Living Joyfully Ever After! Part 4: Fulfilling Our Joy Potential!

[1] To Fulfill Our Joy Potential We Need To … Out!

Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

2 Peter 1:3 (NLT) By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

2 Peter 1:5 (NLT)
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.

Romans 14:19; Ephesian 4:3; 2 Peter 3:14

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (MSG)

All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. ²⁶ I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! ²⁷ I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

[2] To Fulfill Our Joy Potential We Need To … Out!

Philippians 2:14 (NLT)

Do everything without complaining and arguing.

• Complaining is a joy-stealer!

1 Corinthians 10:1-5;10-11 (NLT)

I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground . . . ³ All of them ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

¹⁰ … Don’t complain as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. ¹¹ These things happened to them as examples for us.

Exodus 2:23-25

Romans 8:26-27 (NLT)

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

• Arguing is another joy-stealer!

Recommended Book: BOUNDARIES FACE TO FACE – how to have that difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding! Drs. Cloud, Townsend

[3] To Fulfill Our Joy Potential We Need To … Out!

Philippians 2:15-16 (TLB)
You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of people who are crooked and stubborn. Shine out among them like beacon lights, ¹⁶ holding out to them the Word of Life.

Matthew 5:16 (MSG)
Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Daniel 12:3 (MSG)
Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.