side of covenant with Jesus.

We are walking with Jesus.

We have the prize that the Old Testament prophets look forward to.

If we don't owe it to ourselves, we at least owe it to them to rejoice.

By the very fact that we've got grace.

You might be suffering today, but but Paul says, consider the good things.

That's what he says.

That's what he says.

There's good to consider.

Yeah, you got some bad to consider.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But consider the good things.

It's all about what?

Perspective.

You can be sad and you can be just looking at everything that's wrong in your life, or you can look at the good things because there are good things.

Don't tell me that there's not.

You can't tell me that there's not while serving a living resurrected God.

You don't have you can't tell me that we don't have a reason to rejoice if you believe that, then look at that.

That's what Paul says: whatever's true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise.

Think about these things Paul's reminding us to keep our minds on what's righteous and what's pure and true.

This doesn't mean that we ignore the things that are obvious, the things that are deserving of our attention.

I'm not saying that that you can't think through the evil.

I'm not saying that we're we're not gonna uh be hurt by by by things that we think about, sat in by things that that we think about, but rejoicing is a choice.

See or no?

Rejoicing is a choice.

It's something that you choose.

And yet I see too many Christians choose not to rejoice.

Paul's sitting in prison.

He's in prison.

He's got every reason to complain.

How many of you have a reason to complain today?

Come on, raise your hand.

A couple of y'all, man, y'all got them good lives.

I got plenty.

I got plenty of reasons to complain.

I could find them.

If I look for them hard enough, I'll find them Every day I'm like, Lord, if you just gave me some hair, you know I got I could I could I I have plenty of reason to complain.

Paul's sitting in prison.

He's got nothing.

He's got no freedom.

And and and and what's more is he's got no he's got no freedom to do ministry.

He can't go out and preach anymore.

He can't go out and establish churches anymore.

And yet he's telling this church that he's writing to who's got the freedom.

To rejoice.

He says, Stop crying.

You've got a reason to rejoice.

I know there's some disagreements among you, but you got a reason to rejoice.

I know you got people talking negatively against you, but you got a reason to rejoice I know that some of you are sick, but you got a reason to rejoice.

I know that ministry is hard, but you got a reason to rejoice.

You got a reason to rejoice.

How can Paul do this?

How why why is he not more angry?

Why is he not more sad?

Why isn't he miserable?

Because his joy doesn't come from ministry.

His joy doesn't come from the church.

His joy doesn't come from people.

His joy comes from his salvation. in Christ Jesus.

And so sometimes, you know what I got to do?

Sometimes I got to grab hold of my thoughts.

And I gotta say, sit down, Ryancito.

That's what I call myself.

Sit down, Ryancito.

And think about the good so that joy can flow from you.

And so I start to think about things that are true.

I start to think about how God loves me, how God called me.

When I was so unworthy, how God saved me, I start to think about the cross.

I start to think about every nail that pierced my Lord's hand That represented my sin being put to death.

I think about how he's got angels to encamp around me.

I think about how there were some times where I could I should have probably been dead, but he had a different He had a different plan for my life.

I I I I think about heaven.

I think about walking the streets of gold one day.

I think about being reunited with the people that left me here on earth.

I think about the good things, and it causes me to rejoice.

Where is your mind at?

What do you gotta pull your thoughts from?

Because too many times we're thinking too much about the wrong things.

See you no.

Y'all quiet today.

Too many times we're thinking about man what what he said, what she said.

What he thinks.

We think about the troubles that we're going through.

We think about what's in our bank account.

What's not in our bank account.

We think about what we what we wish we could have that we don't have.

We think about our pain and our failures.

We think I think about my insecurities sometimes.

And this is why so many of us walk with Jesus, but we walk with no joy.

Doesn't that seem like an oxymoron?

But but that's that's the way that we live sometimes.

We we shouldn't be miserable Christians.

And yet I know that some of you today you're in here and you love the Lord.

But you're always sad.

You're a sad Christian.

But Pastor, you don't understand.

I've got a reason to be sad.

Yes.

But you also have a reason to rejoice.

Think about those things too.

Some of you are angry Christians.

Does it take a lot to tick you off And there's a reason.

There's a reason that you're angry.

Somebody long time ago hurts you and you haven't been able to heal from it.

But you have a reason also to rejoice.

Some of you are scared.

You're scared Christians.

And I don't say that as a dog.

I say that it with with love.

Like there's some people who are just living In fear.

You're in fear of taking that step of faith that God has asked you to take.

You question every single move.

You've got no peace in your life.

And you say, but Pastor, I've put myself out there before and I've been burned, I've been hurt.

I have a reason to fear, but you also have a reason to rejoice.

Christ deserves his church to show the world joyful Christians, does he not?

If I take my wife out on a date, I want her to smile.

I want her to look happy.

I don't want her to communicate that she's not happy with her husband, and yet we go to church as Bible-believing, God-loving, God-fearing Christians.

