Embracing Unshakeable Joy
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Embracing an Unshakeable Joy | Pastor Dean Deguara
Point 1 | You Can Have Joy in Every Outcome
Philippians 3:1 (NLT)
Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.
Rejoice in the Lord:
Let the Lord be the one who makes you happy
Find your joy in Him and in Him alone
Happiness is not determined by everything going right in your life. True happiness is determined by the One who can make all things right!
Point 2 | Watch Out for Worthless Pursuits
Philippians 3:2-4 (NLT)
Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
When we are pursuing something that’s eternal, we will always be vulnerable to the temptation of taking a short cut.
Philippians 3:3 (NLT)
For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort
The Marks of Maturity
My Worship by the power of the Holy Spirit in the middle of warfare
My Reliance on Christ’s Righteousness when I’m facing resistance
My Confidence in God’s Character when I’m facing a crisis
Philippians 3:7 (NLT)
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
Point 3 | Pursue the Person, Not Just the Principles
Philippians 3:8-9 (NLT)
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.
You don’t need to put on display what no longer defines you.
Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
We embrace unshakeable joy when our eyes are fixed on heaven, not our history.
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and God is obviously already speaking to us through a worship.
Did you sense God's prophetic voice speaking to us in worship, talking about, come on, the new wine that is coming, the new wine that's going to be poured out, and he's positioning us to do it, and I believe that the word that he's given us through the book of Philippians is an on-time word, amen?
Amen.
And so we're going to jump in the word in just a moment.
Just a few things that I want to just talk to you about.
First of all, you guys see that the coffee cart was out there.
How many got your coffee this morning?
And some of you still got that free coffee there.
But we are in the process of just adding more folks to the team during the holidays.
And so if you would like to be a certified barista, come on, that was your dream right there, right?
You can go see Veda at the coffee cart and she'll get you all connected to getting certified.
It's about a 90 minute course and you can jump in and help us, especially through the holidays.
It's amazing to see all the people jumping in.
already and making it a huge success.
And so we appreciate that.
All of you that have been a part of Andrew's Angel Army, we've been getting updates from the Chastains all week.
And just to say this, week one is down.
All right.
Check, all right?
And Andrew has confidence.
You know, he's gotten through the fear and he's at peace.
And so the first week of treatments is complete.
They get a two-day break and again, week two tomorrow.
So thank you for continuing.
All the, I believe it's 70 people that signed up and are covering that family in prayer.
Thank you so much.
Last week I shared about Josiah getting signed to the 53.
And hopefully he stays there.
But I was sharing that testimony.
And then my brother, Chris Milton, texted me this week and shared that his son got signed to the 53-man roster for the Cincinnati Bengals.
And so, brother, can you just stand up and just...
We're going to be praying for Kendall.
And Kendall is a running back.
Come on, for the Bengals.
So we're thankful.
And, you know, we're back and forth all the time talking about, you know, the NFL and the business side and how they're messing with our sons.
But come on, how do you know God gets the victory?
Amen.
We're going to jump into this series.
All the notes for this message are in the YouVersion app.
You can go there, go to events, Real Life Church Sacramento, and all the notes are there to encourage and strengthen you in your walk.
We're continuing the series called Thanks Anyway.
developing a durable spirit.
Is there anyone besides me that God is developing in you a durable spirit that despite your circumstances, come on, despite the mountains that you're facing, come on, you're an overcomer in Christ's kingdom.
Is there anybody besides me that God, come on, what meant to destroy you, God is using to develop you.
Amen.
And this is our posture in this series.
Listen, I've walked plenty of hospital rooms in the last few months, prayed with families that are going through suffering, have done funerals, and here's the thing that I'm coming away.
God is developing us for something greater.
Amen?
He's developing us for an eternal reward.
Amen.
And we're continuing this series.
Thanks anyway.
Just say thanks anyway.
Thanks anyway.
