4:13 Podcast: Jennifer & KC Drop A Joy Bomb for Your New Year [Episode 174]

Jennifer Rothschild: We've made it to a new year and we want this year to be 365 days of joy. So K.C. and I, we're going to drop a joy bomb into your heart today, because joy is a supernatural force that can fuel this coming year. So we'll talk about how to get it and how to protect it from the joy thieves. And we're going to laugh a lot along the way. So stop what you're doing, or let us do it with you, because you need to get your joy on with me and K.C. today.

K.C. Wright: Welcome to the 4:13 Podcast, where practical encouragement and biblical wisdom set you up to live the "I Can" life, because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Now, your host, Jennifer Rothschild.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, hello and happy new year-ish. I'm not sure when you're listening to this, if it's still 2021 or if it's 2022, but whenever you're listening to it is the perfect time, my friend, because it's the perfect time for joy. Wow. We have loved hanging out with you, dear ones, and K.C. and I were just reviewing some things over this year. And you may know, K.C. pastors a church. And we were talking about one of his sermons, and he got just a little bit into it, and I was like, "Stop, stop, stop. We are going to share this with the 4:13ers." So if you're new to us and this is the first time you chose to join in, thank you for being part of our family. You are welcome. We've been waiting for you to arrive. I'm Jennifer. I'm here to help you be and do more than you feel capable of. K.C. Wright, he's my seeing eye guy. And, dude, I wish you knew that this guy, he doesn't just talk about joy, he is joy. He walks into the house and suddenly the volume level goes up about 12 decibels. Am I right, K.C.?

K.C. Wright: It's truth. I try not to overwhelm you.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes. You do.

K.C. Wright: But I have so much to tell you when I come here.

Jennifer Rothschild: I know. But you're also always so full of joy, so that's why I think you're uniquely qualified to drop this joy bomb on us today and lead us through what it is. What joy is, how do we get it, how do we keep it --

K.C. Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- all that good stuff.

K.C. Wright: I'm excited about this. Well, we know this: That when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, the Holy Spirit indwells us. And here's evidence that you're born again from above: We have the fruits of the Spirit popping out, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Right.

K.C. Wright: Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits." And the fruits of the Spirit are found in Galatians 5:22, right? And you know the fruits of the spirit: love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. My least favorite fruit.

K.C. Wright: Patience. That's for us men when we're sitting at the mall and she's going to go to one more store. Right? But today I'm going to just talk about joy real quick. But I got to tell you, I can't talk about Galatians 5:22 without telling you about Andy. Years ago -- and this was years ago, because Andy is now a grown man with a family. But he was a little guy in my children's church class. And I promised the kids candy if they memorized Galatians 5:22. And I'll never forget Andy stepping up to the microphone to quote Galatians 5:22. And he had a little crooked tooth and he was just the cutest little thing, right? I can still see him in my mind. And he said, "Love" -- he's quoting it, right? And if he quotes it, he gets candy. And he goes, "Joy, peace." And he's just trying to squeeze every one out by memory. And by the time he got to the fourth fruit of the Spirit, he said, "Chicken." I can't talk about Galatians 5:22 without talking about the eighth fruit of the Spirit, which is chicken.

Jennifer Rothschild: Chicken.

K.C. Wright: Okay. But in the 12th chapter of Hebrews is a verse, verse 2, that gives this unusual, clear insight into our Lord's attitude as he began his ministry. And the verse reads this: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." So joy, who for the joy set before us. So what joy? And he's talking here about the joy of heaven.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, yeah.

K.C. Wright: Heaven is a glorious place. And the Bible says that the Kingdom of God, Heaven, is made up of joy and peace in the Holy Ghost, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Ooo. Yeah. Well, and, K.C., I was thinking, when you said that, in the book of Jude -- right? -- verse 24 -- there's only one chapter --

K.C. Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- so 1:24, or verse 24. You know, the verse talks about God presenting us before his throne faultless. He's able to keep us from stumbling. And then he presents us before his throne with great joy.

K.C. Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: I mean -- right?

K.C. Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: It's beautiful.

K.C. Wright: Right. It's amazing, right? And I believe this with all my heart. The most effective people in the Kingdom of God are people that are full of joy, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

K.C. Wright: And I believe this with all my heart, that we're going to see a new joy hit the church. Because -- here's why. Jesus is not coming back for a weak, sick, anemic church.

Jennifer Rothschild: No way.

K.C. Wright: No way. No. And he's coming soon. Jesus is coming back for a glorious church. He's coming back for a church of influence, a church full of joy, and we're going to see a huge harvest of souls. As a matter of fact -- this is so interesting. I did a little search on this. But every time, Jennifer, you see the word "harvest," you always see the term joy right beside it.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, wow. I didn't know that.

K.C. Wright: The two go together. The Bible says, "You may sow in tears." But how will you reap? "You will reap in joy."

Jennifer Rothschild: Yep, a harvest of joy.

K.C. Wright: And in Psalm 51, David -- verses 12 and 13 -- he's just blown it. He's sinned, he's messed up, but he's running back to God. And hear this. Remember his prayer? This is it: "Father, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation," and, "Then I will teach transgressors thy way, and then sinners will be converted unto thee."

