Joy on The Way (2 of 8)
Journey Into Joy
Jerry Vines
Philippians 1:3-30
6/2/02
Just a few weeks ago a twenty-one year old man named
Luke John Helder made some pipe bombs and spread them
in mailboxes throughout the Midwest. When he was
apprehended he said, "The top things I care about are
my girlfriend and my music band. I party, play guitar,
and talk online to everyone. That's my life." He was
on a journey across the Midwest and that's his life.
How different is that philosophy and view of life from
the one Paul expresses in Philippians 1. In the 21st
verse he says, "For me to live is Christ and to die is
gain." The reason Paul was a man who was on a journey
into joy and had joy in his heart - he had discovered
that when you invite Jesus Christ into your heart and
into your life, you begin a journey into joy.
It dawned on me this week after studying Philippians
for many, many years now, that in this joy book which
we are studying, coming from the inspired pen of the
Apostle Paul, though he mentions joy over and over.
Some 18 times he makes reference to joy in this book.
But he really never gives you a definition of joy.
Never does Paul say let me give you the six steps to
follow and if you will follow these steps then you
will have joy in your life. No definitions. No how to
get joy.
Rather you have just an intimate expression from the
Apostle Paul, from a man who has joy in his life. He
is experiencing joy and as we read through these
verses the joy that Paul is experiencing in his
journey of life just kind of spills over onto the
pages and spills over into our hearts also.
As we move through the book of Philippians there are a
variety of matters which could have robbed Paul of his
joy. In chapter one, he is going to share with us some
of the circumstances of his life. Circumstances can
rob you of your joy. If there was ever a man who was
having difficult circumstances it was Paul. H ...
Journey Into Joy
Jerry Vines
Philippians 1:3-30
6/2/02
Just a few weeks ago a twenty-one year old man named
Luke John Helder made some pipe bombs and spread them
in mailboxes throughout the Midwest. When he was
apprehended he said, "The top things I care about are
my girlfriend and my music band. I party, play guitar,
and talk online to everyone. That's my life." He was
on a journey across the Midwest and that's his life.
How different is that philosophy and view of life from
the one Paul expresses in Philippians 1. In the 21st
verse he says, "For me to live is Christ and to die is
gain." The reason Paul was a man who was on a journey
into joy and had joy in his heart - he had discovered
that when you invite Jesus Christ into your heart and
into your life, you begin a journey into joy.
It dawned on me this week after studying Philippians
for many, many years now, that in this joy book which
we are studying, coming from the inspired pen of the
Apostle Paul, though he mentions joy over and over.
Some 18 times he makes reference to joy in this book.
But he really never gives you a definition of joy.
Never does Paul say let me give you the six steps to
follow and if you will follow these steps then you
will have joy in your life. No definitions. No how to
get joy.
Rather you have just an intimate expression from the
Apostle Paul, from a man who has joy in his life. He
is experiencing joy and as we read through these
verses the joy that Paul is experiencing in his
journey of life just kind of spills over onto the
pages and spills over into our hearts also.
As we move through the book of Philippians there are a
variety of matters which could have robbed Paul of his
joy. In chapter one, he is going to share with us some
of the circumstances of his life. Circumstances can
rob you of your joy. If there was ever a man who was
having difficult circumstances it was Paul. H ...
There are 23672 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
