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WISDOM AS JOY - PROVERBS 10:21-31

Today, I want to talk to you about wisdom as joy.

Proverbs chapter 10:28 says that the hopes of the godly result in happiness.

We will experience happiness in our life. I was just thinking about last year. I want to thank those of you who follow along, support what we do. Look forward this year to riding a lot more waves, producing a lot more water, seeing a lot more churches started so people can learn about Jesus.

Now what are we talking about when we talk about the word happiness? So much of our understanding of this is situational. That's actually not what the Bible is teaching. There's actually a joy and a happiness that we can have in life that actually transcends circumstances.

Paul was alluding to this in Philippians 4 when he says, do not worry about anything but in everything with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your mind. So there's a peace from God that protects our heart and protects our mind. That's what this proverb is alluding to. So let's dig into it.

Now first of all, it says here the word hopes. So this word here in Hebrew, has to do with expectations and results. So of course we have expectations in life. That's how you accomplish things. That's how you accomplish your goals. You have a vision, you create a set of expectations in your mind, and then you exercise discipline and wisdom in order to accomplish the goals that you have. The reality is sometimes our expectations are met and sometimes they're not met. How does this translate over into our relationship with God? Well, we can be as close to God as we choose to be, meaning as much as we want to pray, as much as we want to be in God's word, as much as we want to be in fellowship, we can feel really connected to God all of the time. That's really at the center, at the core of this idea of peace and a joy that transcends all understanding.

Secondly - So the expectations, they're really not results oriented. In fact, you're in for a lot of disappointment in life if you attach your happiness and your peace with results. So much of life is arbitrary. We don't control who our parents were, where we were born, the time that we were born, the country necessarily that we live in. So much of our life is out of our control. So we really want to align our expectations and the results that we have in life, not so much in terms of outcomes, but in every situation in our life, we can experience joy and we can experience peace.

And so it says that the hopes of the godly, so these mean those who were vindicated by God. Did you know that Jesus is the one who vindicates us? In fact, you may feel disconnected or far from God right now. You can just say, Jesus, come and fill my heart right now in my mind. And he will, and you'll feel a peace. You'll feel your anxiety go away. God will literally meet you right where you are right now. That's the good news of Jesus is he can help you right now. Just say, Jesus, help me, and he'll help you. Okay, so that's what it means to be vindicated by God. It's through Jesus.

Third - So when we let go of our expectations, when we let go of our results, when we trust in God, then we start to experience the highest form of life, and that's joy. Now, joy is not based on our accomplishments, our expectations, or our results. It's a peace. It's a moment by moment peace and thankfulness that we have in our life. Paul alludes to this in Thessalonians. He says, be thankful always. Thankfulness and gratitude increase our joy. Discontentment and trying to control outcomes, our anxiety goes up, our joy goes down. So we want to let go of that, and we want to say, God, I thank you for every good and perfect gift from you. I thank you for the life and the breath that you've given me.

And then lastly, you'll have glad results. And so instead of having outcomes that you try to control and results that are determined in your favor, you let go of that, and then the result is you get joy. You get glad results. The result of your spiritual life is then more joy and more peace.

I'd like to invite you to pray with me. Now say, God, would you fill me with your joy? Would you fill me with your peace to start out this new year? I really need your help with this in Jesus' name. Now until next time, I hope that God's joy and his peace floods your heart and your mind. Thanks so much and I hope you have a beautiful day.