Episode 5 - Fruits of the Spirit: Joy

Joy that lasts doesn’t come from wins, toys, or perfect days. It comes from presence. We dig into what Scripture says about joy as a steady strength, not a mood swing, and why abiding in Christ changes how we face pressure, disappointment, and long nights. Starting with Proverbs 17:22, we unpack how a joyful heart brings life, then move to Nehemiah 8:10 and John 15 to show where that joy is sourced and how it grows when we remain in the vine.

We also name the quiet thieves that drain men of joy: responsibility pressure, performance mindsets, spiritual neglect, and hidden pain or unconfessed sin. From there, we offer five practical ways to restore joy this week: cultivate daily gratitude, stay rooted in God’s Word and the armour of God, pursue brotherhood and real fellowship, serve others with a generous heart, and guard your heart by filtering the inputs that shape your mind. Along the way, we get honest about grief, depression, and the gap between happiness and true joy, sharing real stories and the hope that comes from salvation and community.

If you’ve been feeling empty after chasing the next milestone, this conversation will help you trade quick highs for quiet strength. Expect clear takeaways you can practice today and scriptures you can cling to when life gets loud. Subscribe, share this with a brother who needs it, and tell us: which step will you try first? Your message might be the encouragement someone else is waiting for.

Transcript

Setting The Theme: Joy

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome to the Brotherhood Podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Welcome back to another episode of the Brotherhood Podcast. Today, like we mentioned last week, we are diving into our second fruit of the spirit, which is joy. And we're kind of going to talk about that it's not just a feeling of happiness, but um the kind of joy that holds you steady when life's falling apart. That's kind of what we want to talk about today. And of course, we'll stay scripture-based. And before we get too far into the discussion, I will again just read for you guys Galatians 5, uh 22 to 23, which is the fruits of the spirit, just so you guys can keep that in mind as well as you listen. Um so starting in verse 22. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And like I said, today we're gonna talk about joy. And our anchor verse for today is going to be Proverbs 1722. Um that says a joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up bones. And I think that's pretty powerful because it tells us that joy isn't just a feeling, but there's also healing. That kind of rhymes, but there's healing within true joy, I think. And uh I mean there's a lot of again, there's a lot of different directions we could go, and we can't fit everything in the Bible into one episode um about these things. So um, of course, do some of your own studying as well. But um I'll

A Joyful Heart As Good Medicine

SPEAKER_03 2:30

we'll do a little bit of a breakdown here too of uh kind of what I what I think that this means. So this verse paints two pictures, one of life and one of death. So the first portion, a joyful heart is good medicine. Medicine is uh for sure today um used to keep us alive, keep us healthy. Um, and then a crushed spirit dries up the bones, and um someone who's been dead for a long time, or if you find bones of an animal in the bush or something like that while you're walking, or uh whatever you see, something that's been dead for a while is dried up and and and dead and gone. So there's no life within it. Um joyful heart brings health, energy, and life, and a crushed spirit uh is full of discouragement, hopelessness, and it really just drains us. And you know, we don't have energy. You have things like depression come along and things like that. Um, so something for you guys to think about. Um, how is your heart? Are you filled with joy or are you running on empty?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

I think that's uh that's a good question. I was going to say on that verse you had mentioned there, Proverbs 17, 22. I think a lot of us have experienced those times where, like I know for myself, I have for sure, where you're just kind of down in the dumps, and it just it doesn't just affect one aspect of your life, it affects everything, right? I'd come home and you know, not give the same attention to the kids as I did a week ago, um, you know, because it it's kind of like a roller coaster, right? You you get on this thing where you have a couple weeks that's you know, you're kind of at the top, and then it starts coming back down. You get down to the bottom and you're just kind of crushed and down in the dumps, and it affects every aspect of your life uh with that. And um, I think joy is is something that we often have to choose, right? As Christians, we know where to go for our joy, right? We we seek Jesus and that's where we find it. And I think you know, the first part of that verse, um my Bible says a cheerful heart is good medicine rather than a joyful heart, right? But um I think it's it is good medicine because it's just like every aspect of your life gets better when you can choose to be joyful, you know, and I think that's what this verse is referring to, is it just it affects every every part of your body, right? When you're joyful, you sleep better, um, you don't you're not stressed, you don't wake up so defeated, right? You can start your day on the right foot, and uh it makes a big difference in that way.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Yeah, I agree. And uh we'll talk a little bit more about that too, like choosing um choosing joy and um kind of starting and ending your day with gratitude to God for what he has given you, so you focus on those things rather than what's going wrong. And I I mean I don't do that all the time, but I know when I do, uh I it seems like my days go better for sure, and then I'm I'm also able to give more of myself. Um I have a higher capacity for serving others and serving my family when I get home from work and things like that, too.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

So yeah, and that's yeah,

Choosing Joy Over Circumstance

SPEAKER_01 6:30

that's absolutely how that works, right? You uh you want to help people more and and then you get more joy from that, and it's like a snowball. Once you once you start a couple days off where you know you're feeling pretty good, the rest of the week just kind of snowballs. Every little thing you get to do for somebody else, it just grows that snowball bigger and bigger and bigger, right? And again, we're people, we're not perfect, so eventually, you know, you kind of start coming back down the roller coaster again. I've done it more times than I can count in my life, but uh we're we're all human and we're all here to uh to fight for the same thing and and fight for a life of joy. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Um we should look at um what biblical joy is. So like I kind of alluded to at the beginning, joy and happiness are not the same thing. It seems like happiness depends on circumstances um and can be very volatile, depends on what's going on, and joy depends on the presence of God in your life, at least that's what I see. And um a verse one of the verses I have for that is uh Nehemiah eight um verse ten, which says Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Um So I think that's saying uh joy strengthen strengthens us, right? It's our strength to endure trials. Um I mean that excerpt is kind of talking about a holy day, but um I think that does apply as well to that. And I know I hear it's funny, I've heard that a lot, like the joy of the Lord is your strength, but I never realized what the what the context was. So I I was a little bit slow to use it because it wasn't exactly what I was kind of trying to get across, but I think it I think it kind of says the same thing. I don't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Um yeah, no, I don't know. That's good. Yeah, go ahead. I was um yeah, I was gonna say I think that's really good, and and that's a good verse to use for that, right? Um, I was gonna share this one verse that kind of touches on that a little bit too. Um in the same way. So first, or sorry, John uh John 15 verse 11 says, I have told you this so that my joy, and this is Jesus speaking, I've told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. Right? So again, I I think this too is talking about uh I think it's talking about one day our joy is gonna be complete, but you know that the joy of Jesus can be in us, kind of like what uh your verse had said there too, Craig. Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

