STEPPING INTO ABUNDANT LIVING - DEFINING THE PRINCIPLE & THE FEAR OF JOY
Matthew 5: (NIV)
8 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
8 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Amplified says:
6Blessed and fortunate
and happy and [g]spiritually prosperous (in that state in
which the born-again child of God [h]enjoys His favor and salvation) are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with
God), for they shall be [i]completely satisfied!(C)
PRINCIPLE 5 - STEPS 6 & 7
READY
TO VOLUNTARILY.. definitions…
Putting
‘off’ – Putting ‘on’
Learning
to Fear Joy – the Fear of Joy – Fear of Success
Sometimes
Christians are Afraid
Why
would someone fear something good? Why
would anyone be afraid of something positive?
Def:
the fear of joy is a vague uneasiness that one feels when things seem to be
going too well.
The
roots to this fear as with most fears are often false beliefs/ lies.
If
you are dealing with the fear of joy, you may….
1.
believe that being successful is the only way you can feel good
about yourself. If you had/ have success, and it is not making a difference,
you give up or.. you sabotage so you never have to face the fact that what you
believe is really true.
2.
believe you do not deserve success/ joy.. Why?
discuss
3.
believe that ‘if it’s too good to be true, then it’s not true’.
‘If things go well, it’s just a prelude to a catastrophe, so don’t get your
hopes up’. Both beliefs are rooted in past experiences that need to be
considered/ looked at. – life examples –
binge drinkers
We
conclude from our beliefs and experiences on a subconscious level that:
-
it would be better to stay on guard at all times… at least that
way, when bad experiences come, we are ready
-
you must get comfortable with being the struggler rather than a
victor. Once this sets in, we become
used to struggling and it feels ‘normal’.. not struggling/ experiencing success
feels very uncomfortable.
How
do families foster the fear of joy?
Here
are a few…
1.
when families are unpredictable/ full of broken promises “the longer the time without pain, the
greater the intensity of the pain when it comes”… “sometimes you just get tired
of waiting for it to happen and you actually wish it would so it would be over”
2.
when families are not sure the future will come to pass - living from crisis to crisis does not allow
for a planned future. There is a sense that everyone is just barely holding it
together – in survival mode
3.
where there is a lot of waiting – learn to accept waiting as a
constant state of life. We become more comfortable with waiting to succeed,
waiting to be happy, than actually experiencing it. We become an experienced
‘waiter’ rather than an experienced ‘experiencer of joy’
Ps
112:7 They do not fear bad news;
they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
Romans 8:15 15 So you have
not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received
God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.[a] Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”[b]
TRUTH: Before God can change me, I need to connect
with reality, even if that reality is painful.
TRUTH: Changing us is God’s business.
TRUTH:
This is hard and painful!
TRUTH: In this place there aren’t any heroes, just fellow
pilgrims, all of us on a journey deeper into the heart of God.
STEPPING INTO ABUNDANT LIVING – DEFINING THE PRINCIPLE & THE FEAR
OF JOY: GROUP WORK
1. DISCUSS THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM GOING THROUGH THIS PRINCIPLE IN DETAIL.
1. DISCUSS THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM GOING THROUGH THIS PRINCIPLE IN DETAIL.
2. WHAT IS GOD CALLING YOU TO
‘PUT OFF’ AND ‘PUT ON’?
3. FEAR OF JOY/ SUCCESS: WAS YOUR FAMILY OF ORIGIN UNPREDICTABLE? IN WHAT WAYS?
4. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER WAITING FOR AS A CHILD? HAVE YOU LEARNED TO BE MORE COMFORTABLE WITH WAITING THAN ARRIVING? HOW HAS THAT AFFECTED YOUR LIFE?
5. WHAT STATEMENTS IN THE LISTS AND INFORMATION GIVEN ON THIS FEAR DO YOU RELATE TO?
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