Choosing Joy: The Transformative Power of Faith

1) "Man, this is an example of how your faith can dictate your joy and how it can strengthen your joy. From the rest of the conversation we're having, this started off with this guy who's pretty distraught because he's there to identify his mom's body. He finishes his cigarette. We walk to the hospital door, and he's just smiling, talking the whole time about his faith, his love, worship music, even his love for his mom. He's still sad, obviously, because if she didn't know the Lord, then there's a negative consequence to that eternally for both of them. But he had joy, and he was smiling and talking because he, you know, it was like God had done a work in him, just thinking about him and thinking about his love of worship music and all of these things. It just changed the entire perspective." [03:10] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "Joy is a choice. Happiness is a response we have when something goes well, or when your kid comes and gives you a hug and you're happy about in that moment, that's a response to a stimulus. So something has happened. We're happy about that thing happening. Joy is something that we choose. We choose to be joyful. We choose to be joyful when things are going well. We choose to be joyful when we're sad, but we have to choose it and we can only exude or show so much joy without it being full, fulfilled by God." [06:50] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "Receive Jesus as your lord and savior, that you do not go through trying times, because you definitely do. But in fact, I can make an argument you might go through tougher times once you do, but there's an impact that it has on you. You're not alone. You're always in community with God. You have the fruits of the spirit poured out into you. You have the ability to find joy in all things. Romans 828 and we know that in all things, God works together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. So that means in the good and the bad times, everything is working together for his good." [11:06] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "Live with a spirit of gratitude, meaning, live every moment of your life in this constant worship, constant conversation with God. Pray without ceasing. That does. I mean, you gotta. You gotta go to work. But I've told the story before where I was going through a big decision, and I was out playing disc golf, actually. And I was just walking around. I was listening to a podcast, and then I just turned it off. And just for like, four holes, I was just praying, just walking through the woods. I was still throwing. My brain doesn't get quiet very easily. So for four holes, I mean, I'm still throwing, I'm still walking through the woods. But that's what I was doing. And I was just, how do I make this decision?" [14:27] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "Joy is the strength of faith. We're going to pull from a book no one ever reads from, probably, unless you're reading straight through the Bible, you can probably quote one verse out of it, and it's not this one. Habakkuk. Habakkuk 317 19. Though the fig tree should not blossom nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls. Times are bad. Yeah, times are bad. Nothing's producing for you, it says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will take joy in the God of my salvation." [25:33] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "I want to say this, too, though. Is the fullness of joy found in the spirit of God? 100% it is. I'm a firm believer in counseling and therapy. I don't think they're mutually exclusive. I think that they're actually both incredibly valuable. It's necessary to have a relationship with God. It's necessary to. For the fullness of joy to be acquired to have that relationship with him. But that doesn't mean that times are not going to be hard. You're not going to get lost. You're not going to be struggling. And counseling and therapy are incredible tools, and they're not anti biblical. I will argue with anybody who thinks that they are." [28:32] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)