Hey this is Stephen Fertake. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our

podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you.

Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message.

Joy is a focus before it's a feeling.

And so while we're chasing a feeling called joy,

God has given us the ability to choose not our feelings. You ever tried to choose joy? I saw it on Pinterest I tried it it

sucked it didn't work then I felt guilty because I couldn't find joy and it made me feel less joy so now I'm in a joyless pit of joylessness.

It is cyclical joylessness and shame.

It's the difference between choice and consequence.

Joy is a choice, really?

Because some of the trials that people go through are actual mental illness and it's kind of hard for them to just feel happy because they got a good parking space.

And no matter how much you tell them to feel happy, be happy, you know, be happy, feel happy. Count your blessings. James doesn't say

count your blessings. This isn't a nursery rhyme, it's a Bible scripture.

He said, count it all joy. He said, learn how to flip.

You might not know this statement, but there's a statement in financial terms. It's an income statement. It's got your income on one side, your expenses on another.

James says, if you can learn to put some of the stuff in the income column that you thought was an expense,

some of the stuff in the blessing column that you thought was a burden, if you can flip the flow,

you actually have more joy than you're aware of, but you're not going to get it by praying for a feeling.

You're going to get it by making choices.

Joy is not a choice.

In fact, the worst way that I can get more joy

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