And we can't even worship sometimes.

And there's an invitation to praise God and to raise your voice among fellow believers.

And some of us are just too quiet.

Rejoicing is a choice.

This world doesn't need to see miserable Christians, man.

Or angry Christians.

Or depressed Christians.

I tell people all the time, if you've got road raids, you better not put on a PNUMA bumper sticker Okay.

If you got a potty mouth on you, don't be putting on a PNEUMA shirt.

And yet there's people in your life who know you're a believer, but you don't show them.

You don't show them them with your joy.

And listen, I'm not saying that we're not going to have moments of emotion.

We are.

But don't let those moments become a part of your identity Joy needs to be a part of your identity.

You know why?

Because your joy actually means something.

My joy means something.

Can we say something that never gets said behind a pulpit?

I think we're too afraid to admit.

But in reality is non-believers can be happy without Jesus.

They can be.

They can be.

I I know that's like a point that we like to make in evangelism.

Like, hey man, your life sucks.

Try Jesus.

It's like we're selling happiness.

What c what what are we doing?

But but the reality, I I know plenty of people in the world who are happy.

They find joy in their families, they find joy in their careers, they find joy in their wealth, and and and you could lie to them, you'd be like, brother, I know that you're not really happy.

No, they're happy.

They're happy.

Don't we say that a lot?

There's a hole in your heart, right?

People in the world can find joy in other things.

Buddhists are said to be some of the happiest people in the world.

They don't got Jesus.

You can be happy without Jesus, but listen, all that happiness and all that joy does not carry the same weight that ours does.

Our joy means something more because it doesn't have an expiration date.

My joy doesn't end with this life.

My joy isn't tied to something that is not eternal.

My joy is tied to my eternal God in heaven.

And that is the mentality that Christians need to walk with: a mindset of joy, a mindset of freedom and gladness.

That when we sing these songs, we actually resonate with them.

Mindset matters.

Tell the person next to you, mindset matters.

I'm almost done.

But I I I'll tell you that with joy as your mindset, with joy as your mindset, you'll be able to see clearly the lesson that God is trying to teach you in every moment.

And may maybe not right away because we don't always know what God is doing.

In the moment, but but joy allows us to search with clarity, it doesn't allow us to look for what God is doing.

You know, I tell my girls all the time: if you have a bad attitude at school, it's gonna affect the way that you learn.

Because you'll be distracted by the things that are making you miss the lesson.

You're gonna be consumed with things that are distracting you from actually learning, and that's how we do life a lot of times.

We go into the day with a bad attitude.

Well, I got to deal with this person at work.

Instead of asking, asking yourself, Lord, what who do I need to be for this person?

What do I need to do for this person that I don't like?

What are you teaching me right now?

Are you trying to teach me patience?

Are you trying to teach me peace?

Joy searches for the lessons with clear.

So with the right mindset, my challenge to you is to look for the teaching moment.

That's my challenge to you this morning.

I want you to go out and I want you to look for what God is trying to say in your moment right now.

Everybody's in a moment.

Everybody's in a season right now.

There is something hurting you.

There is something making you um uh feel a certain type of way maybe it's good maybe it's not good but there's a moment here There's a lesson.

And so in the last few verses of this passage, you know, Paul, what Paul is doing here is he's he's addressing the church's recommitment to his ministry.

That's why he says, you have revived your concern for me.

Apparently the church of Philippians was giving to his ministry at one point and they stopped And and now they're supporting him again.

And so Paul says, I rejoice at your concern for me again.

And then he says this, he says, not that I'm really in need though.

You know, he he could have said, hey, thanks guys.

This is gonna be a blessing.

But he saw this as a teaching moment for the church.

So he says this, he says, for I have learned, somebody say learned.

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Content.

Can I pause on that word for a second?

You know what that word means, content?

In the Greek, it means self-sufficient.

Content doesn't mean satisfied.

Like it means self-sufficient.

So in terms of Paul It meant that he's not influenced by any external factors that would otherwise influence the way that he thinks or functions.

So so for Paul, it's like, hey, if you give to my ministry Great.

But if you don't, God is still good, and there's my joy.

I don't tie my joy to my ministry.

So if you don't give to my ministry, I ain't even mad at you.

Because my joy is in the Lord.

And so because my joy is in the Lord and my God is never changing.

Listen, listen, listen to this.

When your joy is tied to the Lord, How many of you know that we serve an unchanging God?

He's an immutable God.

He's a God that is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I could count on that.

I can count on his goodness.

He's not going to be good sometimes.

It's not dependent on anything.

God is good.

I didn't mean for that to work that way, but amen.

But but but you know what's ever changing?

You me Sometimes I'm committed, sometimes I'm not.

Sometimes I want to show up to parking ministries, sometimes I'm not.

Sometimes I want to come to church, sometimes I don't.

Sometimes I want to tithe, sometimes I don't.