Jennifer Rothschild: Wow.

K.C. Wright: So notice there, when do transgressors know the way of the Lord? When the joy of the Lord is restored unto you, that is when you become effective.

Jennifer Rothschild: Wow. Well, and think about it, K.C. It makes sense because -- I mean, joy becomes this fuel -- right? --

K.C. Wright: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- for our ministry and our lives. But at the same time, just the pragmatic nature of it, how are people going to be attracted to Christ if we're grumpy and frozen?

K.C. Wright: Exactly.

Jennifer Rothschild: Right?

K.C. Wright: We don't want to be the frozen chosen --

Jennifer Rothschild: No, we don't.

K.C. Wright: -- from the First Church of the Deep Freeze. No, no. We want to be effective. And you're only going to be effective when the joy of the Lord is restored unto you. Because you can't give what you don't have, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, right.

K.C. Wright: And that is exceeding joy. God wants us to be filled with exceeding joy. And so here we are as believers. We're Christians. We're looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. We're Christians, so we're supposed to be Christ-like. Our eyes are locked on him. We want to be like Jesus. So Hebrews 1:9 says something so interesting. It says that Jesus was anointed with the oil of joy more than all of his companions. So he was the happiest man on the planet. And I know he was happy because he always had kids around him. Right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Aw, isn't that -- and they can tell.

K.C. Wright: Yeah. Kids and my grandma have no filter. They say it like it is, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes.

K.C. Wright: And, you know, kids were all around him because his disciples said -- you know, he told them, "Suffer the little children to come into me." They were trying to pull the kids away. But kids loved him because he was full of joy. But listen to this. This is in Habakkuk. I love the chapter --

Jennifer Rothschild: I love Habakkuk.

K.C. Wright: Yes. I want to have a son someday and just name him Habakkuk.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, because if you did, then when he got in trouble, it would be so satisfying, "Habakkuk. Habakkuk, no." Yes.

K.C. Wright: But Habakkuk 3:17 says something so amazing. And I'm going to look it up. I didn't put it in my notes here.

Jennifer Rothschild: That's okay.

K.C. Wright: So let me find it real quick.

Jennifer Rothschild: I think that one -- is that like his big hymn of praise, like when the olive --

K.C. Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. Let me tell you while you're looking that up.

K.C. Wright: Okay.

Jennifer Rothschild: So I taught on this one time, K.C., and I was exhausted. And I was really -- I was actually in the middle of depression and menopause and having so much trouble retrieving my nouns.

K.C. Wright: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: And so the verse starts with something like, you know, "If the olive crop fails and the fig is not on the vine," or whatever --

K.C. Wright: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: I forget. You're going to read it correctly in a second. But I got up and I said, "If the olive crap fails." Oh, my gosh.

K.C. Wright: Oh, no.

Jennifer Rothschild: I said "crap" in church and 1,000 women laughed their heads off.

K.C. Wright: Oh, no.

Jennifer Rothschild: Anyway. All right. Now that I set you up, anything you do will go well, so go ahead and read the Scripture correctly.

K.C. Wright: Chapter 3:17, 19: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls" -- can we say not only a bad day, but this is a bad year.

Jennifer Rothschild: Bad everything.

K.C. Wright: This is like our 2020.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. Amen.

K.C. Wright: But look at this. He says, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God, my Savior." So you're looking at this going, this guy's living in denial. Okay? No. He's living in faith. He is living in what I call the faith factor. Because his circumstances doesn't determine his joy, his joy is found in his Lord, in the Lord. Because Nehemiah 8:10 says, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." So if you remove the phrase "of the Lord," it just simply says, "joy is strength." And when the enemy of our souls -- and there is one -- when he wants to get you weak, when he wants to pull you down, he'll go after your joy. And he'll send joy thieves to do it. You don't allow him to steal your joy, because your joy is supernatural strength. My prayer today over you is that if there's a spirit of heaviness or there's just any depression trying to attach itself to your heart or your life, that we just come against those things in the name of Jesus --

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, in the name of Jesus.

K.C. Wright: -- and we just pray that the joy of the Lord would be restored unto you so you can be the most effective for the Kingdom of God like never before.

Jennifer Rothschild: K.C., I love that. And you know what I was thinking, too? I one time heard Ann Voskamp talk about the Nehemiah verse, and she said, "The joy of the Lord is your strength. So if you ain't got no joy, you ain't got no strength."

K.C. Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: And so you just talked about -- and by the way, y'all, didn't you just love how everything was scriptural? Everything you just gave us, K.C., was so biblical. So it is God who restores our joy. Right?

K.C. Wright: Yeah. Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. So somebody's sitting there right now going, well, I need the joy of love the Lord to be my strength, but I don't know how to get it restored, I don't know how to choose it. So, you know, I'm mindful of Psalm 51. David had been in sin. And I'm not sure the restoration of joy could come until the repentance of sin happened. So sometimes I think we sabotage our own joy because we choose to hold on to defiance, that that separates us from God. And so David's, like, you know, Lord restore to me the joy of my salvation because you have created in me a clean heart.