Um I think like I I had that a little bit too, but I went back. You said John 15, 11, right? Is that you just read? Yep, that was John 15, verse 11, yeah. Okay. So I will I'm actually gonna go back a little bit, so I think this is important and we can talk about it. Um, back into verse 8. By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's

Joy And The Vine: Abiding In Christ

SPEAKER_03 10:40

commandments and abide in his love. And then it says, These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. So um Jesus wants his joy in us. Um it's part of our walk with him, and with those verses prior, it comes from abiding in him and following his commands or his commandments, right? And then it also mentions love as well, like we talked about last week. So, yeah, um, so the joy comes from abiding in him and uh and loving him. Yeah. So I thought that was pretty good too.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yeah, I think it ties in really nice with what we talked about last week about love being the first uh fruit of the spirit, and how you know you and I both believe that there was a reason for that. I think this just kind of proves that, right? That you know, from love um comes joy.

SPEAKER_03 11:51

So if joy is a fruit of the spirit, that means it's something that we grow as we stay connected to God. And I don't know what verse it is, and we I guess we won't go there unless you find it, but um I know we I think we mentioned it last week, and I might have it here somewhere, but I didn't write it in this section of my notes. But he is the vine, right? So if we if we are in him and we stay connected to him as the vine, then we bear fruit, and joy is a fruit. So that again goes with um staying like abiding in him and following his commandments, um and then we will we will bear fruit. So yeah, yeah, I like that my idea. That's where my thought process went.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I think that's really good. And uh the thought that comes to my mind when it speaks about the vine and the branches. Um actually it's funny that uh what you're talking about is just a few verses earlier here. Chapter 15. I think this is what you're looking for. Uh I'm the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. Well, every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the world I have spoken to you. Remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. That's uh that's kind of funny, but uh the picture I kind of get in my head is like a vine growing out of uh a branch, or I guess the other way around, I guess a branch growing out of a vine, right? The vine is is the main stem of the tree, right, representing Jesus, and we're connected to him, right? So the more that we grow into the vine, the stronger we're gonna we're going to grow as Christians, right? And then again, because of that, we're gonna bear more fruit, um, because we have a better understanding of who we are in Jesus Christ, I think, as well.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Yeah, I was gonna say, and the str like the stronger your connection is to the vine. Like if you think of a a branch that's um that's not connected very well, it's not really getting I guess the nutrients that it needs to grow and bear fruit, and it might wither and die. But if if it's got a good connection there, right at the vine, then it's it's gonna grow and it's gonna bear fruit. Yeah. So that it's when I I think when I think of this like this analogy, I'm thinking of like grape vines. That's what comes to my mind.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Yep. Oh, it does, yeah, absolutely. Especially where we're from. I think that's uh we don't get to see a whole lot of different vines. That's kind of one of the main ones I think we have where we live. Yeah, but it's a beautiful picture, I think.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Yeah, I think so too. Um so yeah, are we connected to the vine and how how do you stay connected to the vine? I think is um through the word, through his word. Yeah. Um I have some notes here too on why men might lose their joy, and you guys listening, you might have some other ideas as well, and you can probably throw them in the pot here um with these thoughts. But uh just I have like four points here that I think men typically struggle with and and what steals our joy. The first one is responsibility pressure. So um that's always carrying the weight of providing or protecting. Um and I think it can slowly squeeze uh the joy out of us if we're like if we're just too stressed out about um I don't know how to explain it, because it is a good thing, like providing and protecting is a good thing, but I think we can get overwhelmed with it, and we can get too stressed out about it, and we can try to do those things on our own rather than seeking God's help with them, and that's not healthy, and that can steal our joy away, I think. Um and that that leads into also performance mentality, um, thinking that we can earn our joy by achieving or succeeding, um different financial goals or um just uh yeah, just achieving different things that we set out to do. Um worldly things often, trophies come to mind, and those things like I mentioned, those bring happiness, but they don't bring joy. Um and if we're not

Joy As Strength: Scripture Deep Dive

SPEAKER_03 17:30

like I said, I think joy comes from um being connected to God, and so if we're neglecting our spiritual walk as well, so the third um the third one uh that I have is spiritual neglect, so feeling like we're too busy to pray or take time to rest, um like recognizing the the Sabbath, taking you know, taking Sunday to rest and and be in God's word and and spend time with your your family and um and fellowship and things like that. Um I think that can be that can steal joy as well if we are not if we just feel like we're too busy to fellowship, if there's something going on um with brothers and sisters at church or something like that, like if there's a I don't know, small group or a potluck or something, you're like, oh no, I got other stuff to do, or um and then also being too busy to pray. If you're something that comes to my mind is sometimes we're like we're trying to get out the door to go somewhere and do something, and we gotta, you know, we gotta sit down, we gotta eat, and say we're driving Grand Prairie or something, and we're like, hey, we gotta eat and we gotta get going and like hurry up, get out the door. Kids are eating, I'm making coffee, and we're trying to leave, and um it's just chaotic. Oh, yeah, it is, and I uh I'm guilty of it. Like, um, I don't necessarily necessarily, like I said, believe, I'm open to be corrected, but I don't think you have to pray at every single meal. Um, but I think it is good uh to instill that in your children, um right. Because I know for my kids too, like if we miss praying, or if we just sit down and we're not like if we just forget, someone's like, one of the kids is like, can I pray? or like are we gonna pray? Or it's like, oh yeah, okay, let's do that. Good point. We may we maybe should. And I mean, sometimes we'll we'll be like, okay, well, let's just do it. Just you do it yourself. That's okay too. But um, and then again, bedtimes, those are the things that I think of, like meal times and bed times when you think like things are just going crazy off the rails, and you got too many things to do, and you don't take the time to to pray before you put the kids to bed, or even it's been a long day, and you and your wife lay down, put your head on the pillow, and you don't pray together either. I'm guilty of that too, and that's something that I need to work on better as well. But um I think and when when we are doing those things, when we are praying, when we're resting like we should, when we're fellowshipping with other believers, um I think joy comes out of those things.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