And we've looked at chapter one where we've learned to thank God in advance despite our circumstances.
Our reality in Christ is greater than any reality that we would face outside of Christ.
And so because of that, we can thank God in advance for the victory even when it looks like we're losing.
Amen.
Come on, even when people around us are frowning, listen, we can thank God in advance for what he's doing in us and through us.
And last week, we looked at chapter two and how to shift our thought life and our attitudes from a place of scarcity to thanksgiving mode.
How many, God's been challenging you to get into thanksgiving mode?
All right, five people in the back.
How about the rest of you?
God's been challenging you to just flip the switch to thanksgiving mode.
So why is that?
So we can have the mind of Christ, or as Paul put it, the attitude of Christ, and experience the abundant life and not focus on the scarcity of life.
And this week, we're going to look at chapter three, where we're going to learn how thanksgiving and lasting joy, which I believe we've already been singing about, come from embracing and knowing Christ.
So chapter two, we get the attitude or the mind of Christ.
In chapter three, we get to know Christ, not through our achievements, but
But here's the thing, sometimes through the hard things we go through.
And I want to start out by asking you a simple question.
What are you chasing?
What are you chasing?
We all have something that we're chasing, whether it's achievement or approval or security or success.
We run after these things thinking that joy will meet us there only to be disappointed that when we arrive, there's always more to chase.
How many have been there before?
But Paul is teaching us in Philippians chapter 3 that joy doesn't just come from achieving more.
It comes from embracing Christ and letting go of everything else.
How many have had to let go and let God before?
Yes.
And in a world where success is often measured by your bank account, your achievements, your performance, Paul is inviting us in Philippians chapter 3 to something deeper.
Not temporary, but eternal.
And it's this simple thing.
It's actually one of our habits.
It's the number one habit that we have here in real life.
And it's this, to know God personally.
Amen.
To know Jesus even in the unknown.
Even in the uncertainty.
Even when we don't know what tomorrow is going to look like.
Listen, we can know him in the unknown places.
Even when I don't have the answers to my prayers.
Even when I don't see the breakthrough coming that I've been believing for.
The promises fulfilled today.
In my life, I can embrace knowing Jesus.
And when I do that, what I want to talk to you about is when I do that, I embrace an unshakable joy.
I want to talk to you today about embracing an unshakable joy.
So whether you've been walking with God for decades or today, you're wondering, hey, if God really real, I believe this word is for all of us.
It's this, you don't have to chase joy.
How many know you don't have to chase joy?
We can embrace an unshakable joy wherever we are at in our life.
And it leads me to my first point.
You can have joy in every outcome.
You can have joy in every outcome.
Philippians 3.1, I love this.
It jumped off the page when I read it, but it starts out with these two words.
Whatever happens.
Whatever happens.
My dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.
He says this, Paul, I never get tired of telling you these things.
I know you don't like to hear them.
I know you don't want to hear that you're going to go through some hard stuff.
I know that you don't like hearing that you're going to face mountains, that you're going to walk through the valley.
I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.
Amen.
And many people, listen, they crash and burn in their faith because they think when they get saved, all their problems are going to be taken care of.
They'll never face one.
How many know that's a lie?
And at the end of Philippians 2, 19 to 30, you can take time to read it, Paul has just finished highlighting Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples of humility, service, and sacrificial faithfulness.
And Epaphroditus, actually, he talks about nearly died serving the church, and Paul is now sending him from Rome to the Philippian church.
So when chapter 3 opens with whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord, he's basically saying he might not make it.
He might not get there.
He might not get there to encourage you.
But know this, whatever happens, rejoice in the Lord.
Amen.
Paul is saying no matter what the outcome, whether it's life, come on, hear the spirit of the Lord this morning.
Whatever the outcome, everybody say whatever the outcome.
Whatever the outcome.
Whether it's life, death, suffering, or uncertainty, he says this, keep rejoicing.
Now, that's not a word that we really use.
