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ReJOYce: Unshakeable Joy
- Free Church
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
ReJOYce: Unshakeable Joy | HloHlo Moroeng and Mantsha Pheeha | 16 November 2025
Message 1:
1. Joy Grows Through Testing (James 1:2 - 7)
The Bible doesn’t pretend life is easy. Instead, it tells us what to do when hardship comes:
Troubles are not a one-time event - they are part of the journey.
“Consider” is a choice. You can choose to worship your troubles, or you can choose joy.
Endurance grows only when it is stretched. No resistance = no strength.
Joy is not an emotion. Joy is spiritual endurance in motion.
When you don’t know what to do, God invites you to ask for wisdom - single-minded, undivided, faith-filled wisdom.
2. Habakkuk’s Turning Point - “Yet I Will Rejoice” (Hab. 3:17 - 19)
Habakkuk wrestled with God. He struggled with how God worked, why God allowed injustice, and why God used imperfect people for His purposes. But something shifted in his heart:
Even if the orchards are empty, Even if there is no cattle in the barns, Even if life does not look like I hoped…
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”
Habakkuk realised: God may not rescue me from the season, but He will strengthen me through it.
That is joy.
3. The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength (Nehemiah 8:10)
Joy = strength. Not happiness. Not positivity. Joy sourced from the Lord Himself.
A joyless, defeated, dejected Christian isn’t just lacking energy - they are lacking strength. True strength flows from joy anchored in Jesus.
4. Joy Killers: Worship, Offense, Worry
W - Worshiping Your Troubles
When your whole narrative revolves around your problems, you’re worshiping them. Trouble seeks your attention and wants to dictate the direction of your life. Let God reclaim that space.
O - Offense
One of the greatest joy killers in the kingdom. Offense grows → bitterness grows → joy dies. Offense is a choice. Releasing it is a choice too.
W — Worry
Worry creates spiritual paralysis. Jesus told us not to worry because He knew it would rob us of joy. Philippians 4 shows us the antidote: Don’t worry about anything. Pray about everything. Prayer guards your heart and mind with supernatural peace.
5. Choose Joy Daily (Philippians 4:4 - 7 & 1 Thess. 5:16)
Joy isn’t automatic. It’s chosen.
How to choose joy:
Start your day with thanksgiving
Memorize one joy-focused scripture
Sing joyful songs, especially when you feel the opposite
Pray consistently
Guard your heart from offense
Let go of worry before it roots itself
Joy is an intentional spiritual practice.
Message 2:
1. Looking at your life's moments
We all have moments where we pause and ask:
“What am I doing with my life?”
“Am I serving God? Am I doing well? Am I a good parent? Do I even have a career?”
In those moments, we often revert to human measurements:
Time spent, productivity, bank accounts, career progress.
The things of God cannot be measured by physical measurements. Time in church, worship, prayer, the Word - they produce things you cannot see immediately. Time in worship, prayer, fasting, the Word - always matters.
Even when the fast isn’t perfect. If you ate by mistake, continue after the meal.
Never assume these moments are wasted or unproductive.
2. INVISIBLE TRANSFORMATION
Sometimes God works in silence - no word, no prophecy, no preacher saying anything.
But transformation still happens.
People from your past may look at you and say:
“You’ve changed. You’re not the same person.”
Why? Because Jesus quietly changes hearts.
We often only see the change when we look backward.
3. SCRIPTURE: JAMES 1:2 - 4 - UNBREAKABLE JOY
“Count it all joy…”
You choose what to count it as.
You can say:
“God has forsaken me.”
But James says:
Count ALL of it joy. Not just blessings - trials too.
Trials look different:
Marriage issues
Work stress
People talking badly about you
Broken relationships
Repeated losses in the family
Even when people speak death over your situation
God is still at work.
What trials produce:
Patience - the kind of success cannot create
Endurance
Maturity - “perfect and complete, lacking nothing”
Faith -
Trials deepen gratitude.
Trials teach endurance.
Trials build an untouchable joy.
4. FINAL SCRIPTURE - HABAKKUK 3:17 - 19
Even when:
Fig tree doesn’t blossom
Fields produce nothing
Flocks disappear
“Yet I will rejoice.”
God becomes:
Strength
Stability
Source of joy
Sure footing
5. Encouragement
Life will bring trouble - Jesus said it would. But we do not walk through it alone. Joy is not the absence of difficulty; Joy is the presence of Jesus strengthening us in the middle of it.
Choose joy.
Choose it daily.
Choose it on the mountaintop and in the valley.
The joy of the Lord really is your strength.
Life Group Discussion Questions
Think about a recent trial or challenge. How did it affect your joy? Did you try to “count it all joy” during that time, or did you focus on the negative?
How do you respond when your circumstances don’t match your prayers?
Do you find it difficult to believe in God’s promises that you cannot see yet?
How can remembering His past faithfulness help you rejoice in the midst of present difficulties?
How will you practically demonstrate unbreakable joy in your words, actions, or attitude?
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