So um, I would agree with you, and I would say too, like on that note, when it comes to praying at bedtime and uh supper time and stuff, uh, one thing for me, and I don't remember exactly where I heard this, but I remember hearing um this one guy how he would pray, and every time he'd pray, he would try and thank God for 10 things a day, try and be thankful for 10 things. And so I've incorporated I've tried to incorporate that into my prayers just to kind of uh change my attitude on things too, right? You start focusing on things that you're thankful for, um, things that you've been blessed with. And I don't I I actually used to count and try and get 10. I've uh I haven't done that for a few years now, but I try to have you know two or three things that I can pray um that I'm thankful for, right? Like uh, you know, we'll sit down and I'll try and teach our kids, you know, thank you, Jesus, for our house, or thank you, Jesus, for our health. Thank you for family, thank you for uh just blessing us in every aspect of our life, you know, things like that. And it's really cool because I our kids have every once in a while they'll ask to pray before bedtime, and so they've kind of started doing that in their prayers a little bit. Uh, when they pray it, they'll start it off like Jesus, thank you for our house. Uh, thank you that we can go to school. And I think as parents, um I think it kind of helps our kids too to start the day off or end the day with joy and just realizing um what we have and what we don't have, which I think there's a pretty big distinction between what the world wants to teach you there versus what Jesus wants to teach you, because I and this might be a bit of a rabbit trail, but um, I think the world wants to teach us that we don't have enough, that we need more, we need more, we need more, we need more money, we need more toys, need a bigger house, more vehicles, you know, fancier vehicles. And that's not what Jesus teaches us. And I think by trying to think about things you're thankful for every day, I think that just kind of it really helps with what we're talking about today, with joy, right? It gives you a joyful heart to think about what God has blessed us with, and you know, I'm not perfect at that by any means. I definitely have my downfalls, but when you really sit down and think about what you've been blessed with, um what Jesus has done for you,

What Steals Joy From Men

SPEAKER_01 23:30

yeah, the the joy starts to just literally pour out of your heart. My heart can't contain it. It's it's really cool.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

Yeah, your cup overflows. That's right. That would have been a good one too. See, we can't get everything.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Some of them come to us uh while we're in the middle of of talking, and uh, and then we're quickly scrambling to try and find the verses.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

And they don't always work out where it's right above where we just read. That was funny.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Yeah, that just happened to work perfect. Good thing we got binocular glasses, I guess. That's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:13

Uh uh the fourth one that I have is uh hidden pain or sin, uh like unconfessed sin or uh things that you're you're dealing with, or things that you haven't dealt with, even um, things in your past that you've done or that have been done to you, guilt, bitterness, um comparing yourself to others. I think those things slowly and quietly drain the joy right out of us, if we dwell on those things. Um I mean if it is sin that that is holding you back, then definitely um confess those things to to God and um ask him to forgive you for them. And um, if you're already a believer, if you've already given your life to him, he has forgiven you and just thank you for his forgiveness and his graciousness, that he doesn't uh punish us like we deserve. And uh yeah, that that brings joy too, just realizing that you know, as believers um that have given our lives to to the Lord, that have second uh that have accepted Christ and began to live our life for him and turned away from our sin and um we have hope in that and and uh that he has taken those things from us. Um so um something to think about is like we talked about performance and and responsibility and stuff like that. A man can have everything that the world says that he should want. Success, money, even a family, which is good, and success in money isn't a bad thing either, but when we're striving to do those things, um when we make that our God, then that's when we have things backwards and things go sideways, and uh yeah, and you can still feel empty. Um and you might wonder why that is. I think that's because true joy doesn't come from what you own or what you can attain yourself, but it comes from God and and our relationship, a right relationship with Him.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Yeah, I'd agree. I was I was gonna say to that too. Uh, I know oftentimes for myself, uh, and I'll say to everybody listening to Christians are not perfect in this way either. This is something I've I've struggled with, you know. I from teenage, well, I'm 30 now, so probably for the last 15 years, you know, I've dreamed of buying a brand new quad. And I'm not always uh the smartest with big decisions like that. I'm pretty just kind of on the spot sort of a guy. Uh so a couple years ago, I ended up buying um this quad that I basically just uh one of the bucket list things on my list, right? I wanted this quad really bad, I thought it'd be really cool, and you know, for the first couple months, yeah, it was it was great, but it just kind of became another thing, another thing to add to the pile of stuff in my garage. And uh like Craig was saying, it brought happiness, but it didn't bring joy, and over time it started to just lose its value for me, you know, and eventually we got rid of it um for certain reasons, and you know, I miss it sometimes, but I think that's a good reminder, and I think we've all kind of had a situation like that in our life where we're like, oh man, if I could just meet this person, if I could, you know, hit this goal in the gym or whatever it might have been, and we get there and we sort of just realize that it doesn't bring us true joy, our hearts feel empty after that. You know, it's uh it's a discouraging feeling, that's for sure. But then you you kind of start searching, right? And and the only true joy um you're gonna find is is Jesus. It won't come from things, I'll tell you that right now.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

No, that's right. No, that's a good story. I uh I have gotten better since I've been married because I don't want to make my wife mad. But I'm I'm also an impulse buyer. One of uh this is kind of off topic, but with your impulse buy of the quad, it made me think of it. The craziest impulse buy I had was when I was in grade 12, and I went with my buddy to we went to the pet store, we're just looking at stuff, and I'm like, you know what? I want a guinea pig. So I buy a guinea pig and I buy all the stuff with a guinea pig. Uh man, that thing was a nightmare. It was cute, it was great, but um it uh it was not what I thought it was. It did not bring me happiness or joy like I thought it would. It was very temporary. And like they're kind of I found out they're kind of like nocturnal animals. Too. So they're up at night, and the way they show affection is they make like chirping noises. So this thing's chirping. It loved me for some reason, but it was chirping through the night. And I'm like, shut up, I want to sleep. Oh man. Anyway, I ended up giving it to uh one of my mom's co-workers and they gave it to their daughter. But and she loved it, she thought it was great, but I was happy to be rid of it.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

It's funny how God will use that sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 30:37

Yeah. God sometimes uh allows those things to happen to be like, you know what? You bought this when uh when you weren't supposed to, so we're gonna let you realize that this was maybe not the right decision. Yeah, zero research went into that purchase.

