HOW TO KEEP THE JOY IN YOUR LIFE
Life From A-Z in the Word Part 22 of 22
Psalm 119:169-176
Tonight I am going to conclude the study that we’ve been looking at from Psalm 119 on Life from A-Z in the Word. Throughout this chapter we’ve looked at what the Bible has to say concerning moral purity, difficulties, personal renewal, contentment, detours, service, faith, prayer and love.
Tonight our text is found in verses 169-176 and the title of my message is, “How To Keep The Joy In Your Life.” To start things off I’d like you to think about this little riddle.
“You may know me. I'm your constant companion. I'm your greatest helper: I'm your heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am at your command. Half the tasks you do might as well be turned over to me. I'm able to do them the same every time if that's what you want. I'm easily managed, all you've got to do is be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want it done; after a few lessons I'll do it automatically. I am the servant of all great men and women; of course, servant of failures as well. I've made all the great individuals who have ever been great. And I've made all the failures, too. But I work with all the precision of a marvelous computer with the intelligence of a human being. Take me. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Be firm with me and I'll put the world at your feet. Who am I?”
I am a HABIT
Webster’s dictionary defines a habit as, “A continual, often unconscious inclination to do a certain activity, acquired through frequent repetition.” It’s an established habitual way of doing things.
All of us are a bundle of habits. If you were to take a close look at your life you’d realize that most of the things you do in life are done out of habit. When you get up in the morning you brush your teeth out of habit. If you’re a man, you shave your face out of habit. In fact, you probably start on the same side of your face over 90% of the time. When you wash yourself in the shower or bathtub you probably habitually start at the same place on your body. That’s because we are all creatures of habit.
How many of you would agree that it is easier to form good habits than to try to get rid of bad ones?
Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables. Spanish Proverb
Several Nuns were on the second floor of their convent one night when a fire broke out. The Nuns took there habits off and tied them together to make a rope to get out of the building through a window. After they were safely on the ground and out of the building, a news reporter came over to one of the Nuns and asked her, "Weren't you afraid that the habits could have ripped or broke since they are old? The Nun Replied, "No, don't you know old habits are hard to break".
The way you get rid of bad habits is by replacing them. As one nail is used to drive out another nail; a bad habit is overcome by a good habit. Latin Proverb
The same way that God created you with the ability to form bad habits, you also have the ability to form good habits.
“The nature of men is always the same; it is their habits that separate them.” Confucius
Happiness is a HABIT to be cultivated
How many of you have ever been unhappy? All of us have had times when we were a little bit down or sad. During those times you are like this Nerf ball. Watch what happens when I drop it on this table. It does ok on its own, but it’s nothing spectacular. That’s the way it is in your life on your own.
But life doesn’t have to be that way. Life can really be spectacular. That’s where God comes in. I’ve also brought with me a rubber ball. It is bigger and represents God because He is bigger than us.
Watch what happens when I put the Nerf ball on top of the rubber ball and drop them both at the same time. The smaller ball on top which represents our life bounced a lot higher that time. That’s because God was helping us. So remember, when you need more joy in your life, you need to turn to God, because He’s the one who puts the bounce in your life.
Here in our text, David gives us 3 habits that we need to cultivate in our relationship with God in order to keep the joy in our life.