You don't come on a Sunday morning skipping through the parking lot saying, hey, brother and sister, what are you doing this morning?
I'm just rejoicing.
We don't say, I'm rejoicing.
We say, I'm good, I'm blessed.
But we don't use this word rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord means this.
Let the Lord be the one who makes you happy.
It means find your joy in him and him alone.
And it's as if Paul is saying, whether Epaphroditus lives or dies, whether he makes it to you or not, whether circumstances go planned or fall apart, hold on to the one in whom unshakable joy is found.
How many know that unshakable joy is a person?
His name is Jesus.
Amen.
And again, friends, people think we're nuts when we're smiling going through trials.
Come on, when we're joyful going through the junk that life throws at us.
It's just, come on, we call it around here, it's just real life.
That's why real life is real life.
Because we engage real problems.
Behind every problem is a person.
And that's why we embrace.
Come on.
We embrace real people.
How many know real people have real issues?
Real difficulties that they're going through.
But it doesn't stop there.
We have hope.
We have joy.
We have a confident expectation.
That that person, listen, that is in the problem, when they are embraced, we can lead them to an encounter with the living God.
And so many people are going through it, especially in this season.
I don't know what it is.
I don't know what it is about October, November, and December, but it seems like everybody's going through something.
Amen.
Maybe it's, and sometimes we kind of relate it to the weather changing and everything, but how many are thankful God never changes?
Even in the midst of seasons changing, he never changes.
And here's the thing.
This, though it seems crazy, it isn't denial.
It's defiant and unshakable joy in the face of hard things.
And when outcomes are out of your control, you and I, we have to make a choice.
And I've had to make these choices over my life.
Recently, I've had to make these choices to be joyful, like Paul said, with whatever happens.
With whatever happens.
Whatever the outcome is.
I'm going to smile at it.
Come on.
Whatever the outcome is.
I'm not going to allow it to dictate what my attitude is.
I'm going to rejoice in him.
That God is on the move.
He's on the move.
Whether listen.
Whether I like how he's moving or not.
I just want to align myself with it.
And what we do is we resist what God is doing.
And we miss the move of God in our life.
You see, happiness is not determined by everything in our lives going right.
True happiness is determined by the one who can make all things right.
You see, it's not whatever happens, happens.
That's not what Paul is saying here.
Whatever will be, will be.
That's not what Paul is saying.
It's whatever happens, I'm going to choose joy in the midst.
Listen, I know it's hard.
I know it's difficult.
I know the tears and the pain.
Listen, that you've cried in private.
Listen, those tears that you have sown, you will reap in joy, the Bible says.
When you mourn, he'll take your ashes, come on, and he'll turn them into beauty.
This is what God does when we're honest before him.
When we take off the plastic smiles on Sunday and we just present ourselves before God and say, God, this is hard.
This is tough.
And he begins to work in us and through us.
Because how many know you gotta smile on the inside before you smile on the outside?
Went and saw Brother Isaac Sims on Friday in the hospital.
That brother's been in the hospital every other month this year.
And no matter what I do, I go in there.
He was sleeping.
He was sound asleep.
Just got out of surgery.
And I said, Brother Isaac.
Tapped him.
Brother Isaac, who are you?
I said, Brother Isaac, it's Pastor Dean.
He said, I don't have my hearing aids.
Who are you?
I said...
Brother Isaac, it's Pastor Dean from real life.
And even, listen, even on the bed, come on, just out of surgery, he said, oh, brother, thank you for coming and being with me.
Listen, he's there.
He's going through suffering, and he still has a smile on his face.
I heard him on my way out.
I heard him talking to the nurse.
He said, that's my pastor.
That's my pastor.
Romans 8, 18, it's not on the screen.
It says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time, listen, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Listen to that.
The hardest thing that you're going through or suffering through will not compare, come on, to the glory that outshines the dark valley you had to walk through.