Sometimes I want to pray, and sometimes I don't.

If my joy is tied to y'all, which I love y'all, but if my joy is tied to y'all, I I'd lose more hair.

If if I I I would I would I would quit.

I I would just I would go with the tides.

When when this place is full, I'd leave feeling energized.

When this place was empty, I'd feel like Lord, I just need to quit because my ministry is over.

But my joy is tied to the Lord.

And because he's never changing, everything can change in my life, but I still got joy because my God doesn't change So he says, I've learned how to be content in every moment.

But this isn't something that he just knows intellectually, this is something that he's actually lived.

He's learned it.

You gotta you gotta go through the lessons to actually really learn it.

And so some of you here, you might be hearing this for the first time.

You're like, man, this that sounds real good But I'm gonna pray for you because God is gonna make you live it.

Paul says, I know how to be brought low And I bet you when he said that, he he probably had so much probably came to mind.

When he was beaten, when his name was being Dragged in the mud because he he his his apostolic authority was being questioned.

I know how to be brought low, I know how to be shipwrecked, I I know how to have nothing And he says, I know how to abound.

He says, in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty And hunger and abundance and need.

What's the secret?

What's the mystery revealed?

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I know we like to take that verse out of context and think that that means I can do anything I want to do, but that's not necessarily what it means.

It means that anything that you are commissioned to, any moment that God has you in, you can do it.

You can do it.

Any sickness that is facing your life right now, any disease that's over you, any any divorce that's looming over your life, any anxiety, any brother Any bankruptcy that's that you're going through right now, God says if your joy is tied to me, you can do it.

You can get through it.

You can get through it with a smile.

You can get through it while singing praises to God on the other side.

You can get through it.

You can do it because I'm your strength, says the Lord.

Paul's been through some stuff.

He's had a rough ministry.

He's had a rough life.

But because Paul's joy didn't come from his ministry or even his own life, he's learned that he can do everything if God gives him strength for it.

I I was just sharing the other day with somebody, and there's there's been plenty of times where I've I've wanted to quit.

I've wanted to quit ministry so many times dealing with people is it's stressful, man.

Not always seeing the results, not always seeing the fruit.

So many times this made me want to almost throw in the towel, but then God reminds me, my joy doesn't come from ministry, doesn't come from people.

Comes from the Lord.

So as long, as long as God has me here in this moment, I will continue to be discipled and taught by what He's teaching me.

I want you to I want you to stand and I want to I want to leave you with something I I I wanna I want you to be reminded today that again God is not wasting a moment that you're in I know that that is a vague statement.

Some of you are doing great right now.

You showed up to church fired up.

Some of you are not.

Some of you are suffering in silence.

Some of you are depressed.

Some of you are angry.

Some of you are anxious.

Rejoice.

That's the word that I want you to take with you.

Rejoice.

Listen.

I'm gonna read this because I want you to receive it the way that I wrote it.

Joy is a natural secondary gift that flows from the gift of salvation Joy is something to be caught from the table of our salvation.

If you struggle to find it because it's clouded by the emotions that come from this life, the only thing you can do Is rejoice.

Paul says, rejoice in the Lord.

And again I say, rejoice.

So if if joy is a gift, listen, listen, if joy is a gift to be accepted, Then to rejoice is to summon that gift into your spirit.

Did you hear that?

Joy is what you need.

Rejoicing is what you need to do to obtain it.

To rejoice is in an intentional act of praise.

It is a shout, it is a prayer, it is a song, it is a thought.

If you can't find joy, rejoice in what is true, rejoice in what is honorable, and what is just and what is pure, what is lovely, what is commendable.

Rejoice with excellence and anything that is worthy. of praise.

Rejoice in his word.

Rejoice in his goodness.

Rejoice in his mercy.

Rejoice in his provision.

Rejoice in everything that God has given you.

But for the love of God, just rejoice.

Because we have a God.

Who has gifted us salvation?

And I've got a reason for the joy that is in me.

Heavenly Father, come on, pray with me real quick.

Heavenly Father, I pray that this word would be stuck.

Somebody's heart this morning.

My God, I pray for that Christian who is walking in here this morning, sad and downcast, Lord, can't seem to find the joy, my God, that we just spoke about, Lord.

I pray in Jesus' name that you would.

Spark the strength for them to begin to declare your goodness and your mercies over their life, my God.

I pray that they would begin to find the joy that is already here, Father.

I pray for that person that is angry, Lord.

I pray, Father, in Jesus' name.

That you would cover them with joy, Father God, that will not put them to shame, Father.

I pray in Jesus' name that we would leave here today, radiating in your glory, Father God, as sons and daughters of God, we thank you for the gift of salvation.

That we get to rejoice in.

In Jesus' name, I want to invite you this morning.

If you need to Thanks for listening.

If you'd like some more information on PNEUMA Church, visit us on our website at mypneumachurch.org.

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Thanks again and God bless