SPEAKER_03 30:54

Well, I know about those. Don't do that, guys. Especially with living animals.

unknown 30:59

Don't do that.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Oh man. Anyway. Yeah. Uh to transition. How do we get our joy back? Uh how do we restore joy in life's when sorry, how do we restore joy when life's beaten us down? Um

Gratitude That Reframes The Day

SPEAKER_03 31:20

I have some points, kind of five practical ways that we can restore joy in our lives too. Um and then we'll like I talk about brotherhood and fellowship too a little further down the list, but we'll start with gratitude, like Colton was talking about, being thankful for things. Um so the verse I have there is 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18. That says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So we are to uh pray without ceasing, which is important, and to give thanks in all circumstances. So um we kind of talked about this actually in Sunday school today. Like if you guys are listening, usually record we record these on Saturday, but um had a little mishap and was not able to record. Uh things got a little chilly. Anyway, that's fixed. Furnace is working now. If you guys are listening from a different place that's a little warmer than here, you won't understand, but it gets chilly when in the winter time when your furnace doesn't work. But so anyway, we're recording Sunday now, and so Sunday school this morning. Uh, we talked about where was I going? Uh give thanks in all circumstances. Oh man, I lost my train of thought.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Well, I'll maybe throw a verse in there while you're trying to think of go for it.

SPEAKER_04 33:08

I'll try to talk about yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

I just wanted to add a point in there. Um, I've had this verse I found that I think matches or fits kind of with what you said, Craig. Uh James 1, verse 2 to 4. And same thing, it says, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Um, so I just want to point out the first part of that verse says, consider it pure joy, right? So that's to me that says that joy is a choice, right? So I think about uh when my dad got sick, same thing. You know, we we weren't sure what God was doing in the moment, and uh it was pretty hard to be joyful when um you know when my dad was suffering and sick and stuff. And uh, for those of you that haven't listened, if you go back to our episode about the testimonial, um you'll hear a little bit more about what uh what my life was like growing up and about my dad there, and it'll make a little bit more sense. But um basically the way I see it is you know, we we tried to be joyful about it, it was it was really hard, and I wouldn't say we were perfect at it, but it was a lot easier after the fact to look back and be joyful through something like that, right? In the moment, it's like, man, God, what are you doing? Why, why me? Why is this happening to us? It's not because God doesn't love you, it's actually because He does love you, right? For us, that drew us closer. And um I I just want to say that you know, the first part of that verse, like I said, joy is a choice, and it's not always an easy one, but I think it is a necessary one.

SPEAKER_03 35:11

Yeah, no, that's good. Yeah, if you guys haven't listened to that, that's uh I mean it's a good it's a good story, and you guys pulled through that as a family, it's a good testament to your guys' relationship with the Lord and your faith and how God's worked in your lives. Um so I think I kinda I think I figured out what I was thinking. Um uh sorry, I can't multitask and write while I'm talking, but so we were talking about uh interruptions and being thankful for interruptions in Sunday school, and like what are some interruptions that you were thankful for, things like that. And there's a lot of interruptions, and there's a lot of things that people were not thankful for. Like uh kind of went that direction and getting angry anyway. Um, but so yeah, being thank like it says, to be thankful or to uh yeah, give thanks in all circumstances, um like when things go wrong or not even as how you planned or how you would want them to go, um how can you look at it and be thankful in that circumstance, in that situation, and

Prepared For Trials: Armour Of God

SPEAKER_03 36:30

think about how you will react. Um and it's good to like I know for myself if I'm not um if I'm not in the word, if I'm if my prayer life's not that strong, when things do go sideways, then I do get angry and I don't react how I should. Um but when I am when I am always you know when I'm praying without ceasing, um, just looking for things to be thankful around me, and then I do find that when things do go sideways, I don't react as harshly, and I'm like, okay, like also thinking like okay, this has gone sideways, but what is God trying to teach me in this? Why is God allowing this to happen? What am I supposed to learn from this? Um, I think that's uh that's probably more how we should look at things, and uh that that preparing kinda like I kind of talked about it, so I might as well just move on to the next point, staying rooted in God's word, um, and preparing. Uh I have Ephesians 6 10 to 20 here as well, which is talks about the armor of God. Um so yeah, I'm gonna read that whole excerpt. So strap in here. It's ten verses. It's not too bad, but this is the whole armor of God, starting in verse 10 of Ephesians chapter six. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm, stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication, to that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all saints, and also for me that uh also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proc proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. And I like highlighted, starred, put a box around that section, like 19 and 20, for us, because I'm like, oh man, that really speaks um for at least that's how I feel. Yeah. Uh what like with the podcast, like yeah, also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. So I guess that's uh that's my prayer for for us as we do the podcast, is that section right there for sure. But yeah, um verse 17 there um says, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. So staying in the word of God, uh suiting up in the armor of God daily is gonna prepare you for those interruptions and for those things that go wrong that are that are gonna steal our joy, right? And then I also have Matthew four. Matthew chapter four, verse four. It says, What? Is that where you're going? Why are you laughing?

SPEAKER_02 41:34

No, we're all good. Okay. Okay. Just joyful.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Is this right? Uh oh. Hold on a second. Uh but I was reading the laugh. There was a reason why. Hold on. I'll I'll read verse two because it made no sense. And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. I'm like, what? I read verse 2 and 3, verse 4. I'm like, this doesn't make sense. Did I write the wrong thing? Okay. Verse 4. But he answered, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And as we know, all scripture is God breathed, and it is the word of God, and it's from the mouth of God. And uh, yeah, so if we stay rooted in it, that's where our joy comes from. Uh, scripture recenters you on God's truth, and the contrast to that is emotions lie. So if we're guided by our by our emotions going through life, then we're gonna be tossed about and we're gonna lose our way, and things aren't gonna make sense, and we're gonna get all sad and mad, and so all of the above.

Salvation And Inexpressible Joy

SPEAKER_03 43:00

All of the above.