The suffering you are going through has nothing on the glory that is going to be revealed in you.
And we know verse 28 says that all things, everybody say all things, work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
Paul says this, I never get tired of telling you these things and I do it.
Listen, listen, I never get tired of telling you you're going to get tired.
Do you hear what Paul is saying to us?
I never get tired of just telling you the truth.
This is the way it is.
I never get tired of telling you that you're going to have to go through some stuff.
And why do I do that?
Listen, because you've got to get rid of this pie-in-the-sky Christianity that you're not going to go through anything in life.
Listen, the very thing that you thought was meant to destroy you, again, God is sending.
Listen, God will use it.
Not God is sending.
God will use it to develop in you a durable spirit.
So listen, that when you're down and you feel like quitting, how many know the resurrection power of the Holy Ghost is on the inside of you?
And listen, listen, listen, when we don't feel like it, how many ever just didn't feel like it this week?
Come on, when you don't feel like it, when you feel like just rolling over and staying in bed, come on, on a Sunday and something rises, it ain't you.
Because it ain't in you.
You're not strong enough.
Come on, you're not powerful enough.
But something, come on, on the inside of you, the Holy Ghost that's resident inside of you resurrects you and says, you're getting up.
Come on, dust yourself off.
It's not over.
I'm developing a durable spirit within you.
Paul says, I never get tired of telling you these things.
And I do it to safeguard your faith.
So you're not surprised by the attack of the enemy.
So you're not surprised by the suddenly attack.
that you didn't expect, the call that you got.
I never get tired of telling you because I don't want you to live this pie-in-the-sky Christianity that's not real.
God is developing a durable spirit within his people, leads me to my second point, and it's this, watch out for worthless pursuits.
Watch out for worthless pursuits.
Look what he says in verse two, he says, watch out for those dogs.
Come on, just look at your neighbor and say, dog.
Watch out for those dogs.
He's talking about the Judaizers, and he says those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved, for we who worship by the Spirit are the ones who are truly circumcised.
We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us.
We put no confidence, listen, in human effort.
Though I could have confidence in my own effort, if anyone could.
Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, Paul says, I have even more.
And what Paul is saying in the scripture, he immediately shifts and he's warning them about the Judaizers, a group that was trying to convince Gentile believers they needed to follow Jewish law, specifically circumcision to be fully saved.
And he uses three harsh words for them.
He calls them dogs.
It was an insult that Paul flipped on them.
And this is how actually Jews saw Gentiles as dogs.
He calls them evil workers.
Their legalism masks his righteousness, which was actually destructive.
And he called them mutilators, mocking their obsession with the outward.
Paul says they're just cutting their flesh without changing their hearts.
Listen, when we are pursuing something that's eternal, we will always be vulnerable to the temptation of taking a shortcut.
Let me say it again.
When you and I are pursuing something eternal, we will always be vulnerable to the temptation of taking a shortcut.
You see, when you and I are on the path of what lasts forever, there will always be something to tempt you with something that feels faster.
Anybody try the fast thing before?
Come on, you gotta know this one.
The get rich quick scheme.
Anybody been there before?
Come on, you got the white box.
You know what I'm talking about.
You know what I'm talking about, right?
But shortcuts in the faith...
almost always cost more.
And in Philippians 3, that shortcut was performance-based religion.
How many know we're not putting on a show this morning?
You see, the temptation to trade inward transformation for outward approval is what Paul is addressing here.
And the Judaizers were obsessed with appearance, circumcision, rules, reputation, external markers to impress others.
But Paul says, hey, that's not spiritual maturity.
He says that's spiritual theater.
In other words, that's hypocrisy.
And if we're not careful, we can fall into the same trap even today.
We can be more interested in getting a spiritual tattoo that people can see than having a spiritual moment with God that marks us forever.
We can be more focused on projecting an image than being conformed into the image of Christ.
We can chase goals that God never gave us and run after dreams God never told us to pursue.
