The JOY Prescription | Pastor Dwain Wolfe | May 10th.

I wanted to give you kind of a joy prescription,

thinking about really thinking about the trials of life, not

thinking about the blessings of life, but thinking about the

trials of life, the disappointments, the sorrows, the loss of

the difficulties, because we all go through them. We all

go through them. Unfortunately, it's one of the promises. Isn't

that a terrible promise? Jesus said, in this life you

will have tribulation. But he finished it with something very

appropriate for today's message. He said, but be of good share,

for I have overcome. So we are divinely connected to

the overcomer. So even in the midst of trials. And

if I just you know, if we just took your

week alone and just ask you about your week, maybe

some of you today could acknowledge something you are going

through right now, or you've been going through something that's

up against you, or you're up against something that is

trying to wear you down, wear.

You out, steal your focus.

You know, when there's a heavy situation going on, our

thoughts want to go to it. Our thoughts want to

go to it, our thoughts are pulled to it, our

thoughts are directed to it.

And the enemy loves that.

He loves to draw us away, and it opens up

a vulnerability in our own hearts to be drawn into

the spiral, that downward spiral of whatever would be married

to it. Worry, fear, depression, despair can be so much

attached to it. Right, I want to read to you

a little bit out of Joseph this morning. I want

Joseph to be the biblical framework of what we set

the stage with today, because Joseph went through a bunch

of this, and one of the things that is central

to Joseph that caught my attention is how he stayed

tethered to the word of the Lord of his life.

He stayed tethered to the dream of God over his life.

And we have that opportunity as well, and as we

do it is it's massively consequential for our inner man.

It sets the course for whether we're going to walk

in peace and joy or whether we're going to get

under the circumstances. Has anybody ever said that to you

when you've said not bad under the circumstances, and they've said,

what are you doing under those circumstances? Right, We're not

meant to live under circumstances immen Genesis thirty seven one

through nine. Jacob lived in the land where his father

had stayed, the Land of Jacob. So Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob were picking up the story of Jacob, the third

of the Patriarchs, and Jacob became Israel. So Jacob had

an encounter with God. He became Israel, which means prince

with God. And we know that the lineage of the

Jewish people came through Jacob. That lineage goes back to Abraham,

and we're divinely connected to Abraham through Jesus, who was

the seed, the spiritual seed of Abraham.

This story picks up with Joseph.

Specifically, Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the

phlocks with his brothers, the sons of Billha and the

sons of Zippah, his father's wives, and he brought their

father a bad report about them. Now, Israel loved Joseph

more than any of his sons because he had been

born to him in his old age, and he made

him an ornate robe for him. So this we begin

to see immediately, and throughout the story of Joseph. What

we see is Joseph is a type of Christ. And

this robe or this garment that was made for Joseph,

it was a many colored garment. You've maybe heard sermons

on it over the years.

I don't know.

We've been preaching on this for years and years in Christianity,

recognizing Joseph is a type of Christ, recognizing this ornament

or this ornate garment that was made for him by

his father was a garment of favor. It was a

bestowing favor on him. And it's likened in the prodigal

story of Luke eleven of the prodigal Son. It's likened

to the robe of righteousness. So, and it's a signet robe,

a robe of favor. And so this was given to Joseph,

and he wore this robe. It set him apart among

all of the brothers. When his brothers saw that their

father loved him more than any of them, they hated

him and could not speak a kind word to him.

This is interesting because immediately you see something about Yeshiah,

about Jesus, about the Messiah. Because there's Messianic things woven

into this passage. You see that sometimes it's not what's

terrible about you that causes animosity. Sometimes it's the favor

on you that causes animosity.

Sometimes it's the.

Way you're loved by father that causes animosity. Not everyone

falls in love with you just because you're loved. Sometimes

trouble comes your way because you're loved.

And so what we're.

Thinking about today is being careful the way we examine circumstances,

and careful in that we don't give ourselves to circumstances

in such a way that circumstances determine the outcome of

our heart. And so we're seeing some stuff here already

With Joseph, his brothers couldn't speak a kind word to him.

Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it

to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said

to them, listen to the dream I had. We were

binding sheaves of drain out in the field, when suddenly

my sheaf rose and stood upright while your sheaves guttered

around mine and bowed down to it. Well, there's a

great dream right there. You know. They were excited about

that one and his brothers, you know, they exclaimed, what

in the world do you intend to reign overs?

