December 26, 2024

Joyful Mood

December 28, 2013 by

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For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Hey sisters, you know what joys a baby brings to a family! How about a miracle Baby like Jesus, who came into being through so many prophecies, miraculously, for that matter. Think of Mary how much joy did she have in her heart when the angel visited her despite being worried of what people, and what they would say about her.

I tell you a child brings GREAT joy to a family. Think of Hanna…she was grieved to a point of great distress that Eli thought she was drunk. Really, she needed a child. She cried to the Lord for a child and God granted the desire of her heart. She had great joy!

Now a child is given to us, JESUS—He should be received with all the joy a child brings! Especially now that this Child we have been given will have the power to heal all our diseases, remove all our iniquities, at His name every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess His Lordship. A Child who will have the power to speak to the devil and the devil tremble. And this Child is given to us; don’t we think we are privileged to be given this type of a child? I feel like singing aloud for you to hear what am feeling inside. (Thank God for this revelation!) Oh, HALLELUJAH! Praise the Lord!!!

In this world, when we have a child, he/she goes to school and later starts a job and we enjoy the fruit of paying the school fees and the like.

NOW this Child, Jesus, is given to us. He grew up, He worked, and He died on the Cross. He later paid the bill for us…for our redemption. What else do we need apart from appreciating this Child we are given freely by our loving Father in heaven? The way we dance with joy and hug our child when he /she has done something good—that’s the very same joy we should feel about God’s Son, Jesus. We write messages telling our friends/relatives what our child has done.

Here Jesus is not a mere son, but THE Son! He has come to serve; let’s praise the Lord again and again. Let’s tell our friends and relatives of what this Son, Whom we were given, has done and is doing and shall continue to do. Let us embrace Him with our hearts full of joy.
Let this Christmas season be full of joy. Share the joy with others the same way we share when we receive a worldly child.

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Father, we thank You for giving Your Son, Jesus, to this world. We appreciate Your goodness and Your loving kindness. May we realize what Jesus came to this world for and let us not take it for granted. Help us, Lord, to realize what He has in store for us! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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God-Given Joy

December 27, 2013 by

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Each week during the season of Advent, our blogs will focus on a central theme which is associated with the coming of Christ—His Advent.  This final week’s theme is JOY.  Christians throughout the world celebrate Advent.  Some light candles or sing songs; some give gifts or  hang wreaths.  All of these are simple joyous ways of extending the celebration of Jesus’s coming beyond a mere 24 hours on December 25. Our prayer is that these devotionals throughout this season of Advent would help you to celebrate His first Coming and anticipate with the peace and joy of His second Coming.

I’m sitting here thinking about joy  and what it truly means. I have read books, watched videos, and talked to people about the concept of joy and what it really means to be joyful, or to have joy, or to even fully understand the word joy.

The words joy and happiness are oftentimes used interchangeably, but I think it’s so much more than simple happiness. We’re happy opening presents, we’re happy when our family and friends are over to celebrate. This is great! But happiness is a temporary emotion, a feeling that can leave us once something goes differently than we planned. But joy is something different….

After all the looking and researching I learned that joy isn’t simply something that I can find. It isn’t the contents inside of a gift…it isn’t something I can find in a job well done. Even though I can’t touch joy, I can embrace it. I can embrace it because it is something that is given to us—something that we, as children of God, have been given a right to.

To me joy is a feeling in my heart and mind that no matter what happens in my life, that everything will be okay. I have joy in knowing that I am loved with the most unconditional love by the Creator of everything. Growing up I always heard that our joy is something that no man can ever take, that Satan can never take; this is because joy is God-given, and what God gives us can never, ever  be touched. Joy is ours.
What is joy to you?

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials….
James 1:2

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Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, so many things are temporary in this world.  They come and they go, but the joy that we are given by You can never be taken away. Lord, please open our hearts and minds to what joy truly is. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

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Joy Came

December 25, 2013 by

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Each week during the season of Advent, our blogs will focus on a central theme which is associated with the coming of Christ—His Advent.  This final week’s theme is JOY.  Christians throughout the world celebrate Advent.  Some light candles or sing songs; some give gifts or  hang wreaths.  All of these are simple joyous ways of extending the celebration of Jesus’s coming beyond a mere 24 hours on December 25. Our prayer is that these devotionals throughout this season of Advent would help you to celebrate His first Coming and anticipate with the peace and joy of His second Coming.

In a garden, a dark-colored flower next to a white flower presents a contrast that is more striking when the two come together than if either is presented by itself.
Now, journey from a garden to the Bible…. Elizabeth and Zechariah were old when Gabriel told Zechariah his wife would have a son and they were to name him John. But Zechariah was struck with silence for a while because of his lack of faith that this could happen with certainty.  (See Luke 1:11-23.)  Elizabeth became pregnant and her response was, “The Lord has done this for me…” (verse 25).  She gave God the glory.

Months later, Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…” (verses 31, 32). Mary asked how this was to happen since she was a virgin. (But she was not questioning whether or not it would happen.)

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child a child in her old age,
and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.
For nothing is impossible with God.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be as you have said.”
Verses 35-38

Zechariah’s lack of complete faith is contrasted against Mary’s complete surrender and faith.  Catch the heart lessons as we move toward the reason of ultimate joy.

Mary quickly went to Elizabeth. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (verse 41). Elizabeth proclaimed, “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (verses 44, 45).  Joy happens when the beauty of Scripture takes place as it has been foretold (Jesus is coming!) and when one witnesses the great faith in God of another. Both of these things happen in the wonderful encounter between Mary and Elizabeth. It‘s a joyous time as the spotlight is turned toward Jesus’ coming.
What the prophets/Scripture had been foretelling for many years was finally about to happen: Jesus was coming soon!  Mary breaks into praising God right after her encounter with Elizabeth.  And Zechariah praises God out loud when his silence is broken soon after John the Baptist’s birth.

Two different journeys led to paths of praise (joy) when faith in God was the focus. Difficulties, hard times, miracles, and waiting can all produce joy when people have faith in God.  Let’s all be reminded of Gabriel’s words: “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

Then, the day finally arrived! Mary was there when some of the most joyous verses in all of Scripture happened and when silence was broken with a baby’s cry:

While they were there, the time came for the baby to the born,
and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:6, 7

Jesus brought boundless, complete joy to a world that would never be the same again! The Light of the Word came to a dark world!

…the people living in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Matthew 4:16

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Dear Lord, let us have boundless joy over Your coming to earth to be the Savior of the world!  We give You great praise and glory through our faith!  Let us love and adore You this Christmas season and for all times!  In Jesus’ precious Name we pray, Amen.

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