The Daily Fight for Joy in Christ
00:00:00.000 | That's Trip Lee's title track off his latest album, Rise.
00:00:18.180 | Trip, as you know, fighting for joy in Christ is a daily battle in the Christian life.
00:00:22.600 | So how do you pursue joy in Christ and is this something that you set out to achieve
00:00:27.720 | every given day?
00:00:29.860 | Last time in episode 593, you shared with us about your daily trials.
00:00:33.740 | So now talk to us about pursuing joy in God in the midst of these struggles.
00:00:39.200 | Yeah, it's definitely a pursuit because if I don't set out to find or achieve joy in
00:00:44.660 | God in any given day, I just won't have it.
00:00:48.080 | One of the unlikely gifts of even suffering, the kind of suffering that I've been through
00:00:53.360 | in the past few years with chronic fatigue, which is small suffering compared to a lot
00:00:56.960 | of people's others, but one of the things that that does, it tears down some of the
00:01:00.440 | idols that I look to for joy.
00:01:02.760 | And so I'm tempted to find my joy in success or my own spiritual performance or how good
00:01:07.640 | of a husband I am or my relationship's going well.
00:01:10.360 | When I wake up in the morning, that's when I'm tempted to go to find my joy.
00:01:13.320 | So if I don't fight to find it in God, I just won't.
00:01:16.520 | So the main things I'm doing every day to fight for joy is I'm trying to look away from
00:01:20.000 | those things.
00:01:21.000 | I'm fighting in my heart to look away from those and fighting to really look to Jesus.
00:01:25.240 | For me, it happens mainly in the Word and in prayer.
00:01:28.480 | So for example, right now I'm reading the Gospel of Luke, and as I'm reading through
00:01:32.320 | this incredible story about Jesus and the things he did and the things he said, I'm
00:01:36.720 | pleading with God to open the eyes of my heart to see how incredible Jesus is.
00:01:41.400 | So when I'm reading chapter one and everyone's rejoicing at the coming of this King, I'm
00:01:46.440 | asking myself, "Man, does my heart rejoice like this in Jesus?
00:01:49.880 | And why not?
00:01:50.880 | God, help me to rejoice.
00:01:52.920 | Help me to see."
00:01:53.920 | And so when I'm reading the Scripture, it's always this kind of back and forth with God.
00:01:57.560 | As I'm listening to Him and I'm pleading with Him, "Lord, help me respond well.
00:02:01.320 | Give me grace.
00:02:02.320 | I need your Spirit."
00:02:03.320 | And it doesn't always happen right then, though.
00:02:06.280 | It's not this automatic switch I flip.
00:02:09.160 | Sometimes I leave with the same amount of joy I had before.
00:02:12.880 | But if I get so discouraged at my lack of joy that I'm unwilling to fight for it, then
00:02:17.640 | I will never have joy in Christ, because it is not a magic switch.
00:02:20.840 | We have to fight for it through the Word and prayer and fellowship, etc., and all the means
00:02:26.400 | of grace God has given us, and God graciously grants it to us.
00:02:30.040 | But it's that consistent fight.
00:02:32.120 | For me, at least, it really bears fruit, not just one day here or there.
00:02:37.320 | Consistency in that fight has been huge in my fight for joy.
00:02:40.080 | So it is like every day, individually, I have to fight.
00:02:43.640 | But it seems to me that when I'm inconsistent, inconsistency always leads to less joy for
00:02:48.600 | me in my experience, and consistency is always huge for me.
00:02:52.960 | Yes, discipline is so key, and joy in God is essential.
00:02:57.360 | We talk a lot about joy and desiring God.
00:02:59.800 | So how do we avoid making joy into our idol?
00:03:03.040 | That was a question John Piper picked up and addressed back in episode number 120 in this
00:03:07.080 | podcast series.
00:03:08.760 | You can find it in the archive.
00:03:10.480 | Well, can fame and popularity make us happy?
00:03:13.860 | For those of us nobodies who are not famous, we respond with a quick "no."
00:03:18.560 | But what would a relatively famous Christian like Trip Lee say?
00:03:21.280 | I'll ask him tomorrow.
00:03:23.040 | Trip's new album and his new book are both titled "Rise."
00:03:25.920 | You can find them at Amazon right now.
00:03:28.000 | I'm your host Tony Reinke.
00:03:29.000 | I'll see you tomorrow.
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