And when that happens, we become more concerned with impressing people than we are living and pleasing God with the faith that he's placed in our lives.
Paul then gives this stunning statement in verse three.
He says, for we worship by the spirit of God.
For we who worship by the spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised.
Not the outward, he says.
Our hearts, listen, have been cut.
And that's what the Lord is wanting to do in you and I. Listen, he's wanting to cut your heart.
He's wanting your heart to bleed for him.
Amen.
For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised.
How many know the Holy Spirit will cut you?
The Holy Spirit will cut you.
Hebrews, I believe it is, chapter 4, talks about, come on, the sword that'll cut deeper.
It's a two-edged sword that'll cut like a knife.
We rely, he says, on what Christ Jesus has done for us, and we put no confidence in human effort.
Paul is saying our hearts have been cut by the gospel of grace.
And because of that, our lives are not marked physically, but spiritually they're marked by three things.
And I believe that God wants to mark our lives with these three, I call them the marks of maturity.
These three things.
My worship by the power of the Holy Spirit in the middle of warfare.
In the middle of the battle.
How many of you guys know what I'm talking about?
In the middle of the crisis, my worship, my first response, not my last response.
My first response is worship by the power of the Holy Spirit in the middle of warfare.
Secondly, my reliance on Christ's righteousness when I'm facing resistance.
How many know we're never going to be good enough?
Come on, but his grace is enough, even in your weakness, even in the warfare, his grace is enough for you and I. And then my confidence or my faith, my confidence in God's character when I'm facing a crisis.
Paul basically says this, if you wanna compare resumes, he says there is no comparison.
He said, look at mine.
You can see this in verses five through six.
He says, I was circumcised on day eight.
I was pure Hebrew lineage.
I was a strict Pharisee.
I zealously persecuted the church.
I had a flawless legalistic record.
This is what Paul is basically saying.
He's like, I was pretty close to being Jesus.
That's what he's saying right here.
And yet in verse seven, he says this, I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
You see, you and I have to stop.
We have to resist chasing achievements that impress people, but don't move God.
Imagine walking into a job interview with a stunning resume.
How many of you ever worked hard on a resume before?
I mean, yeah, you know what I'm talking about.
And going in there with all the degrees, the accomplishments, the awards, and you hand it to the person who is overseeing the interview for the job, and they say to you, this is all great, but we're hiring based on character, not your credentials.
Wow.
Now I'm not saying degrees are not important, but so many times we lose our character trying to build our resume.
Because we're chasing things that don't matter.
Listen, hear my heart with this.
Watch out for worthless pursuits distracting you from the true marks of a follower of Christ.
Come on, your worship, say your worship.
My reliance on Christ and my confidence in God's character.
It leads me to my last point, and it's this.
Pursue the person, not just the principles.
Pursue the person, not just the principles.
How many know we're good at following principles?
Just me.
All right.
Amen.
All by myself.
All right.
He says this.
Yes, everything else in verse eight is worthless when compared.
With the infinite value.
In other words, you can't put a price on it.
Think about that.
You can't put a price on this.
Knowing Christ Jesus, he says, as my Lord.
How many know everything pales in light of that?
For his sake, I have discarded everything else.
Come on, my resume, my degrees, all of my knowledge, counting it all as garbage so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.
I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law.
Rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.
You see, gratitude, everybody say gratitude.
Gratitude.
Helps me throw out the garbage so I can gain Christ.
Gratitude.
Come on.
Helps me throw out the garbage.
How many know it's hard to clean out your garage sometimes?
Because we like to hold on to stuff.
But listen, gratitude.
Oh God, I thank you for this.
I thank you that I haven't used it in 10 years.
Yes.
And now I give it to you so I can gain Christ.
Amen?
Listen, we don't rejoice in what we've done.
We rejoice in what Christ has done.
Talking about garages.
When our kids moved out, we went to college.
