Month: November 2023

A Message of Joy

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10 KJV

Have you ever gotten into such an argument with someone you loved that they gave you the silent treatment? (You don’t have to answer!) The worst thing for most of us is not punishment, rudeness or anger, it is the complete cutting off of communication. That is how the people of Israel felt, because, although they were God’s chosen people, they had not heard from God for generations. Try to imagine for a moment the feeling of those shepherds, when angels appeared to them bringing God’s first message in four hundred years. “Joy to the World” is one of the happiest of the Christmas carols, because it tells us both by its words and upbeat melody, that Christmas is a time to celebrate.

With the craziness of the events happening around the world it is easy to focus more on things that we are afraid of, than the hope we have in Christ. That is why God wants to speak to our hearts, the same message He sent for the shepherds. “Don’t be afraid!” Though it often feels as if Jesus is a million miles away from our situation, the truth is that He is close by and that He has come for you. Don’t be afraid because the message of the coming of Jesus is “Good tiding of great joy!” What we need to do as the carol tells us is to “Receive our king!” He has come, and our job is to follow the shepherds who ran to see Him. He has come with a message of joy, not just for Israel, but for all people everywhere. “Let Heaven and nature sing!” Joy to the World by Isaac Watts 1719

Caligiuri, Peter. A Christmas Treasury: Large Print Edition (pp. 3-4). Kindle Edition.

A Divine Hurry

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But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 KJV

Based on today’s reading, we might conclude that God wants us to just relax, slow down and wait. But if we read on, the verse also calls us to action. It tells us we will, “Run and not be weary!” That got me to checking out in the New Testament about how Jesus repeatedly sprang into action. Here is just one example of the many that I found.

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.”  And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:3

Jesus showed us that, though He was not in a hurry, it didn’t mean that He never moved quickly. In fact, when Jesus hurried into action, because of His great love. That kind of hurry will motivate us to rush to the side a friend in a car accident, grab our wife’s hand and pray for God to ease her pain after surgery or give without a second thought to a couple whose house has just burned down. Jesus hurried to the cross to give His life for us all. So why not hurry to Him and ask what He has for us to do for someone else today?

Thanksgiving

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  Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Amp

My sister keeps a jar on her shelf filled with little slips of paper on which are written things for which she is grateful, then on Thanksgiving, she pours them out and reads them, as a reminder of the things that she can be thankful for. In today’s verse, the Apostle Paul, has a similar idea, but he goes one radical step beyond gratitude for blessings. Instead, Paul tells us that in every situation, no matter the circumstances, we are to rejoice, delight in our faith and give thanks. To be honest, I have not learned how can how to do that all the time, but I have picked up a few clues along the pathway as I have followed Jesus. God has shown me that the rejoicing, thankfulness and prayer Paul talks about isn’t about me: it is about Jesus. He reminds me that when Jesus suffered terribly on the cross for us, He endured it all, because pleasing His Father was His greatest joy. The joy that Jesus had, certainly had nothing to do with his situation. He was nailed to rough wooden beams, between two others, who were likewise dying in agony, just a few feet away. He heard the soldiers mocking him and saw them gambling for his last bits of clothing. Yet Jesus had the strength to forgive His enemies, see to the care of His mother and to give the promise of paradise to a thief. Jesus had joy, in spite of His situation, because He loved those around Him, till the very end. This Thanksgiving, whether we sit at a table, surrounded by our family, are alone at home, or even confined to a hospital bed, there is always someone we can love. There is always at least one person, who we can forgive, one who we can encourage or one who we can pray for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May God watch over you, keep you close to His heart and draw you closer to Himself this year in the precious Holy name of Jesus I ask His blessing. Amen!

Faith goes up the stairway that love has built and looks out the window that hope has opened. Charles Spurgeon