Chuck's Birthday
Joy is a choice but it’s also essential to your well-being. Joy doesn’t depend upon circumstances, money, good looks, or a great job. It comes from deep within.
How can we know if we’re really making progress in our spiritual walk? After all, the Bible offers no prescribed checklist of duties to perform that prove we’ve “arrived” as mature believers. But a list provided by Paul in Galatians 5:22–23 does offer proof both to ourselves and to those around us that the Spirit of God who dwells within us controls our thoughts and actions.
And that’s the catch. We can’t produce such fruit on our own—even with the most sincere effort. We can’t fake this fruit either. Rather, the fruit of the Spirit is a supernatural result of yielding to the Holy Spirit. Once we’re exhibiting the pure, holy fruit of the Spirit, the contrast is stark between those who are filled with the Spirit and those who obey the deeds of the flesh, as seen in Paul’s other list in verses 19-21! When we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, all the glory goes to God.
Joy is a choice but it’s also essential to your well-being. Joy doesn’t depend upon circumstances, money, good looks, or a great job. It comes from deep within.
A new possession may give us fleeting pleasure but not lasting joy. Joy is a choice. It’s a decision we make to be happy regardless of external circumstances.
The word “addiction” typically makes us think of alcohol, cigarettes, or illegal drugs. But in this message, Chuck Swindoll will describe another kind of addiction…that’s far more subtle, yet just as enslaving. In fact, you might be an addict and not even know it!
In our shame-prone culture, parents, bosses, teachers, and many pastors consciously or subconsciously urge people to connect their significance to what they produce. How much better to respect and honour others—even when they fail to measure up to expectations, or “blow it” big time!
The theme of Philippians is the joy that comes from being confident that Christ is in full control.
Paul went from a Judaistic terrorist to a chosen instrument of God. How could that be? Because God is in the process of cutting down a tall poppy, bringing him to his knees.
In this message we look at Jonah's story as we see how God can bend a stubborn will.
God has a better idea than holding grudges! James reveals this alternative in the passage we're considering within this message. James not only tells us what to do in place of retaliation; he tells us how to do it.
In James 4:1-10, there is set forth the reasons for fights among believers as well as their tragic results. But James doesn't leave us without some answers on how to stop those conflicts that have taken their toll within our ranks.
It is virtually impossible to separate truth from the one who teaches it to us. That's why James begins the third chapter with a warning—don't swell the ranks of teachers!