Will you actually rule overs?

And they hated him all the more because of his

dream and what he had said.

So here's here's the word the Lord.

All he's doing is actually expounding to them the word

of the Lord over his life. But instead of receiving

accolades or understanding or discernment or favor or kindness or recognition,

this young one is disdained all the more because of

a word in his life. Then he had another dream

and he told it to his brother's listen. He said,

I had another dream, and this time the sun and

the moon and the eleven stars were bowing down to me.

This was actually an insight, wasn't it. He didn't know

what this was all about, but he knew God was

talking to him.

Now.

They didn't have understanding or discernment, none of them did

at this time, but they had enough discernment to know that, oh,

this means something. And instead of acknowledging it or receiving it,

of course, they oppose it, and they hate him more.

And what he's seeing is what.

Actually happened in Genesis forty six. We're in Genesis thirty seven,

but in Genesi's forty six we find out that Jacob

and the whole family are going through a massive famine

in Egypt and there's no food.

But Joseph ended up.

Down in Pharaoh's house, promoted by God, and he rescues

the entire family. So we know the end of this thing.

We have the advantage of that. But Joseph didn't have

the advantage. Joseph had to walk with the word of

the Lord of his life. He had to walk with

the dream he had received. He had to walk with

the promise, the seal, the blessing of his father on him,

signified by the robe that he wore. Isn't that amazing?

I just I want you to see some of this

as we just talk about it, because I want to

go somewhere.

Verse nineteen.

They're out in the field together, the brothers are, and

here comes the dreamer. And they said to each other,

come now, let us kill him and throw him into

one of these cisterns, and say that a ferocious animal

devoured him, and then we'll see what comes of his dreams.

When Ruben heard of this, Ruben is the oldest of

all of the sons, he tried to rescue him out

of their hands. Let's not take his life, he said,

don't shed any blood. Throw him into the cistern in

the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him. Ruben

said this to rescue him from them and take him

back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers,

they stripped him of his robe. Hello, somebody, don't you

know this is what the enemy's trying to do through circumstances,

Through circumstances in your life.

The enemy is trying to.

Strip you of your robe, strip you of your royal identity,

strip you of that which represents a right relationship with God,

Strip you of that which is known now in Luke

eleven as the robe of righteousness, the robe of righteousness.

They stripped him of the robe. They threw him in

the cistern. The sisterron was empty, there was no water

in it. And as they sat down to eat their meal,

they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming

from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with Spice's balm and myrrh,

and they were on their way to take them down

to Egypt. And so Judah said to his brothers, what

will we gain if we kill our brother and cover

up his blood. Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites.

And not lay our hands on him. After all, he's

our brother, our own flesh and blood. And his brothers agreed.

So when the Medianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled

Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for

twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him

to Egypt. Now you know what happened. They took him

down the Egypt and sold him to a gentleman, a

great business tycoon in Egypt named Potiphar. Remember that, And

so he begins to serve in Potiphar's house as a slave.

But he doesn't forget the word. He doesn't forget the

word over his life. He stays tethered to the word.

And so because he's tethered to the word, he's able

to He's able to shed the bitterness. He's able to

shed the despair. He's able to shed the hopelessness. He's

able to shed the fear. He's able to shed the inferiority.

He's able to shed the false identity that the enemy

is trying to put on him. There's always a false

identity and a false future that the enemy is trying

to thrust on us. If we'll give ourselves to circumstance,

if we'll give our if will magnify circumstances, you know

it will be transformed into the image of whatever we magnify.

Right Tewo Corinthians chapter three says that as we behold him,

we're transformed into his image. We're beholding his glory. We're

beholding his victory. We're beholding what he's accomplished. We're beholding

that he purchased us. Therefore he has declared us worthy

of value, worthy of redemption. There's so much that is

hidden in him, the written word and the living word,

that we.

Tether our lives to.

And if we fail to, if we fail to, then

we end up with turmoil. We lose our inner peace,

and we begin to live life out of our circumstances.

And you know, if all, if all, or if any

of us lived life out of our circumscumstances, our lives

would become so miserable, our hearts would be so burdened down.

We would be absent of peace because of the inner turmoil,

the inner conflict. We would be absent of joy. We

don't have to do that, we don't have to do

that we can see what happened in Joseph's life. Joseph

is a great example for us, and he's actually in

the Word. Purposely, God has highlighted the life of Joseph,

so we can see that as he hung on to

the word of the Lord over him, not only did

it sustain him inwardly, but he gave God what God

needed to partner with for the Word to come to pass.