We botched all their stuff up and said, when you get your own house, your own place, you're going to pick up these boxes and you're going to get them out of the garage.
Well, both of them have bought their own houses.
And now, you know, a few months later, the boxes are still in our garage.
And so every time they come over, I say, hey, when are you going to get those boxes?
This is actually a real box from my garage.
I said, when are you going to get those boxes out of my garage?
They say, what boxes?
What boxes?
I said, the boxes with all your stuff in them.
I don't got no stuff.
What stuff are you talking about?
And I say, you don't remember?
Come on.
You don't remember 2010?
Come on.
When you were the middle school, come on, boys, basketball, camper award?
You don't remember this?
I've been holding on to this for you.
And they'll laugh at me.
They're like, why do you still got that?
I'm like, you earned it.
I said, I said, how about this one?
You know, 2007 NCSA junior peewee champion.
I can't, this is going, I will, I cannot depart with this.
And every time I don't say what, and I pulled out one of these, just like I pulled it out with you.
And I said, hey, you remember this?
And they looked at me.
Both of them did this.
And they smiled and they said, that's hilarious.
I'm like, hilarious?
It's still in my garage.
I've been saving it for 15 years.
And I realized something in that moment.
I realized, listen, that I still treasure this.
They're trophies.
Because as a parent, I watched the growth and the lessons behind the trophy.
So they mean more to me than they do them.
And both of them have said this to me in one way or another.
In fact, just a few months ago when Mariah was moving out, she threw some, she was a D1.
She got recruited for D1 in cross country, refused the scholarship because she was called to be a nurse.
And I remember seeing she had all these, the runner tags, you know, with the numbers on them.
And like they were, we had put them in like a nice little box for her and they were in the garbage.
Yeah.
And I was like, what are you doing with these?
I said, you know, we had to go all the way to Fresno for you to run in that race.
And both of my kids have said this to me in one way or another, dad, those trophies help shape who I am, but they're not who I am.
They shaped me, Dad.
I learned valuable lessons from those things.
But I don't live for trophies anymore.
And listen, especially Josiah, you better be able to say that when your team is two in whatever they are right now.
But to my kids, listen, they've moved on.
They're not clinging to who they were at 11 or 14 years old.
And I think it's because they don't want to get their stuff.
I still think it's because they don't want to get their stuff out of the garage.
But I started thinking, I wonder how many of us are still clinging to trophies that God is asking us to box up and throw out the trash.
Spiritual achievements.
church titles, past successes, even mistakes that we've turned into identity.
Listen, I'm speaking from the word of the Lord here.
Listen, don't let people label you by the mistakes, listen, that you made and ask forgiveness for.
You've got to release them to the Lord.
Listen, you've got to do your business.
You got to do your work and they got to do their work.
even mistakes that we've turned into identity.
And at one time, they were a part of your story, but now, come on, how many know these trophies can collect dust in our soul?
And it's time this morning to say, I count it all as garbage compared to the surpassing or the infinite value of knowing Christ.
Can you just say this with me?
Tell your neighbor, toss the trophies.
Toss the trophies.
Not because they didn't matter, but because what matters more is who you are becoming in Christ today.
Listen, you don't need to put on display, listen, what no longer defines you.
Listen, this isn't about intellect, knowing about God.
This is about spiritual intimacy, personally knowing God.
This is where unshakable joy is experienced, and it moves us from knowing facts about Jesus to experiencing fellowship with Jesus.
In fact, this chapter, and I didn't have time to get into it, it talks about the fellowship of his sufferings, the things that you'll learn about God that you'll never learn if you never went through some hard stuff.
Some of you have been through some really difficult seasons.
And yet God, you know God, listen, better, listen, than you did before that happened to you.
Because you've seen a side of him people run from.
They run from the valleys.
They run from the darkness.
They run from the mountains.
You see, Jesus doesn't want to be our...
He wants to be our companion.
