Living From Sunday 2 Sunday
Living From Sunday 2 Sunday
EP 177: Rediscovering Joy in Spiritual Commitment
Have you ever questioned whether your devotion to God is truly integrated into every aspect of your life? After binge-watching "The Chosen," I found myself captivated by the portrayal of ancient Jewish worship—the intentionality, focus, and sincere commitment that characterized their faith. It wasn't compartmentalized or reserved for special occasions; it flowed through every conversation, meal, and daily task.
This realization prompted me to ask some uncomfortable questions about my own spiritual walk. Has modernization, with all its distractions and conveniences, reduced our worship to mere checkboxes and Sunday rituals? Colossians 3:23-24 challenges us to work "heartily as unto the Lord" in everything we do, yet how often do we approach our jobs, conversations, and even our rest time with this level of devotion? True worship isn't just about songs or sermons—it's a lifestyle that permeates every corner of our existence.
The mindset behind our worship matters tremendously. Romans 12:2 instructs us to be "transformed by the renewing of our mind," suggesting that devotion begins with our thoughts. In a world constantly competing for our attention, creating space for God's perspective requires intentional effort. And perhaps most striking is the joy that authentic worship produces—a contagious, overflowing happiness that emerges even in challenging circumstances. When we truly grasp who God is and what He's done for us, how can our response be anything less than joyful? This week, I challenge you to choose just one area of your life and commit to honoring God through it. Watch how your perspective shifts and your connection to Him deepens. Join us as we explore what it truly means to live our faith beyond Sunday mornings.
Welcome to the Living From Sunday to Sunday podcast with your host, pastor B. This podcast is designed to help you walk faithfully with God through the various trials and challenges this life presents. The truth of who we are is revealed in our lives in between Sundays. You will be inspired, challenged and equipped to live a victorious life that will bring glory to God himself. Come on, let's get started. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Living from Sunday to Sunday podcast. I am your host, pastor D. I believe that this is the best 15 minutes every day, so thank you so much for joining us today. A real change in those 15 minutes at a time. So, before we get started today, make sure that you like, share and subscribe this podcast everywhere where your podcast can be found. If you're watching via youtube, make sure that you subscribe to my youtube channel and hit the notification bell so that you are notified every time a new video drops.
Speaker 1:So I have been rewatching and really I made a choice to finish a series, a TV show called the Chosen, and for those who may not have seen this show, this is a show I think now it's on Prime Video but it focuses on the life of Jesus and his disciples over Jesus's three year ministry. And I've been very impressed by the show, very almost addicted to the show, and one of the things that keeps me coming back for more is how this show depicts the commitment of the Jewish faith and how dedicated faith and how dedicated those who worship Yahweh, their practices and their rituals and their traditions, and how sincere it is right. And I couldn't help but look at the intentionality, look at the focus, the commitment. I couldn't help but look looking at how ingrained their worship and up compare myself to that level of commitment, that level of devotion. So I asked myself the other day I was like man, do you really love God in that same way? Do you have the same level of commitment, have the same level of commitment? And you know, I realized that there are some areas in life where I'm not as committed intentionally to worshiping God in that same manner.
Speaker 1:So you know, it was just a moment of self-reflection and so I was looking through some scriptures the other day and this scripture jumped out in my mind when I looked at that show and then I kind of compared it to my life Colossians 3, 23 and 24,. It says whatever you do, work heartily as unto the Lord and not for me. Right Knowing that from the Lord you shall receive an inheritance as your reward. Excuse me, you are serving the Lord Christ, and you know the question I ask myself and the one I'm asking. You know the question I ask myself, and the one I'm asking you as well, is what does your daily worship look like?
Speaker 1:These Jewish sons of God they were so like from the moment that they woke up. Every time they ate, every time that they were doing their everyday chores like worship, commitment, joy, singing it was ingrained in every single part of life. I just realized, man, that we have, with the modernization of our lives us having access to more things, us having more money, more distractions a way of diverting our focus, so much so that worship becomes an afterthought for some of us, versus ingraining worship in our everyday lives, seeing our job, even how we spend quiet time and rest time, am I dedicating this to God? Is he my focus throughout my day, or is it more routine? Is it reserved for church? Is it reserved as a means to check off spiritual boxes, right, and so one of the things about worship that you know, struck me so much about that show is that worship is a lifestyle. Right, it's more than just listening to songs, listening to gospel music, but it really listening to songs, listening to gospel music, but it really was ingrained in their everyday life, like every part of their life, from the conversation to recreation. I must remember that it's an opportunity to honor God, right, do I honor God in my conversations? Do I honor God in how I do my job? Do I really give my very best or do I settle for meager worship? Do I settle for worship that doesn't have any depth to it? Right, and that's something that I just know.