K.C. Wright: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: So maybe if you're sitting there and you're like, I need my joy restored, I would just ask you just to consider God is ready to do that for you. So just ask him, is there anything in you that's separating you from him? Maybe a sin that you're just not willing to let go of, or whatever. God will teach you. God will lead you, because he will restore the joy of your salvation. Okay. Now, K.C., so let's say your joy has been restored by God. But you got joy stealers that come along.

K.C. Wright: Thieves everywhere.

Jennifer Rothschild: Thieves everywhere.

K.C. Wright: Everywhere.

Jennifer Rothschild: So how do you either choose joy or hold on to it? What do you think?

K.C. Wright: Oh, man. Well, I'll never forget this one day I was driving -- and a lot of things came at me as soon as I woke up that morning. They came from the north, the south, the east, and the west. You know?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

K.C. Wright: It had been a good day before, but then I wake up and it's just like, wow, should have stayed in bed. One of those days, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

K.C. Wright: And I remember in this moment driving down the road, feeling all of these things come at me, texts and bad reports and things just not going my way, and I remember in this moment where all of a sudden the Holy Spirit -- who is our teacher and our guide, right? He resides in us on purpose. Jesus said, "Listen. I'm going to prepare a place for you. If it wasn't so, I wouldn't be telling you. But I'm going to give you the helper, and he's going to tell you all the things that I would tell you as if I'm here." And in that moment of all these attacks driving down the road, the helper says, "The enemy wants you to go down, but in this moment do the opposite." And in my car, I know if someone drove by, they'd think, "He needs to be admitted to the hospital." I started laughing. I started just going, "Ha, ha, ha," because I did the opposite of what the enemy wanted me to do.

Jennifer Rothschild: Right, right.

K.C. Wright: He wanted me to fall in a pit.

Jennifer Rothschild: Right.

K.C. Wright: And I started, "Ha, ha, ha," and my laugh turned into a really crazy kind of snorting laugh. And by the time I got to my destination, I had laughed myself plum silly because that's the word, "Laughter doeth good like a medicine."

Jennifer Rothschild: Ooo, yeah.

K.C. Wright: And I just started laughing. And even in my own life when there are stressful moments, I have found myself going, you know what, I'm just laughing through this situation. I'm just going to laugh my way through this. But I believe that you can really find joy in almost every situation. And if you knew my whole story, honestly, I have nothing to laugh at some days.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, right.

K.C. Wright: I've gone through some tragic things, but I can truly say what has kept me strong and steady in life is the supernatural joy of the Lord. And it's more than a doily hanging in Grandma's kitchen. Okay? It's a supernatural force that we just pass over. "Oh, joy, whatever." No. There are joy bombs that God wants to deposit in your heart right now. And he wants to use you in this moment to be a joy bomb in someone else's life.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

K.C. Wright: One text, one kind word, one smile can pull someone else out of a bed today.

Jennifer Rothschild: You know, K.C., you mentioned how you started laughing because it was like your opposite impulse?

K.C. Wright: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: I just heard something on an interview recently that reminded me of that concept. There's a show on Netflix. And evidently the nature of this show, he's a soccer coach. I'm not going to give the title because I can't remember it. But anyway, this guy's really kind. Like, radically kind. And so the interviewer was interviewing the cast of the show and, you know, the variety of the actors' and actresses' different personalities. One guy is really gruff, and one girl's real sweet, but they're all different personalities. And all of them said that rehearsing and filming these scripts has made them better people.

K.C. Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: Because they were rehearsing kindness, they were memorizing kindness, they were then playing kindness.

K.C. Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: And so it was this idea that if you rehearse it and you do it, then it changes you. Well, if that's a script on a Netflix show, what in the world is going to happen in your life if you rehearse joy? You choose it, you consider when the enemy wants to take you down, you choose the joy of the Lord. You just laugh. You turn up the music louder when you want to sit in silence and sulk. You do that opposite thing. It does, it changes something.

K.C. Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: And then like you said, K.C., that joy of the Lord becomes your strength. You're stronger. Then your joy is restored, you're able to give joy. And you've just had the joy bomb explode in your life and you can't help with the shrapnel just hitting everyone else around you.

K.C. Wright: Right, right.

Jennifer Rothschild: Which is how it should be.

K.C. Wright: Right. One of my favorite moments in life is just being around laughers. I mean, you and I have laughed so hard at times, we can't even breathe.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, exactly.

K.C. Wright: I mean, there's a healing that comes when you just let 'er rip, let 'er fly --

Jennifer Rothschild: Yep.

K.C. Wright: -- laugh. So whatever you're facing today, however you feel, you can have joy because you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes, you can. We love you.

K.C. Wright: Love you. Find something to laugh at.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes. A lot.

K.C. Wright: And eat some ice cream.

Jennifer Rothschild: And eat some ice cream while you're laughing. And that will probably cause something to happen that will make everyone around you laugh. By the way, the best thing to laugh at is yourself.

K.C. Wright: Yeah. Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: Happy New Year.