Joy of the Lord

Rejoice! Rejoice!

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Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Philippians 4:4 KJV

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” and then he adds, “again I say rejoice.” Whenever the Bible repeats something it is because God knows that it is easy for us to forget. Notice that Paul is not just telling us to, ” Don’t worry. Be happy.” That is impossible! Some days, terrible, things happen. There are times in our lives when it seems that evil has gotten the upper hand. Paul certainly knew this, because he was writing these words from his prison cell in Rome. What he is telling us is that no matter what is going on around us, in Christ, we can find a joy greater than our problems and pains. Paul was able to face unimaginable hardships, because he had learned to remind himself of this again and again. Just as it was for Paul, the same is true for us: the joy of praise is the oxygen of our Christian faith. With every step we take, no matter how difficult the way, we must remember to breathe in God’s grace and then breathe out His praise! I hope you are blessed with this song from Evan Craft, Redimi2 & Danny Gokey, which is the official English version from “Todo va a estar bien”. This praise song reminds me of the way we worshiped in our Brazilian church and reflects the heart of worship in a very special way.

A Message of Joy

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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.

Joy Unspeakable (And full of glory!)

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Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 1 Peter 1:8 KJV

This is one of my favorite forgotten hymns, and the story that lies behind it, starts on the day that Thomas didn’t come to church. When Jesus first showed Himself to His disciples after the resurrection Thomas was missing. So don’t miss church this Sunday because you never know when Jesus just might show up! But the next time the disciples met for prayer, Thomas made sure he was there, and Bingo! – Jesus comes. First, He shows Himself to Thomas and tells Him that He is blessed. But then Jesus adds an amazing promise for those of us who have never seen Him. He says that we can be even more blessed than the Apostles! Imagine that! How can that be? Peter gives us the answer many years later in his letter, when he writes that our unseeing faith, will open the door for our heart to be filled with a joy that is unspeakable and full of God’s glory. There are some days I could sure use that joy. Things aren’t always looking bright in our family, but the sunrise of God’s glory is just breaking over the horizon, if I can simply believe without seeing and trust Him for all that He has in store.