Speaker 1:Whenever you are recommitting your life to God or reassessing your relationship, the first thing you want to look at is look at how much time you spend with God, look at how much time you think about the things of God. Right, prayer is something that is supposed to be without ceasing. That's what scripture says. Right, scripture encourages us to pray without ceasing, and I think a lot of times we look at that, and our Western culture has taught us that prayer has to be, you know, on your knees whenever you wake up in the morning, whenever you go to bed at night. But really, prayer should be a constant conversation with God, an ongoing conversation with God. Right, and so you know, do you see worship as a chore or do you see it as a vital part of your spiritual walk? Is is it a key ingredient in your spiritual health? Right, it should be. Right. Prayer should be the lifeblood of our spiritual walk with God. And so you know, between prayer and worship, I just think we just need to refocus and just take an honest look at where we are right.
Speaker 1:The other thing too, with worship, and true, sincere worship, it involves what we think about. Right, devotion begins in our minds, and so Romans 12 and 2, you know, it encourages us not to be transformed by the renewing or not to conform to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. So our faithfulness to God, it really starts in what we think, it starts in how we view God, starts in our motives and our mindsets. But it is very challenging. Our society right now is a challenging society, mainly because there's so much happening that, so much distractions. But we have the ability, we have the instructions to put on the mind of Christ. Putting on the mind of Christ simply means to isolate our thoughts toward him, isolate what we receive in our minds what we see, what we read, what we tell ourselves, what we listen to. Right, we have the charge to put on the mind of Christ to think like him, to cast down any thoughts or imaginations that tries to elevate or exalt themselves above God. Right, that's our charge. That's our charge, that's what God has called us to do. So, have you created space? Have you intentionally blocked off those things that you know keep you from being able to hone in on God's word? Worship your faithfulness to God. It begins in your mind. Your devotion begins with your mind. And then, the last thing that worship should do worship should produce a level of joy that is unmatched.
Speaker 1:I was watching I think it's season three of the Chosen, and I was blown away at how much joy the Jews had in their regular feast and holidays and celebrations as they honor God in these moments. Right, think of it as you know. Annual celebrations, right, it was, you know. Easter Passover, the Festival of Weeks, right, the Festival of Weeks, right, all of these celebrations. They meant so much to the Jewish faith and their belief in God. Like faith and serving God was the most premier thing, and they enjoyed it.
Speaker 1:Right, and I wonder, as Western believers, do we enjoy our lives? Do we live for God with a sense of joy? Do we smile at the thought of God? Does God's faithfulness brighten up our day so much that we can't help but exude happiness and joy? Right, why would you be sad all the time when you have Jesus as your Savior, when you have Jesus as your Redeemer, when the goodness and faithfulness of God has been so immense in your life? Right, that he saved you from the penalty of sin? Right, you're free to live for him in victory. If that's the truth of our reality, that should produce a never ending, constant flow of joy and worship, right?
Speaker 1:So my question to you is does Jesus make you happy? Does Jesus make you smile? Are you exuding the joy of the Lord? Wow, are you exuding the joy of the Lord? Right? The spirit of God which lives in us produces a joy that's unspeakable, a joy that shows up even in the midst of chaos, even in the midst of sadness, even in the midst of circumstances that normally wouldn't produce joyful responses. Right, because I believe that joy and hope are the rocket fuel of the Christian life. It pushes us with expectation and also it allows us to enjoy the day. Right, to make it through the day, because scripture tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
Speaker 1:All right, when is the last time that you smiled, when is the last time that you leaped for joy and became so giddy at the thought of honoring God that it was contagious to us? Right, that's my challenge to you this week. I just want you to look at one thing. Pick one thing, whether it's your job, whether it's your, your thoughts, whether it's the expression of joy. Pick one thing that you're going to commit to honoring God with this week. All right, and just watch how your demeanor changes. Just watch how your demeanor changes. Watch how God, how you're able to see him in a whole new way and how you are going to be connected to him like never before.
Speaker 1:All right, so this is that's all for today. Again, thank you guys. So much for watching today's episode. Of course, this podcast can be found everywhere where they are available Apple, spotify, good Pods, youtube, everywhere. Right, make sure that you like, share and subscribe, and until next time we'll see you. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to our channel, as well as this podcast, Everywhere when they Can Be Found. Have a great one.
