Joy to the world – The Arrow Preacher

Joy

So many people in this world are constantly on a scavenger hunt for happiness. For many it’s like a wisp of a cloud the moment you have it in your hands it begins to slip away. Happiness is caused by a great many things, a new ‘thing’, a person, money, a place, etc. We are always looking for that new thing and if we only had it, then… we’d be happy. For me, I have often found, and I’m not proud of this, my happiness seems to often depend on if I am in a relationship or not. While I have had the last two years to find my own happiness without someone I’ve had marginal success. The difference between happiness and joy is, joy is a tangible feeling, something that doesn’t fade in the test of time. Where do you find your joy, and is your joy fleeting? Scripture tells us where your joy should be found, and once you have it, shouldn’t be something easily taken away.

True hope, true joy, is found in the knowledge that this life is a fleeting moment, and eternity is paradise. Jesus said John 14:27”27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” I was listening to a song recently called Joy by, For King & Country, and in the song it talks about how you need to make a choice, a choice on how you want to live. In the music video the world looks black and white, it looks like it has no hope, but at the end, there’s a line that says, “While our circumstances haven’t change, our perspective can.” We know the storms are going to come and even when everything around us looks awful, there’s hope in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. John 14:27“27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” In life sometimes we get to the point where we are holding by a thread, but in our greatest time of need, when your laying on the ground and the paramedic leans over you to reassure you, ‘you’re going to be fine, just hold on.’ Jesus is our paramedic in a world where we’re always on the brink. My help comes from Jesus, my refuge from the storms. When the world is it’s darkest, Jesus is the lighthouse shining brightly from Heaven and I’m being guided home. So long as I keep my eyes on the guiding light, I shall not fall off course, I shall navigate the storms no matter how grim things look. My peace in Jesus gives me strength, and even though the world is like a vampire trying to suck away my joy, I shall be renewed by the Holy Spirit every day. I drink from the everlasting cup, knowing that today will pass, tomorrow will rise, and one day I know my ship will sail into the most beautiful harbor, and I shall finally rest.

Don’t let trials from this world steal your joy. We can look at the Apostle Paul for inspiration of what it means to have joy. Paul said, ‘your grace is sufficient.’ Speaking of Jesus Christ. Paul endured hardships few of us will ever see in our lives. Even when Paul was in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, sentenced to death by Nero, he proclaimed he was at peace, because he knew true joy. In James 1:2-4“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” see the brother of Jesus telling everyone there is joy because he believes in the Holy Spirit. The church was being persecuted, hunted down, and people were being thrown in jail, tortured, and killed for their believe in Christ. Even as their seemed to be no physical hope of an end to the suffering, those who knew Jesus, knew that we can never count on this world for hope, and most importantly, if we did count on the world for hope, what looks like joy in our lives will simply be crushed by the weight of a world designed to try and break you.

Sin is heavy and if we don’t understand where our joy comes from we will never be free of that weight. The longer you carry the same amount of weight the heavier it feels even though, no matter how long you hold a 5 gallon bucket, though it’s still 5 gallons, it feels like 100. Sin doesn’t have to crush you, it doesn’t have to suck the joy out of your life. It may remove earthly happiness, but it’s up to us, each and every one of us, if we allow it to remove our joy. Galatians 5:22“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,” Live in love, and live in Joy. In that joy of the Lord you shall find peace. The lighthouse from Heaven will never go out, it’ll never get dull, and in our daily devotions, our daily walk with Christ, let that light shine brightly in our hearts, and then allow that light to reflect off you like the moon. Light up the darkness by being a reflection of what Jesus has done for all of us. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King.”

Joy to the World

The horrors of this world are many and can be found anywhere. You turn on your television, or the pages of the morning paper, scrolling through Facebook, no matter where you look, there’s so many horrible things being shoved in your face every day. How can we find joy and hope this holiday season with so much pain in this world? The very short, very easy answer is Jesus Christ, the baby who was born to live a life fully human and fully God at the same time. The God who lived a full life to experience the joy, and the pain of our life, and the God who wanted us to see resemblance within our own life. When we are going through something horrible and we are told to pray to God about our woe’s, we can because God truly does understand. There’s nothing easy about living this life, but it’s when we are brought to our knees we can truly see the joys of this world.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the good in people when we are living on top of the world. It’s hard to see the generosity of people when we have everything we want. When you’re struggling to get by and someone gives to you out of the kindness of their heart, that’s when you know there are still decent people out there. When you are in line at the grocery store and you’re a single mother of 3 and someone picks up the grocery tab for you. When you’re at a restaurant and someone pays for your table, that’s when you know good people are still around and hate hasn’t won the day.

While at times it seems like hate is everywhere you look, and racism, and bigotry is everywhere, there are also people who live like Jesus commanded. It’s simple this time of year, look to the heavens and remember that a child was born, he lived along side us, and eventually died because of us and in doing so saved us from ourselves. We were saved from an eternal fate of death. We celebrate the birth of that little baby, and we need to remember it’s not about the gifts we give to one another, it’s about the gift that was given to us.

Luke 2: 9-14 “⁹And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

The child born that night sometime in the spring would bring forth both hope and despair. Hope for those who thirst for truth, knowledge and love beyond our own understanding. Those who knew and understood that without the love and sacrifice of the Lord we would always be bound to die by Sin. Despair for those who have embraced their sin and refuse to acknowledge the need for a savior. Whenever Christ is the topic, conflict ensues. While Jesus was being born Harod set out to slaughter thousands of first born children. When Jesus would spread the truth about God, angry hoards would gather and force him from the town. Sin breed’s hatred of the convictions held deep beneath the surface. The truth is we are in the darkness if we do not understand the true meaning of Christmas. We should be singing songs and praising the Lord and Saviors birthday! It’s a birthday party and for those who scream Scrooge this year, I say bah humbug to you. Enjoy this birthday celebration and one day when this life passes away we will have a celebration of our own as we enter the eternal city. Spread a little Christmas cheer this year and remember it’s not about the presents, it’s not about the tinsel on the tree, it’s about the love we share, the joy of knowing that God is still on the throne and still in control. Knowing we have overcome death, and that we were saved because of a little baby born so many years ago.

So, even when things are down and you may have the holiday blues remember the real meaning this year and try to let go of your inner Scrooge and praise for the blessings in your life. So joy to the world, and good will towards all men and women.