Real Joy Part 2
Download MP3Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine encouragement. This is Joy In Every Step with your host, beloved preacher, retired teacher, and faithful servant of the Lord, elder Sarita Bernadette. Long before podcasting existed, a promise was spoken. That one day, Sarita's voice would bring comfort, clarity, and understanding through the word of God. Years later, when God opened the door, Sarita took the next step in faith.
Introduction:What began as a leap of faith has become a weekly invitation to walk more closely with God, discover the joy found in his word, and receive fresh revelation for every step of the journey. Whether you're walking through the valleys or standing on the mountaintops, Sarita's heartfelt messages will guide you back to God's promises with wisdom, warmth, and the gentle reminder that he cares deeply for you. So open your heart, settle your spirit, and take the next step in faith with Joy In Every Step.
Sarita Bernadette:Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette, and welcome back to Joy In Every Step. I'm glad you're here. We're just beginning our second year and today we're continuing our deep dive into the topic of joy, real joy. The apostle Paul listed joy as a fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians five twenty two, and it's there along with love, patience, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. These are the characteristics that should show up in the life of a Christian.
Sarita Bernadette:As believers come under the control of the Holy Spirit, we would expect to see evidence by way of these qualities. Joy. Joy translated from the Greek in a biblical sense is a deep and sustainable state of being rooted in gratitude and an internal contentment comes from the inside. It's what allows us to say all is well. All is well because of our faith and in Christ and because that faith is based on God's unchanging character.
Sarita Bernadette:We are tapped in to the ultimate source of joy, beloved. The good news, the good news that Christ lived, died, and was buried and rose again for our salvation. He conquered sin and death for us. There is real joy in knowing that. We draw strength from that.
Sarita Bernadette:The joy of the Lord is my strength. That's a declaration that is so powerful. It's from the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, specifically verse 10. I'd like to give some context here before I share that. The scene is the public reading of the law of Moses by Ezra to the returned Jewish exiles.
Sarita Bernadette:The people had been under Babylonian control for a time and they were being allowed to come back to their ancestral land, Jerusalem. Here the people are gathered together at the water gate of the city to hear this reading. Now it had been a long time since they had heard the word of God, read aloud in that way. So Ezra, the priest, along with the Levites, also priests, explained the Word in a way that the people could understand it and that's significant. They explained it to the people as they read.
Sarita Bernadette:And the people stood there listening and worshiping the Lord for six straight hours. Six hours. And as they were there, they began to feel overwhelmed by what they were hearing. So much so that they began to weep and cry out. We get some clues about how the people were feeling in the moment from the responses given in the Scripture.
Sarita Bernadette:You get the impression that they felt guilty for falling away from the Lord and not keeping His commands while they were in exile. Again, they had not heard the law read in a while. So maybe they were grasping the fact that they could finally hear this in a public space again. Maybe they were simply caught up in the joy of hearing God's words once again. Have you ever been overcome with emotion?
Sarita Bernadette:Just hearing or reading the Word of God? You know, I've experienced the Word of God just jumping off the page at me as I read it. I've experienced the Word of God just seeping deep into my spirit as I hear it. So in Nehemiah eight, nine, and ten, we read, And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.' for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.
Sarita Bernadette:Then he said to them, go your way, eat the fat, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them, send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Do not grieve, for the Lord for the joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord triumphs over fear, worry, guilt, shame, anxiety and anything else that would come against His children. The joy of the Lord is available to all believers.
Sarita Bernadette:The joy of the Lord is my strength is an important declaration. We know that life isn't always easy. As the song says, time is filled with swift transition. None on earth unmoved can stand. Build your hopes on things eternal.
Sarita Bernadette:Hold to God's unchanging hand. The one constant we have in this life is change, right? Knowing the Lord doesn't change is extremely reassuring. Having the joy of the Lord gives us strength and helps us through life's twists and turns. The joy of the Lord gives us strength to get through the tough times.
Sarita Bernadette:The Word reminds us that we will have some trouble, but God also reminds us that we can count on Him to be with us and we can be strong. I believe that's a reason to find joy and choose it, no matter what things look like. Because, beloved, joy isn't just a feeling, joy is a choice. Philippians four:four, which Paul wrote as he sat in a prison cell facing some intense hardship and uncertainty reads, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice.
Sarita Bernadette:Believers are commanded to find a steady, deep and profound gladness in their relationship with the Lord. Speaking of deep and profound gladness, can we talk about Paul and Silas? Paul and Silas. For those of you unfamiliar with this story, it's recorded in the New Testament in Acts 16. The chapter opens with Paul and Silas in Philippi where they're being in of to in and commanded the spirit to leave her in the name of Jesus Christ.
Sarita Bernadette:When the spirit departed, the young woman could no longer predict the future and her owners were quite unhappy that Paul and Silas had cut off their cash flow. So they dragged Paul and Silas to the authorities, which led to them being beaten and thrown in jail. Now the jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. So he put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Acts sixteen twenty five-thirty five.
Sarita Bernadette:Listen. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off. The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open.
Sarita Bernadette:He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, 'Stop! Don't kill yourself we are all here.' The jailer called for the lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household. And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who believed in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds.
Sarita Bernadette:Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into the house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. The next morning, the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, Let those men go. So the jailer told Paul, The city officials have said, you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.
Sarita Bernadette:Paul and Silas responded to an evil spirit by casting it out, and for that they were treated quite harshly. What I find inspiring is, instead of ruminating on the injustice of it all, Paul and Silas chose joy, radical joy, deep and profound gladness. They chose to pray and sing songs to the Lord at midnight. In their darkest hour, they lifted their voices from deep inside that prison, and when they did, it sparked an earthquake that shook the doors wide open and severed their chains. Paul and Silas' decision to sing in joyful worship in spite of their circumstances speaks to their level of faith.
Sarita Bernadette:Their joy wasn't based on their situation it was based on their relationship with God. When they chose to lift their voices in that dark and dreary dungeon, they ushered in a spirit of freedom that went beyond the two of them. Look at the impact. Others were listening, and they benefited from the joy that broke out at midnight. Their joy became a witness to the Philippian jailer.
Sarita Bernadette:He was so moved that he asked how he could be saved. He even cleaned them up and invited them to share a meal at his home. His whole family was filled with joy and received salvation. Choose joy, beloved. You never know what it might unlock.
Sarita Bernadette:One final thing here. Paul and Silas set the tone in that prison. By singing songs of worship and praise, they set the atmosphere. Reverend Doctor. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sarita Bernadette:Wrote about a difference, wrote about the difference between a thermometer, which just measures the surrounding temperature, and a thermostat, which changes it in his 1963 book Strength to Love and his letter from a Birmingham jail. He contrasted the two instruments as an explanation of what he perceived to be the difference between the early Christian church and the Christian church today. He said that the church today was more of a thermometer, simply reflecting what's going on in popular culture, whereas the early church was a thermostat. They actually changed the society around them. Paul and Silas chose to be thermostats in that prison.
Sarita Bernadette:In a world full of thermometers, be a thermostat. Set the atmosphere with joy, beloved. This is Joy In Every Step. I'm Sarita Bernadette and I'm grateful you chose to spend some time here with me. Feel free to share this episode with someone you know would appreciate it.
Sarita Bernadette:You can find Joy In Every Step wherever you listen to your podcast and give us a follow there. Do check out the website at joyineverystep.org. See you next time.
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