SPEAKER_01 43:01

Yep. Yeah. I have uh a verse here to kind of go along with that. Um okay. Kind of a little bit what what gives us joy too. It's uh 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 8 to 9. It says, Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And so as Christians, I think we should be joyful always, because we know that we have salvation of our souls, and that when we die, we have a whole eternity in perfection with Jesus Christ, and because of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

Yeah, and that's a big that's a big thing for believers. Like if you guys are not believers listening to this, or if you're searching, like it really does it gives you peace, like the Bible says, it get uh we get peace that is beyond understanding, and uh like we can get through things that normal people cannot get through, and it's not of our own strength, it's through the it's through the strength of God in us and our relationship with the Lord that carries us through that. Yeah. Um because yeah, on on our own, we would crumble, and you see people that like just seeing people lose loved ones, um, this even in our community that are um that I'm pretty sure are not believers, it's like how how do you even talk to them? Like it especially if if the one that's passed away, I don't like you we can't know this for sure. Maybe in their last breath they were like the thief on the cross, right? And and they um they repented and and and all that. Um but if you don't know where that person has gone and and they've gone to a place of eternal separation from God, which we call hell, and like how I don't know how do you how do you talk to the non-believer about that? How do you give them hope? I don't I struggle with that so much and and to try and lead them to the Lord. That's uh that's actually that's been on my mind here recently. Like, how do you talk to these people and and share the gospel with them when that person's life was their whole life, like they put their life in that person where we should put you know, we should put our give our life to the Lord and it's his and we have hope of eternal salvation and and stuff like that. But when you go the other way, I don't know. I don't know if you guys listening have any ideas, reach out to me because I'm lost for words on that one.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

That's uh that's a tough topic, though, you know. Um yeah, as Christians, we we believe in the word of God, and not uh not every non-believer has experienced that. Um and yeah, it is it's a really hard thing to come up with the words to say, right? Like and it like you said, Craig, if someone passes away that you know wasn't living a Christian life, I I seem to have a few people I knew of the last few years who've passed away who I'm not sure where their heart lies or where their soul lies, and uh again, that's not for us to decide, but you know, it's uh it's a really difficult topic. But the thing is, and I think where and I'm gonna be honest, from my opinion, I think where we've messed up as Christians is uh living like Jesus, and I think that's one reason why you know the joy that we're talking about today is so important, because for those who don't believe in Jesus, they they can look at Christians, and I think Christians have again, we're not perfect, but I've noticed oftentimes that even as Christians we we don't look anything like what a Christian should be. You know, we don't we're not cheerful, we're not joyful, um we don't treat people the way they deserve. Oftentimes we get caught up in the money, oftentimes we make you know dumb decisions like buying a new quad when I shouldn't have. But I think that's a big part of I think that's a big part of life, and as Christians, we need to change how Christian men look. And for those of you that that don't know Christ, you know, and you look at the church

Hope, Loss, And Living Witness

SPEAKER_01 48:30

and and you say, Wow, it's full of hypocrites, it's full of people who, you know, they don't look like Jesus. You know what? We're sinners too, and we're we're trying, but not every Christian is uh not every Christian is a perfect example. I think there's a verse in the Bible that says, um, and Craig, you might know how this goes. Uh, it speaks something about a wolf in sheep's clothing. Um I don't remember where it's found, but there's a lot of people who are, I think, being misled and maybe misunderstanding what a Christian is, right? It it's not about religion, it's about a relationship. And that's what I would encourage anybody who doesn't believe, you know, who looks at the church and doesn't agree with the church, it's it's not the church that you guys need to focus on. It's the Bible, it's Jesus. Right? This is between each person has a relationship with Jesus. My not a relationship, but each person I think should. And you know, it's between me and God, it's not between anybody else, and it's the same for the rest of you, right? So I think I would say to that, um, you know, even after somebody loses uh a loved one to give them hope, I would tell them that they're I think that they're loved, uh, that Jesus still loves them, he cares for them, and you know, whether whether we like it or not, he's waiting for you, he's calling you. Right? When he knocks on your heart, open the door. Right? That's I think that's what I would encourage you guys with today, um, along the lines of what Craig was talking about there. Again, maybe a little bit of a rabbit trail. I know we get a few of those on each episode, but you know what? Yeah, that's right. We're here to talk about uh we're here to talk about what matters more more than life, but about eternity. And uh the reason we bring this up and talk about it like this, guys, is because Craig and I both we we we love everybody, we care about you guys. Um we just want to answer questions that people have and do the work that um that God is calling us to do.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Amen to that. With that, uh my third um third way that we can uh that we can restore joy in our lives is to pursue brotherhood and fellowship. And I kind of talked about um neglecting fellowship and your spiritual walk and things like that, that can take away your joy, but uh pursuing um pursuing fellowship with others and and with other brothers in Christ, um that can definitely bring your joy back. Uh the first one I have for that, I actually have two for this point, two verses. Um first one I have is Hebrews 10, verse 24 and 25. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love. Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Um so it's important that we we don't try to isolate ourselves, we don't try to do things on our own, but but we seek that fellowship with other believers and and that we meet together and um find a church that you can plant yourself in, uh, group of believers. Um I would just say for those that don't know or don't understand, the church is not just a building, the church is a group of believers um that are together and and everyone has their part in that church. And um yeah, I know that's something that took me a little bit to figure out that uh I always saw the church as a building, but then you know, through going to church more and more and reading my Bible more, I find you find out that the church is a body of believers, and uh and you don't necessarily need a building, but the fellowship is what's important and um on the isolation side of things, uh Proverbs 18.

SPEAKER_01 53:29

Um I was gonna add a point. Uh actually okay. Um so I was reading my devotion here a few weeks ago, and uh it's been on my mind a little bit, and uh my idea as a Christian was always, you know, like I said a little bit earlier, that it's between you and God, and it is, but the community here while we're on earth with other believers is really important to strengthen and and build you up. And so uh Craig, I I think you know what these are, but you've heard of those uh redwood trees. I think they're and where are they? I want to say they're down in the States, I think, right? I think so, yeah. You know the trees I'm talking about, right? Those like just massive trees they fall over them. People hollow them out and drive cars through them. Yeah. Um, so I was reading my devotion, and what was interesting is it said that those trees only have roots that are about five or six feet deep, right? So like for a massive tree like that to only have roots that are five or six feet deep. Um, my devotion was saying, and I haven't done much research on this, I should actually look into it, but what they had said is you know, if the wind comes through, those trees would just fall right over with with the size and mass of them. But those

Brotherhood, Church, And Community

SPEAKER_01 55:00

the roots of those trees are so intertwined that those group of redwood trees are are like a community, and so I think that's uh such a beautiful picture of what we as Christians should be. We should be intertwined and connected to each other in this life to you know support, to be there for people when they need it and build each other up. And um, I I think that's actually really important as a Christian, and I'm still learning a little bit more about that myself and and what it means to be in a group like that to serve Christ and and to grow in that way, but I think that's something that we all need as well.