He doesn't want to be our fun fact.
He wants to be our friend.
He doesn't want to be our principal.
He wants a personal, intimate relationship with you and I. And Paul says this at the very end, at verse 13, he says, no.
Everybody say no.
Dear brothers and sisters, he says, I've not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing.
Everybody say one thing.
Amen.
Forgetting the past.
Everybody say forgetting the past.
And looking forward to what lies ahead.
I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us.
You see, we embrace unshakable joy when our eyes are fixed on heaven, not our history.
I don't know about you, but I'm choosing to fix my eyes on heaven today.
Listen, if that's you, will you stand up all over this room and will you say, I'm fixing my eyes on heaven today.
And will you just throw up your hands wherever you're at, whatever difficulty you're going through, whatever valley you're walking through.
Will you just fix your eyes on heaven for just a moment and just begin to thank him right now in the valley.
Begin to thank him right in the face of the mountain.
Begin to thank him right in front of the obstacle, whatever it is.
Just begin to give God, come on, some praise from the unshakable joy that resides in you.
Father, we give you praise and we give you glory.
Can you give the Lord a shout of praise and a shout of victory today?
Hallelujah.
Will you just say hallelujah?
I've said this before.
Listen.
Listen.
Don't allow the volume of your problem to be louder than the volume of your praise.
Don't allow the volume of your pain to be louder than the volume of your praise.
Can we just turn up the volume just one more time in this place?
Come on, will you just turn up the volume?
Father, we thank you.
We're gonna thank you anyway.
We're gonna thank you in advance for all that you've done.
God, we're gonna flip the switch to spike.
What we're going through.
We're going to let go of what's behind.
Lock eyes with what's ahead.
Press on.
Run free.
And rejoice like it's already done.
We give you glory and we give you praise.
Can we give God praise one last time this morning?
Hallelujah.
I just feel like we got to leave with some victory today.
I believe, listen, God's prophetic voice this morning was declaring victory over our lives.
He said there's a new day coming.
There's a new wine being poured out.
How many want to receive all that God has for you?
Come on, maybe you're here this morning and you need to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
I'm not even gonna ask you to raise your hand, but if you're in that place, listen, where you gotta begin to make a shift on the inside so God can have all of who you are.
Listen, I want you to pray this prayer after me.
I want us to all pray it together, trusting God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul.
Let's pray it together.
Listen, because how many know all of us need deliverance anyway?
Come on, somebody.
Let's pray this prayer together.
Let's say, Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe you died for my sin and rose from the dead.
Right now, I turn from my sin and invite you to come into my heart.
I want to trust and follow you from this day forward.
I confess you as my personal Lord and Savior.
Thank you for saving me.
In Jesus' name.
Can we give God praise for the deliverance and the salvation?
Hallelujah.
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# Embracing Unshakable Joy: Finding Christ in Life's Valleys
Life has a way of testing our faith when we least expect it. The phone call that changes everything. The diagnosis that shakes our foundation. The disappointment that threatens to steal our hope. In these moments, we face a crucial choice: Will we allow our circumstances to define our joy, or will we discover something deeper—an unshakable joy that transcends our reality?
## Whatever Happens
The apostle Paul opens Philippians chapter 3 with two powerful words: "whatever happens." These aren't the words of someone living in denial or ignorance of life's hardships. Paul wrote these words while imprisoned in Rome, uncertain of his own future, having just discussed a fellow minister who nearly died serving the church.
"Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord."
This isn't pie-in-the-sky Christianity that pretends problems don't exist. It's defiant, unshakable joy in the face of hard things. It's the kind of faith that smiles at the storm, not because the storm isn't real, but because the One who calms the storm is more real.
When outcomes are beyond our control, we must make a choice. We can either let circumstances dictate our attitudes, or we can align ourselves with the unchanging character of God. Happiness isn't determined by everything in our lives going right. True happiness is determined by the One who can make all things right.