The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of God, is what

dwells in us, the testimony of the Kingdom, the witness

of the Kingdom, the glory of the Kingdom, the ministry

of the Kingdom, the presence of the Kingdom, and the

Kingdom of God is the victory of Jesus over us,

the victory of Jesus over us. You know, Jesus already

has proclaimed a victory over you.

You know, if.

There wasn't another word, that word alone is sufficient. If

you never got another prophetic word, But you will, if

you never got another rama, But you will, because we

can't live by bread alone, but by every word that

proceeds from the mouth of God. So he's destined defeat us,

and he's destined the lead us. But we have to

know that every word is really the testimony.

Of Jesus over us.

Revelation nineteen ten says that's the spirit of prophecy. The

spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus over your life,

because he's already testified that he He's bought you, redeemed you,

he's brought you back, he's knit you to Father. He's

restored you even before you ever come in their restoration.

He's restored you.

He's restored you not only to Father, but he's restored

you to peace and joy inwardly because you have sought

him and made your heart right with him and write

with his word. And that's what righteousness is. So the

Kingdom of God. There was a discussion in Romans chapter fourteen,

and the discussion was could we eat this, could we

eat that? Should we observe this law or observe that law?

Can we drink this or drink that? And the discussions

going on, and Paul talks about it in Romans fourteen,

and then he concludes something in verse seventeen. He says, guys,

the Kingdom of God is not what you eat or drink,

or what you don't eat or drink, And we could

extrapolate that to understand even what Jesus said in Matthew

six thirty one through third three. It's not what you wear,

It's not your circumstances. The Kingdom of God is righteousness,

peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is the

core of our heart. The core of our heart is

the Kingdom dwelling within us, and that core will sustain

us through every trial, every circumstance, every sabotage, every difficulty,

every hardship, every struggle. The Kingdom of God is in you,

and the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy

in the Holy Spirit. I want to talk about righteousness

first because so many times I think in church and

I'm guilty of this, we think of righteousness as like

a one and done thing. We came to the Lord

and we received the imputed gift of righteousness because we

accepted Jesus as saved. We recognize that our performance wasn't sufficient.

We've recognized that we still fall short. We've recognized that

no sacrifice we can bring is sufficient to make us

right with God. Nothing we can do can make us

right with God. And so we receive what God has

done in Jesus and in doing so, he imputes or

he credits our spiritual bank account with righteousness. So we

stand not in our own righteousness, we stand in his,

and so we kind of think of it as one

and done. As long as we continue to believe on Jesus,

then we continue in a position of righteousness.

If there is.

A failure, a sin, if there's some contradiction to that relationship.

First John one nine says that if we confess that

failure and bring it before Father, that he's faithful and

just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So righteousness is restored.

But I want you to see it a little bit

differently today. I want you to see that righteousness is

not so much won and done, but righteousness is an

ongoing right relationship with Jesus and his word over your life.

It's an ongoing relationship with Jesus and his word over

your life. Now, I want you to see it that

way because this is bigger than salvation. It's bigger than

salvation because salvation has brought you into a place where

the Word becomes alive to your heart, and where God

has a better word over you than any circumstance would

ever declare. See the Enemy is woven into and connected

to every negative circumcumstance, and he wants to testify out

of those negative circumstances. And we could almost say there's

an opposite to Revelation nineteen ten, where it says the

testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. We could

also recognize that the testimony coming out of negative circumstances

is or contains a spirit of prophecy, but it's not

from a holy spirit. It's from the enemy. And so

how do we maintain our righteousness? Because maintaining our righteousness

is not just continuing to believe on Jesus for salvation.

He's hem life, getting to heaven. I'm going to be okay.

If I die today, I'm covered. But the righteousness that

we're talking about is continuing to believe what God says,

continuing to believe what God has said, continuing to believe

what God has declared, continuing to believe that she Jesus

is victory for you and sufficient for you. And his

Romans eight twenty eight says that he will make every situation,

he will bring good out of every situation. He'll bring

good out of the bad. Can God bring good out

of the bad in your life. A hearty amen, A

hearty amen. God can bring good out of every negative situation.

But he's asking us.

To continue in a right relationship with his word. When

we're in a right relationship with his word, then what

happens is the peace and the joy begin to flow.