SPEAKER_03 55:43

Yeah, absolutely. Uh okay, I found it. Um, apparently, this is one of the ones I forgot to tag. I have it numbered in my notes, but I didn't put the tag in there.

SPEAKER_02 55:54

Hey, good thing you remember that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

Yeah, Proverbs uh 18, 1. It says whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire. He breaks out against all sound judgment. So um, with those two, like uh joy multiplies in community is the note that I made, and isolation kills it. That's what I get from those two verses. Yeah, and uh if you isolate yourself, you're not a lot, you're not around other believers. Um right now, I mean, it gets kind of gets kind of cliche, but it is important. The iron sharpening iron kind of thing, um, brothers coming together, uh, and sisters too, if you're listening to this, uh, coming together with uh like-minded people and um like-minded in the faith uh to walk beside you, and also for you to walk beside them and and help them. Um we can't we can't do it alone, really, is kind of what I'm trying to say. And if we're if we try to do it alone, we fail, or at least it's it's extremely hard. Right.

SPEAKER_01 57:15

Um there's a verse that comes to mind with that too. I don't know where it's found, but it says that uh where two or more gather, there I am also. And I think that's I think that's just kind of adds to your point about um, you know, there's power in numbers and community. Right.

SPEAKER_03 57:35

And with the whole I might spark a little debate here between listeners at least, but anyway, uh like these like do not neglect meeting together. Um that makes me think of of COVID when we were told not to meet together. I know there's people that did different things, they defied um government orders and stuff like that. I'm not saying that that was right or wrong, but um it's important that we don't it's important that we don't neglect meeting together. And I know in person is definitely better. I know we did some some virtual stuff during that time, and that definitely helped. Um, but I do know even for myself, like it's you get comfortable when you're doing church online, right? You can kind of get up late and um stay in your pajamas and sit on the couch and uh drink your coffee and kind of eat your breakfast while you're doing church on the TV. And um it's just not the same level of commitment. Then you get comfortable in that, and then once we were allowed to get back to church, it's like, oh man, I wanted to sleep in and I want to I want to have my coffee and eat my toast. And um anyway, it's it's not all about you. I mean, it is it's it's good for you to go, and it's good for you to fellowship with others. Um I mean, God does deserve the worship and he does deserve us giving our time to him and going to his house to spend time with him, with other believers. Um, but it's also for you and to and to strengthen your faith and and to bring joy with the fellowship of others. Um it's different that way too. I mean, through that time when we weren't supposed to be meeting with each other, there's a lot of dep depression that came out of that, and a lot of mental illness, and you can see the effects of it. It's it's scientific. So there's a reason why that we're not supposed to stay apart from each other, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Um the fourth uh one that I have is acts twenty thirty five. Okay. This is Serving others. So um it's I think serving sacrificially also brings us joy. And um Acts chapter twenty verse thirty-five says in all things I have shown uh make sure I'm in the right spot. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of Lord Jesus, how he himself said, It is more blessed blessed to give than to receive. So um when you help others, you step into God's plan for you, uh, and then joy follows. I know that's something we also talked about in Sunday school today, funny enough. Maybe this is why we weren't supposed to record until today, because there's conversations that had to happen.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:02

There's a reason for everything.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:05

Yeah, we kind of like the whole homeless situation and giving money to the homeless and helping the homeless, it's a tough topic, seems like, and um we try to we try to figure out where's the line of like who do we help, who do we not help, and are we enabling people? Do we give them money? Do we buy them food? Do we buy them clothes? Like, what are we even supposed to do? How do we help? Um, yeah, and I don't know the full answer to that. I think there's been many times, I mean, not a lot, a handful, that I've given money to people, and I've seen them go right into the liquor store. They they turn the corner and they go into the liquor store. Like, okay, well, obviously he didn't need food, like he said, right? He went in to get booze, and I supported that with my money. And

Serving Others And Finding Joy

SPEAKER_03 1:02:01

I don't know, is God testing me just to see if I'm obedient in in helping those in need? Does it matter what they do with it? Is that part between them and God? And then for me to give is between me and God. Should I have offered him to buy him a burger or something? I don't know. I don't know the answer, but I I kind of lean towards having a conversation with those people and seeing what they need and then trying to fill that need rather than just throw money at the problem, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:34

Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:37

So, yeah, but serving others, it doesn't have to just be homeless people, it can be you know helping a lady, older lady cross the road or shoveling um an elderly couple's driveway, or um just simple things like that, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:55

It brings a lot more joy than you expect, too. Like even I I've know a couple times, even in the grocery store, I'll see somebody in uh in a wheelchair trying to reach up and grab something, and just being able to help them out, it just makes your day. I don't know. For me, it does. I I think it should for everybody. I know for me it does, it just I don't know, brings you this weird kind of joy, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:22

Yeah, and things like that, those people are so thankful too. And it's uh oftentimes seems like they don't want to burden people by asking them either. But if you if you are if you have a servant's heart, like we should, um we are ready and willing to serve when the opportunity arises, and we truly are just glad to help, right? Yeah, and uh, I mean with this whole furnace situation that I talked about, which is why we couldn't record last night, I texted somebody at like nine o'clock last night, and I'm like, hey, do you have an extra one of these parts? And then um, I didn't know if he'd gone to bed or what, but he did end up calling me and um come to find out he didn't have that part, but he had a different one. And uh while we were on the phone, I was kind of asking him questions. He kind of knew he knows a little bit more about that furnace stuff than I do, and I know he's got the same one as me. So we were kind of trying to troubleshoot together, and and then he's like, Well, I'm almost at your house anyway. I'm like, Oh, I I didn't know you were coming over. He's like, Well, we'll look at it together when I get there. I'm like, Okay, so he like I am so thankful for that. Like, I mean, um, he goes to church with us too, uh, but he really is just a prime example of having a servant's heart, and I I see that in him, and I'm I'm so grateful for that, and it's an encouragement to me too, and and how we should be as believers, and um to be with to be like that with the especially with the people in our church and in our um in our congregations and but also with people outside and people in the community too. So again, another rabbit hole, but anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:15