## The Suffering That Shapes Us
Romans 8:18 reminds us that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." The hardest thing you're going through will not compare to the glory that outshines the dark valley you're walking through.
This truth becomes personal when we see it lived out. Consider the hospital patient who, fresh out of surgery and without hearing aids, still manages to smile and express gratitude for a pastoral visit. Or the family walking through weeks of cancer treatments, finding peace in the midst of fear. These aren't people pretending everything is fine—they're people who have discovered that God develops us through what was meant to destroy us.
The very thing intended to break you is often the tool God uses to build something stronger within you. A durable spirit doesn't develop in comfort—it's forged in the fire of difficulty.
## The Trap of Worthless Pursuits
In a world obsessed with achievement, approval, and success, we can easily fall into the trap of chasing things that ultimately don't matter. Paul warns about this danger by addressing those who focused on outward appearances and religious performance rather than inward transformation.
The temptation is real: to trade genuine spiritual growth for spiritual theater. To be more concerned with projecting an image than being conformed to the image of Christ. To chase goals God never gave us and pursue dreams God never told us to follow.
Paul's credentials were impressive—circumcised on the eighth day, pure Hebrew lineage, a strict Pharisee with a flawless legalistic record. He had the resume that would impress anyone. Yet he declared all of it worthless compared to knowing Christ.
Imagine walking into a job interview with a stunning resume, only to be told, "This is all great, but we're hiring based on character, not credentials." That's essentially what Paul discovered. The marks of true spiritual maturity aren't found in external achievements but in three internal realities:
1. Worship by the power of the Holy Spirit in the middle of warfare - Making worship our first response, not our last resort
2. Reliance on Christ's righteousness when facing resistance - Trusting that His grace is sufficient even in our weakness
3. Confidence in God's character when facing a crisis - Standing firm on who God is, regardless of what we're going through
## Tossing the Trophies
There's something powerful about the metaphor of old trophies collecting dust in a garage. Those awards once meant everything—they represented hours of practice, moments of triumph, achievements worth celebrating. But at some point, we must recognize that while these things helped shape who we are, they're not who we are.
How many of us are still clinging to trophies that God is asking us to box up? Spiritual achievements, church titles, past successes—even mistakes we've turned into our identity. These things may have been part of our story, but they can't be allowed to collect dust in our souls.
Paul put it plainly: "I count it all as garbage compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ." This isn't about dismissing the past or pretending our experiences didn't matter. It's about refusing to put on display what no longer defines us.
## The One Thing
In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul reveals his singular focus: "I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us."
Unshakable joy comes when our eyes are fixed on heaven, not our history. It's found not in knowing facts about Jesus, but in experiencing fellowship with Jesus. He doesn't want to be our fun fact—He wants to be our friend. Not our principle, but our companion.
This is where transformation happens. In the fellowship of His sufferings, we learn things about God we could never learn in comfort. We discover dimensions of His character that only reveal themselves in the valley. We experience His faithfulness in ways that prosperity could never teach us.
## A New Day Coming
There's a prophetic promise available to those who will embrace it: a new day is coming. New wine is being poured out. But receiving it requires letting go—releasing what's behind, locking eyes with what's ahead, pressing on, and running free.
The volume of your problems doesn't have to be louder than the volume of your praise. The intensity of your pain doesn't have to drown out the sound of your worship. Even when we don't feel like it, the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit within us can lift us up, dust us off, and remind us it's not over.
Gratitude becomes the key that helps us throw out the garbage so we can gain Christ. We don't rejoice in what we've done; we rejoice in what Christ has done. And in that rejoicing—in that defiant, unshakable joy—we discover that knowing Him is worth more than anything this world could offer.
Whatever you're facing today, whatever valley you're walking through, whatever mountain stands in your way—you don't have to chase joy. You can embrace an unshakable joy that comes from knowing the One who never changes, even when everything around you does.