Joy 3-Winning the War, episode 105

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If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast.

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And also help and hope for your own life journey.

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I'm talking about some really important things today, so please, as your mind and heart really hear something that speaks to you,

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be sure to jot it down so you can put it into practice.

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I have a young grand girl who is full of energy.

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She seems to be in endless motion, running from one activity to the next.

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She'll start on the trampoline, which is probably her favorite, then go climb in the jungle gym.

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She loves to play princess in my car.

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I'm her chauffeur.

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She loves to pretend to shop, or she likes to take care of baby puppies, or she loves to swim in the big blow up pool that they have.

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She loves to go visit the farm piglets.

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And always, I'm following her around for all of this.

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Joy just bubbles out of her.

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When this Gidu, that's my grandmother name, gets tired and requires a pause, she's usually wise enough to grant it if she wants me to keep playing.

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But sometimes, if I or even her mom or dad choose not to cooperate with her desired activity, she can become very unhappy.

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Her happy face and all the joy she usually has just disappear.

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Most of us can be like that some of the time.

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Most of us, like me, want our own way.

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And when life is going our way, we are happy, even joyful.

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But when circumstances or our prodigal or even God interferes with our way, our joy can disappear.

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And we also have an enemy who is enticing our prodigal and loving to steal our joy.

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So some perspective on our enemy.

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Much of the strife, tension, warfare, and violence we see around the world is more than just conflicting ideologies,

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warring tribes, people demanding freedom, nations seeking to dominate.

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It is because powerful forces will use any conflict, any misunderstanding, or power grab to increase turmoil, animosity, fear, and more.

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These evil forces are not taking sides, they are playing one side against another.

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Our God, on the other hand, is a God of love and peace.

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His angelic forces are engaged in this battle to protect the earth and all its inhabitants from the destructive intentions of Satan.

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There are many of God's children who are actively involved for the kingdom of God,

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where battles are won on their knees, worshipping God, speaking his truth, living out his love.

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Jesus said of the devil, our enemy, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

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I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.

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So he is even acknowledging that the evil one is all about destruction, killing and stealing our joy.

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Peter warns us in one of his books, be alert and of sober mind, your enemy, the devil,

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prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

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So if the devil, the world, our own desires, and our prodigals are all conspiring against us,

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how do we find and hold on to joy?

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Because we have someone more powerful than all those joy stealers.

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The Holy Spirit of God lives in us and fights for us and gives us all we need, including joy.

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In Zechariah 5-6, we are admonished and encouraged to understand it is not by might nor by power,

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but by my Spirit that you're going to make it through all of this battle.

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In Romans 15-13, we read, now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing

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so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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So you see, the first key, we're doing two today, the first key for us to have joy,

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no matter what's surrounding us, what the circumstances are.

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What our prodigal is doing is the Holy Spirit who Jesus sent to live in us.

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He said it was better that he leave so that the Spirit could come and live in each of us.

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He provides so much for us. Just listen. He fights for us in the battle.

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He is our advocate. He comforts and encourages. He is our help and deliverer.

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He is a warrior on our behalf and on behalf of our wonderful, loved prodigals.

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As we admit our own inadequacies and sins and ask the Spirit of Jesus to fill us and direct us

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and empower us, he will do it. He will do all of these and much more for us.

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He's there on our behalf for every need that we have. He will be with us in all the battles.

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And then there's a bonus. We read that the fruit of the Spirit,

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the fruit of having the Spirit live in us, what he will produce in us, love.

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Sometimes we need that extra love for our prodigals. Joy, we'll come back to that.

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Peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

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Are those amazing things that the Spirit of God is working to make true of us?

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He provides some, but he's growing it into our lives. And notice the second one is joy.

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He's so good to give us joy in the midst of everything that we might be experiencing.

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It becomes ours as we surrender to the Lord, as we choose to walk in his will and wisdom and power.

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So we can have joy as a way of life, even life with a prodigal.

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I said last week I would share two secrets for consistent joy. And that's the first one.

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Live in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. Let him fill you and guide you and give you everything that you need.

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So now let me tell you one more practice that I found essential and helpful for a joyful life.

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As I told the story of my grand girl and my natural desires, both of us wanting our own way,

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I noted that when she or I get what we want, we can be happy and even joyful.

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But as we have discovered, life doesn't give us all that we want. Rarely does it mean we get our own way on a consistent basis.

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You may have heard this saying, it is not joy that makes us grateful, it's gratitude that makes us joyful.

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When my husband died, which I talked about in the previous podcast,

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I and my family who were there made a tight circle just as he passed, and we prayed together.

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All the words that came out of my mouth were, thank you, Lord.

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How could that be? How could I be saying thank you as I said goodbye to my husband?

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I believe it's because a lot of years ago, I made a decision to act on God's command that he gave through Paul.

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He says these things in 1 Thessalonians 5.

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Rejoice always, that's joy, you know, rejoice.

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Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances.

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Now most of us think that's one of the hardest things God's asked us to do.

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Give thanks when things are good, when we get our own way, when we have a happy surprise.

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But this is give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

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And then he expands on that through Paul.

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In Philippians chapter 4, he says, rejoice in the Lord always. There it is again.

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Rejoice, in fact, he says, I will say it again. Rejoice.

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Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

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Do not be anxious about anything. That's a lot of what steals our joy.

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Isn't it? Anxiety. But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

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present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

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will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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So you see, God's serious about giving thanks.

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Not just because he wants to be thanked. And not even just so that you began to get thankful,

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but that you learned that giving thanks is a pathway to joy, even when circumstances are challenging.

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And this has become my second way of life practice, to give thanks.

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And everything. I seek to make sure I'm walking in the power of the Spirit of God.

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And then to give thanks in everything. Really? Everything?

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When I don't get my way, when my prodigal once again breaks my heart,

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yes, it has transformed me. And I'm going to give thanks in everything.

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My heart. Yes, it has transformed my life.

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Giving thanks has given me an amazing life filled with joy.

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Even in the loss of my husband. Even through tears.

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God is the one who gives us joy.

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So we have looked at two practices that we can live out and find great joy in return.

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be filled with and walk in the Spirit,

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and give thanks in everything.

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My prayer for you is that you will be honest with God.

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Tell him of all your pain and fears and loss.

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We talked about that last week.

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Then thank him, thank him that he is with you in it all,

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that his Spirit lives in you and will give you joy,

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even in the midst of pain.

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Then thank him for what you like

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and even for what you wouldn't have chosen

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for your life today or longer term.

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Give thanks, walk in the Spirit, and joy is an outcome.

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So next week, because you're going to practice those things

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all week and you're gonna come to the podcast next week

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and you're gonna have overflowing joy in your life,

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it's possible, I promise.

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So what should we do with all this joy,

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even in the midst of our hard journey?

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Will you do it?

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Will you walk in the Spirit?

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Will you give thanks?

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Remember, next week, we're gonna talk about what to do

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with all that joy.

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It has amazing possibilities.

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And remember that June 2, the Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day

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is just over a week away.

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Be sure to give us the name or names of your prodigals

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if you haven't already.

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Let your friends know about Prodigal Prayer Day.

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Invite them to pray with you.

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We will list some resources in the show notes

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a little now and a lot next week.

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And there are two more special joy songs for you

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in the show notes.

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God bless you.