That's okay, that's where we get into the nitty-gritty of things.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:20

Yeah, that's right. See all these things that happen because of not being able to record last night, they're working it into able to work it into into the episode here, which is good. Oh, yeah. Uh okay, so the final point I have here for the restoring joy is guarding your heart. And that uh looks like I also did not tag, but I will find it here. Proverbs 423. Uh keep your heart with all vigilance. Uh for from it flows the spring of life. Um a different version says, above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. I think that's the NIV version. That's what I wrote in the notes, but then I'm reading from the ESV. So um, so we need to be careful what voices we let come into our heads and and shape us and shape our mindsets and and things like that. Um, so like negativity, envy, uh, or lust can quickly rob us from our joy. And uh I know falling, yeah, falling into those things is yeah, it's not not joyful. It sucks. And uh so yeah, with that, guard yeah, guard your heart and and what you what you consume, you know, like what what you watch on your phone, what you watch on TV, what movies you watch, what music you listen to. Um you might not think it, especially if you're younger. I didn't think it was that big of a deal listening to secular music and stuff like that, but like I said in my in our testimony episode, I've really gotten away from it. And even recently, if I don't have my phone hooked up in the pickup or whatever, I just turn on the country radio station. I don't like any of it. Like I'd just I'd rather turn it off. So um I'm very thankful that I feel that way because um a lot of that stuff is just it's just not good things to be putting in your mind. And I think I think the things we consume shape the way we think about things and and our thoughts more than we realize. So we have to be careful. Yeah, music I think is a big one that can steal your joy. Um yeah, so joy is about joy isn't about pretending life is easy, but it's about trusting that God is still good, even when things are hard for us. So knowing that um, I mean, I'll talk about this. We I have a closing verse, but like our our struggles and um times of grief and um and things like that, uh it's all temporary, and there is joy on the other side of it if we just give those things to God and don't try and you know like curl up into a ball and hide away and try and deal with those things on our own or not talk about it or whatever it might be. Um I know I have dealt with uh depression in the past, and I still sometimes do. Like I I can recognize it, my wife can recognize it when it's happening, and that I'm very grateful for because um she has helped me be able to recognize it as well, and I can tell when I'm starting to feel a certain way, or like I'm starting to get um like short with people, short with the kids, and like I just don't want to do anything. Um but uh yeah, I know what I was trying to say is that God is still good through that, even though I might be having a hard day uh or a hard week sometimes that lasts

Guarding Your Heart And Inputs

SPEAKER_03 1:10:00

a little longer, and uh I just have to I just have to spend a lot more time with God you know in those times and and uh and in prayer and um try not to consume things or have thoughts that burrow me deeper into that depression. Um and it's gotten a lot bit it's not gone away, but it's um I'm able to deal with it more as time has gone on, and God has definitely helped with that. I can't I can't do it on my own. And my wife has helped with that too, because she recognizes it and she's like, hey, you need to you need to take some time. Like, okay, I got it. And sometimes it does, like for me, uh I do just want to be by myself, and I do need that for a little bit. I need to just take some time by myself and not be around anybody, even around the kids, which sounds bad, but it's I need that to recoup and and regroup and um and then there's joy on the other side of it. So it's temporary, is what I'm trying to say.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:14

Well, and it's a tough thing, right? I I think the world kind of takes us to a place of of that because you go on Instagram, you go on TikTok, uh, you know, all these social media platforms that basically teach you that you can have whatever you want, you can build whatever life you want. It's pretty easy to be depressed when the whole world tells you that anything's possible, but then God has a different direction, right? If if your heart and your mind aren't set uh fully on Jesus Christ and you're following what the world says, you know, I think that also um feeds into uh a life of depression a little bit too. Right. Uh sorry, I just I wanted to read this verse real quick too, Craig, that I was thinking about uh Revelation three, verse 19. It's just a short one. Um Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline, so be earnest and repent. Um actually I'll read verse 20. I think this is good kind of what we talked about earlier too. Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. So this is Jesus talking here again. Um right, he he disciplines those he loves, and when you hear him knocking at the door, this is about eternity, guys. If you hear him knocking, please open that door, right? Get to know him.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:48

Yeah, I agree. No, that's good. I did see it while I was talking, I seen you flipping, so like, oh, he's gonna have something.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:58

That verse came to mind. I really wanted to get that one in there. I think that's important because uh that really affected me in my life, right? When when you're going through a hard time, and you know, we can be joyful in knowing that through discipline, He Jesus does it because he loves us, right? Same way we discipline our children, it's because we love them, right? Take joy in that.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:22

Exactly. Um, and I think too, um like some real world application here. Like Colton said, we need to choose joy and joy comes from the Lord, and I think it's a it's like a man's quiet strength when uh when life gets loud or life gets tough. Um and I think some encouragement too, like when when our wife and our kids see us choose joy even under pressure, we're teaching them faith, right? We're teaching them faithfulness and how to uh how to react to certain situations. You see you see different guys out in the world um you know, just blow a gasket or whatever, get angry at stupid things really. So if we as Christian men model the opposite of that, when we stay grounded, um we're showing them what a man of God actually looks like, yeah, right. And especially for our sons, we need to model that to them uh so that they can grow up and be godly men as well, and hopefully do it better than we could, like better than we have, yeah. Um I mean they're not gonna be they're not gonna be perfect either, because they're people too, but um at least try and give them a good foundation and uh yeah. Um so something to think about there too is um uh actually what I'll do because of what you were talking about too, like the closing and reflection verse that I had for today was Psalm 30 um verse five. Yep. And it says, For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. So we kind of talked about that a little bit already. Um your hardships are temporary, and um kind of what Colton talked about in Revelation there too. Um God is a just God, but his anger is for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. So for us that are that do abide in him, um, his favor is forever with us because of our faith in Jesus. And

Depression, Discipline, And Hope

SPEAKER_03 1:16:30

um I think that's important too. So um, yeah, like I said, weeping and sadness is temporary, uh, but there's joy on the other side of it. And um, yeah, that also goes for any struggles or hard times that you are in or might go through, like I mentioned with uh my struggle with depression. Uh I don't know if any of you guys deal with that too, but it's a real thing and it's not talked about very much. But um there's uh you're going through a valley and and there's joy on the other side of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:10

