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 Page 5  |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | |
Mike Slaughter  |
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| Your
children. Some of you are frustrated with children right
now because of their lack of direction. Remember the
dreams you had for them when they were born. Remember how
hard you worked to come up with the right name. You
wanted to give them a name of blessing. My brothers and
sisters, remember your dreams because God will bring
forth new life in the desert. Joy is not the absence of
conflict or pain. It is filling your mind with reminders
of what God has done and expecting what He will do. Hey,
joy remembers. Joy dreams. And you know what else? Joy
gives. III. Give |
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| Psalm 126:5-6 5: May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! 6: He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. |
 Look at
verses five and six with me. "May those who sow in
tears reap with shouts of joy." What does sow mean?
It means to give, doesn't it? It means to invest. May
those who sow in tears, even in hard times, even in the
tough times, reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out
weeping while bearing seed for sowing, shall come home
with shouts of joy carrying their produce.A "Get" Focus Most people are caught with a "Get" focus, not a "Give" focus. Remember, as a kid, you start out with a "Get" focus, don't you? Oh, Christmas is coming, I can't wait to see what I GET. Right? And when you were a little kid, the Sears and Roebuck catalogue used to come to your house. In September, you began to dream about what you would GET. Oh, Daddy, please, if I could just get this three-wheeled tricycle, I'll be happy. But happy is a cheap substitute. It's not the same thing as joy. And happy doesn't last long. You
see, a lot of us get married to be happy, and all of us
discover happy doesn't last long. You're not looking for
happy, you're looking for joy. Right? You get the
three-wheeled trike, you haven't had that very long until
someone down the street gets a bike. "Daddy, I know
I said I'd never ask for anything again, but, if I could
just have a bike!" You been there? Done that? Never
ask for anything again. You're happy Christmas morning
when you run downstairs and see what you got, but then
somebody down the street got a bike and it had a motor on
it. You remember? "Daddy I know when I said when I
got the bike I'd never ask anything again, but believe
me, this time, if I could just ... a car." Right?You
live with a "Get" focus. What are you doing?
I'm getting an education. I'm getting a relationship. I'm
getting a house, and then I'm getting a bigger house. It
is such an ego driven energy and it consumes, because
then you get all this stuff and you've got to lock up
everything you've got. Right? You have to put locks on
your house to keep your things safe, and then you have to
back up the locks with alarms. And then you have to
secure the alarms with insurance. And then you die.A "Give" Focus What has
it been about? Joy does not come from getting. You see,
joy comes from giving. Joy comes from a new focus. When
in pain, we go out crying because it hurts. We go out
crying but we've got the seed of giving in our hand when
we go. You see that in this psalm? Because joy comes from
giving even in our pain, we decide to live in response to
the abundance and generosity of God. You see, we trust
God will richly provide all my needs according to his
riches in Christ Jesus. Joy centers in a God who
generously gives, rather than our ego which freely grabs. |
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