The peace and the joy are activated by a right

relationship with his word. Peace is even referencing peace. The

scriptures on peace, the even reference that we are abiding

in peace because we're abiding in the Word, so righteousness.

Is imputed to us. We continue in a right relationship

with this word.

But then also look at Isaiah Isaiah twenty six. You

will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast

because they trust in You. The absence of peace, that's

conflict of the mind, it's conflict of the thought. It's

inner turmoil. It's being pulled, pulled, pulled, pulled, pulled in

the conflict, pulled into turmoil, pulled in the restlessness, pulled

into anxiety, pulled into fear. Oh, the enemies using every

circumstance to do that. But you, Father, God, will keep

in perfect peace those whose minds whose thoughts are stayed

upon Him, stayed upon his word, stayed upon what he said,

stayed upon the victory over us. There's a victory over us.

There's a victory over us. And if we will tether

our hearten our mind to this, if we will keep

our heartner mind tethered to the victory allready declared over us,

then we will partake a peace. Hello, somebody, are you

with me today?

Righteousness? Righteousness?

Righteousness, righteousness is having a right relationship with the word,

coming into agreement always with the word, not letting the

word get away from our inner focus.

Romans four ones through three.

What shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to

the flesh. For if Abraham was justified by works, he

has something to boast about, but not before God. But

what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it

was credited to him as righteousness. Now, when we read

the story of Abraham, and we look at the story

of Abraham and the main topic of Abraham, the main

subject of Abraham is not just the inheritance he was

to receive of children like the sand of the seashore right,

but the focal point of that was Isaac. The focal

point was a miracle child. Isaac was the focal point

of the promise of Abraham. And yet we see that

eluded him, that eluded him. Is that the right word?

For twenty five years? Twenty five years Abraham is tested

and tried, and tested and tried, and circumstance after circumstance

after circumstance, And yet what is the record of Abraham?

Abraham continued to believe. So because Abraham continued to believe.

Chapter four goes on to tell us that even though

he considered his body as good as dead and Sarah's

body as good as dead at one hundred years old,

yet he did not waiver concerning the promise. But he

kept continued to grow strong in his faith, giving glory

to God, rejoicing, rejoicing, rejoicing, recognizing that he who promised

was well able. Rejoicing springs up out of a right

relationship with the Word of God. Rejoicing springs up. It

doesn't spring up out of circumstances. It doesn't spring.

Up out of great coffee.

It doesn't spring up out of just the right muffin.

It doesn't spring up out of everybody loving you, everything

going well. Rejoicing springs up out of a right relationship

with he who promised a right relationship with the Word

of God. Keeping our mind and our heart focused on

that that gives us this inner peace, and the inner

peace comes forth with joy and joy. Crazy thing I

just learned. I didn't even know this. But joy is

from the root word of Caros. Joy is from the

root word of Caras. And rejoicing and joy and grace

they all come from the same root where they're all cognates.

How's that for a big word. I dare you to

say it three times a cognate. They have the same

ancestral root, grace, joy, and rejoicing. And so here's Abraham rejoicing.

Twenty five years later, there's still no child traversing everywhere,

trial after tribulation. Maybe this is where Joseph got it.

Maybe this is where Joseph came by it. Because they've

heard about the stories of Great Grandpa, and they've heard

about the trials and the tribulations. But they heard how

God met them. They heard how God came through, they

heard the miracle of Isaing, they heard about the dream

and the visions of Great Grandfather. And now they're holding

on to those words themselves, believing that He who made

the promise will bring it to pass, and so much

so that we're told that the patriarchs would continue with

this heart of peace and joy even to their death,

even if they didn't see it come to pass. The

patriarchs were told were never, were never to let go

of their right relationship with the Word over them, and

therefore the inner peace that govern their hearts and the

joy that exuded out of their lives. So what is rejoicing?

And rejoicing is a verb to joy. To rejoice means

that you give a sound. It's like laughter. You give

a sound to the grace that's been distributed to you.

Joy is an inner recognition of grace that's been distributed

to your life because he shows you, because he picked you,

because he bought you, because he loves you, because he's

victorious over you. So I have a right relationship with that.