Um yeah, and I just want to say that you know thanks for for sharing that because I I know that's that's a big deal. Um, I think it's a lot bigger of a deal than what people like to make it out to be. And uh yeah, so thank you for just being open and and being able to share that with us too. And um that's something I'll be praying for you about. And you know, thank you again as uh being brothers in Christ and brothers and brother-in-laws. Um, you know, I'm here for you in that too.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:47

Yeah, thanks. Actually, yeah, now thinking about it, I'm like, I don't even know if you knew that I dealt with that.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:55

You know, it's one of those things that a guy can hide pretty good, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:18:00

Yep, yeah, and I'm the guy that's always cracking jokes and always having a good time. So, you know, all these comedians that you see too, like in the spotlight, a lot of them deal with depression too, and that's how they mask it is they they're the funny guys, right? Yeah, so um, but yeah, just on that note, just uh if you notice something fishy about your buddies, just reach out to them and ask them how they're doing and ask them how they're really doing because nobody nobody ever does really. It's not something we talk about, and um I think it's it's a hard conversation to have. It might take you a few times of reaching out for them to actually open up to you, but um, I think it'll at least show that they care and or show that you care. Yeah, so um a reflection question that I have for you guys um is uh thinking about like where have you lost your joy? Is there somewhere in your life or is a different like a certain aspect in your life uh that you've lost your joy in? And what's one step that you can take this week to reclaim it? So thinking about those five things that we talked about, right? Uh return to gratitude, uh stay rooted in God's word, pursue brotherhood and fellowship, serve others, and guard guarding your heart, making sure that you're consuming the right things and stuff like that. So that's kind of all I had, I think, on this topic. I know this one this one was a little different, and there was some stuff that didn't exactly talk about joy that we talked about, but I think it's all interconnected, and there's so many different ways you could go with this, and uh this is just kind of the direction we went.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:04

So yeah, and we hope that you guys are uh are getting something out of this too, right? We we pray before every episode that uh that the Holy Spirit would speak through us. And so if you guys have questions, if there's anything you are wondering about, we would love to to be able to answer that if there's a topic that you guys would like to discuss. Craig and I would both love to dig into it and um and try and come out with uh yeah, with an episode on that just to kind of help you guys understand more what Jesus is talking about in the Bible, what the Bible means, and maybe uh you know, like I said, answer questions that you guys might have um on a deeper level with this stuff too, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:20:55

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and uh yeah, like Colton said, reach out to us. There is uh again, if you don't have our direct phone numbers, we do have um there is the um the text us option in the show notes in for the podcast. And like in the episode show notes, in every episode, um you can text us, and that'll come directly to Colton and I on our phones. And um, there's also you can reach out to us on our Facebook page as well, uh, the Brotherhood Podcast Facebook Facebook page and Instagram we have too going on, and uh kind of trying to manage those and keep on top of it. So um yeah, it's it's a lot, but um it's a lot of work. Yeah, that's right. And uh yeah, we do uh we do appreciate you guys uh taking time to listen each week and uh remember if if you get anything out of this, um share it with a brother that also needs to hear it and and just keep it going. Share the love. And yeah, I mean if you haven't already, like for the podcast, if you go ahead and follow, like hit the follow button. That way it's in your uh in your episodes every week when it launches, you just go there and look at it. And uh, it's kind of like subscribing um on YouTube. You can go subscribe on YouTube too. You can go like our Facebook page and and our Instagram, follow that as well to stay up on everything and uh trying to post frequently and post clips and stuff like that. But yeah, if you're I had somebody uh that was trying to listen to the podcast on Facebook, and um they we we have clips on Facebook, and they're like, hey, it's not like there's not like a whole episode there. Like, oh yeah, you gotta go, you gotta go to the um Apple Podcast or Spotify to uh to get the full episode. And yeah, uh, we are a little bit behind on the YouTube side of things, but uh I'm hoping to get caught up on that. I only have I think I only have a couple episodes up on YouTube, but we're gonna try and get those all up too. Our main focus right now is the is the audio

Modeling Joy For Family

SPEAKER_03 1:23:30

side of things, so that way we're trying to get those things out on a in a timely manner. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:36

And some exciting news. Uh so for you guys that don't know, Craig's been doing a lot of the back-end work because uh, like we'd mentioned before, I've been very, very busy with uh with work. And uh last week things kind of got shifted around. I got some more free, well, actually quite a bit more free time now. So hopefully I can help out with uh with doing that a little bit more. But um, yeah, thank you for doing that, Craig. You've you've done a lot and hopefully I can kind of take a little bit more of that workload off your shoulders to help out some more now. So sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:17

Yeah, that'd be good. Maybe we'll get some more posts up and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:20

Yeah, you gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:21

But make something happen. Yeah. I guess uh yeah, wrap things up. We can uh we'll pray to close out. I don't know if you want to do that or if you want me to do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:35

Yeah, I can pray today.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:38

Sure, I'll let you do that and then we'll uh say goodbye to everybody until next week.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:44

Yeah, I love praying, so this is uh one of my favorite parts. I get excited when I get to pray. I don't know. I don't know about you. The last couple weeks, man, I just I just get all excited up inside to be able to do this. So that's great. Yeah. Thank you, Father, for this day. Thank you for um just our the opportunity that Craig and I have to be able to share your word, Lord, out of love. Um, I pray that uh the people listening, Lord, would just be open to hearing what we have to say. I pray that, Holy Spirit, the words that we'd be saying would be yours and not our own, uh, as this isn't to glorify us, but to glorify you. Lord, I pray as we try to seek joy in a world that teaches us that joy comes from things and money and objects and um drugs and sex and all these other things that the world teaches us, Lord. I pray that you would bring us back to you and back to the truth of uh just true joy and where it comes from, Lord, from serving you and following you, Lord, and just surrendering to you. We pray, Father, for uh for the listeners. We ask that you would just bless them for Craig and I. We pray that you would continue to bless us, help us to uh be able to keep on top of the workload that comes with um the podcast and the posts and things, Lord, and uh just walk this path with us and help us to always keep you as number one and to glorify you above everything else that uh we are doing here. We pray for just a good week this week for everybody, Lord, and just help us to have the joy that you've intended us to have. We love you, Jesus, and just thank you for this. In your name we pray,

Joy Comes In The Morning

SPEAKER_01 1:26:40

amen. Amen.