What are you facing today that is causing you to wane in your joyfulness; especially during this Christmas season? Whether circumstances are playing a part or a person(s) is disrupting your expectations, take about 30 minutes and watch the sermon by Pastor Kenny White on joy. Go to friendshipmn.org/sermons and watch under the Advent series the one on Joy from 12.15.25 from the PL campus. Friendship Church has two campuses; one is Shakopee and the other is Prior Lake.
The birth of Jesus came at a very dark time in the world. Jesus’ birth brought joy amidst chaos. Every person faces chaos, and its pretty consistent too. Have you ever wondered why God allows it? He did say in John 16:33, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Zac Poonen says it best, “Jesus is far more interested in saving us from evil than in saving us from tribulation. He permits us to go through tribulation because He knows that is the only way we can become spiritually strong.”
Again, what are you facing today that may cause you to become callous, cold, doubt, want to give up perhaps? Whatever it is, God is with you and He will teach you valuable lessons in becoming more like His Son through the chaos you face. Every hardship, every disruption in your expectations or plans, has purpose. God is transforming you to bring glory only to Him. He must teach you the art of getting you out of you. You and I like to run our own lives.
Before Jesus came to earth as an infant, God walked with His children through prophets who would pass on what God was saying to people. The Old Testament teaches this. God was leading the Israelites away from Egypt, the place of bondage. God led His people through Moses. You can read about it in Exodus. At the end of Exodus, God gave specific instructions to build a Tabernacle where God would reside. His presence resonated from the Tabernacle by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night.
At the completion of the Tabernacle with God now residing from it, He would tell Moses what needed to take place for the atonement of sin. Read the first several chapters of Leviticus to learn what God approves for the atonement of people’s sins. You learn that it’s very tedious and gruesome. Death must occur to appease God. It is only in His mercy that He offers a way back into His presence. Then, at the appropriate time, God sent Jesus to save us from our sins; read Titus 3:4-8.
In Christ, you will take on characteristic traits that will light the world around you, like joy.
When you allow the joy of the Lord to become bigger than your circumstances, something wonderful happens. Your life becomes a living vessel for Jesus to shine through. God is actively working in all hearts to bring salvation to every person. He needs you to believe, listen, and respond to His will for you. He has been working out His plan of salvation since Adam and Eve left the Garden. It hasn’t changed and never will.
From A.W. Tozer, “If God gives you a few more years, remember, it is not yours. Your time must honor God, your home must honor God, your activity must honor God, and everything you do must honor God.”
Don’t let this world dissuade your joy. Don’t let Satan deceive you in loving anything but Jesus, and don’t let your own flesh talk you out of following Him wholeheartedly. You need Him. He needs you in helping others to find their way to God. Don’t gamble with anything less!
Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
(United in Love is taking a break until mid January. I will be spending Christmas at my daughter’s house in Florida, and then this Gamma is heading to my son’s home in Kentucky to help with my new grandson after the first of the year. He is currently in womb, getting ready to make his entrance. Three big brothers are waiting for him, and I am too 🙂 The Lord is so good.)
Carol J German 