THE ECONOMY OF JOY (1) BY DR KARIS

The Economy of Joy (1)

It's August and aren't we glad? Seven months down, 5 months left to conquer.

This Sunday, the 7th day in August, there's two things Gloryzone has to tell you:

First, as you've already seen, the title of this month's teaching series is: The Economy of Joy. Dr Karis would all through the month give revelatory teachings on how joy can truly be used to run kingdom economy. You don't want to miss any of the teachings, and that brings us to the second thing we have to tell you.

Second, Gloryzone Church has resumed having two services every Sunday, and this series would be taught on Sundays and Tuesdays. A fast mathematician should have surmised at this point that this means that there would be 12 teachings on the series, and I suggest that you follow through on all the teachings.

Talk with Willy would not bring all the teachings to you though, we would only bring you one teaching from every Sunday. To get the other teachings, you have to be in church, which is our most preferred option, or you follow the services online. If you can't do either, you can watch the services later on the social media platforms of Gloryzone Church or get the audio messages on the Telegram channel.

As a quick reminder, before we go into today's teaching, the BAF to Church campaign is still on. If you didn't know already, it means Bring A Friend/Family to Church. We believe that everyone deserves to be part of a church, and it's our ambition to reach the unchurched and unsaved through this campaign, and if you haven't been in church for a long time, then this is for you too. So, join us, participate and let's BAF together, you'd surely smell fresher and look brighter, the scent and sight of a soul winner.

Into today's teaching, which was more of a general introduction, we now proceed:

The concept of joy has nothing to do with what is going on around you. You don’t make your joy dependent on happenings and circumstances around you. The book of Philippians, the anchor text for the series, is regarded as the happiest book of the Bible. It was written by Paul while he was a prisoner, and was written to people who were free, but as a prisoner, he was teaching and commanding them to be joyful and rejoice (Phil 4:4).

His circumstances were not a determinant for his joy, his joy came from the inside; the knowledge of what Christ had done and the ministry he was called to carry out, and he used every opportunity to do it.

Christians should not allow the devil take away their joy and peace, we are required to rejoice over and over. 

7 Reasons Why You Should be Joyful

1. God is big on joy and he commands you to be joyful. 
2. Joy is a part of your skill set for dominion on the earth (Rom 14:17)
3. Joy multiplies the productivity of your effort (Jer 30:19)
4. Joy is a catalyst that causes the earth to yield her best for you (Psalm 67:1-7)
5. Joy is a fetcher for the harvest, the machine for bringing in the fruits of salvation (Isa 12:2-3)
6. Your joy is a message of hope to this dying world. It is a soul-winning tool
7. Your joy creates an atmosphere for the manifest presence of God to move consistently (Psalm 16:11)

Words pertaining to joy and rejoicing are mentioned 2,700 times in the Bible. The Bible is a happy book

Living a Christ centred life is the only source of true joy. Every other thing is only temporal

There are three ways to see joy:

1. Joy is a focus
2. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit
3. Joy is a fight

As a Christian, you get to maximise your joy by realising that it is first a focus before it becomes a feeling, and this is best done when you place the Lord before you, who rejoices over you (Psalm 16:8-9). You can place the Lord before you by doing the following:

1. Focusing on Christ as Lord of your life
2. Focusing on the concerns of others
3. Seeing circumstances as opportunities

Dr Karis Quotes

"Satan fights what he fears"

"Satan cannot vanquish a joyful believer"

"Everything you’ll ever need is supplied in El-Shaddai"

"It is impossible for the gospel to be lord of your ears and joy will not rule in your heart"

"Knowledge sponsors confidence; spiritual knowledge sponsors spiritual confidence"

That's all for today. Remember to catch the full message on the YouTube and Facebook accounts of Gloryzone Church. 

See you next week!

Blessings!