I continue to believe. I continue to agree, I continue

to confess. Romans ten eight through ten says continue in

confessing this. Believe in your heart under righteousness, and then

confess with your mouth. Confess means to agree, continue to agree,

continue to agree. Yeah, But circumstances say something else, and

difficulties say something else. And here's another delay, and here's

another sabotage, and here's another difficulty, and here's another hardship,

and here's another testimony out of circumstance. This says exactly

the opposite of the word. Shouldn't I let go of

the word now? Aren't these things signs and symbols and

enough of a circumstance enough to let me know that

I should let go of the word right now? Maybe

I should let go right now? Oh no, don't let

go of the word. Keep a right relationship with the word. Literally,

your sanity depends upon it. Your peace depends upon it,

your interest depends upon it, and your joy depends upon it.

Your joy is the present acknowledgment that His grace is

at work. And when I acknowledge that his grace is

at work, then my countenance is lifted. It's lifted with laughter,

It's lifted with rejoy. Sing, it's lifted with rejoyce sing

rejoice in the Lord Again, I say rejoice. You know

Niemiyah eight verse ten. We quote it all the time

in church. It says, the joy the Lord is your strength. Well,

reading the text of me Amiah eight, it's actually kind

of mind boggling.

The Amayah.

Was there with Ezra and others rebuilding Jerusalem and the

wall and the Tabernacle and the temple. This is after Daniel,

and this is after the seventy years of captivity, and

so he's there rebuilding it.

And then he says, hey, you know what else we're

gonna do.

We're gonna restore the priesthood and units we're gonna do.

We're gonna restore the Sabbath and un else we're gonna do.

We're gonna restore the reading of the Law. And so

the Levites got up and in front of all of

the people, and they began to read the law. And

as they read the word and the law, to us,

it represents the word of the Lord. It represents yes

new covenant faith, and it represents the word of the Lord.

And it says, as they read the law, as they

read the word, the people begin to weep, and they

begin to humble themselves, and they begin the needle, and

they begin to weep. And their hearts were broken because

they had been so distant from the word of the Lord,

and their hearts were rent. And when the Lord saw that,

he rose up through the prophets, and he said, don't weep,

stop weeping.

Don't weep. You've got the right heart. None of you

should weep.

Enter into the joy of the Lord, because now the

Lord is rejoicing over you, because your heart's are right.

When your hearts are right, the Lord rejoices over you.

And the joy of the Lord is your strength. That's

the context of that verse. The joy of the Lord

is your strength. The grace, the grace distributed through Jesus,

is yours. Because you've humbled yourself and you've esteemed the Word.

You've valued his word over your life. You've valued the

living word. You've valued his claim of deliverance over your life,

and his restoration word. Because you've valued that, and because

you've cherished his word, weep no more, weep no more,

because he's rejoicing over you. He's victorious over you, and

the joy of the Lord over you. That's your strength.

Let's stand this mind. I'm going to ask the prayer

to him to come as we close. Perhaps you're here

today just doing the very thing we're talking about, aligning

your heart with God's word again and anew and afresh.

And maybe it's not a saving word. Maybe it's not

a salvation word that you need to align your heart with.

Maybe it's another word over your life, and circumstances have.

Been shouting at you.

Circumstances have been shouting at you to forsake the word.

But God is.

Saying today, no, tether yourself to the word, draw near

to the word, stay connected to the word. Patiently wait

for the word. Don't give up on the word. Your

peace will be restored, your joy will be restored.

These flow out of His word.

If that's you, I want you to come, be prayed for,

be ministered to as we close and worship to day.

Would you put your hands up with me before the Lord. Father,

we thank you. You're not the author of every circumstance.

You're certainly not the author of negative circumstance. You're certainly

not in the midst of trouble causing it to come forth.

But Father, you've promised you will use the circumstance. You

promised that as you did with Joseph, you'll turn things around.

As you did with Joseph. You'll fulfill your word, and

many will be touched, and many will be saved, and

many will see victory, and many will taste of your goodness,

because of your promise over our lives. Father, we agree

today that you come with like a Romans eight twenty

eight anointing over us, that where the enemy has been

tested fine, that a circumstance sets us out away from

and destroys the plan of God. Your testimony is, no,

I'll use that circumstance. I'll use that circumstance.

I'll use it. I'll use it.

I'll use it, and I'll still turn things around, and

I'll put the enemy under your feet, and I'll cause

you to taste of victory and to receive the word

that I promised over you.

Father.

We thank you for this today, and we seal our

hearts over to your word, and we set our minds

steadfastly upon you in Jesus' name. And everybody said, God,

bless your cherish. Let's worship as we go this morning.