Christmas JOY!
I love Christmas!
By the middle of November, my living room is transformed into a Winter Wonderland, and you will find many Christmas words in my decor. PEACE sits on my windowsill and HOPE is on my mantle holding stockings, LOVE is on an ornament on the tree, but JOY is everywhere you look!
What brings you JOY at Christmas?
Children's' excitement on Christmas with presents and fun activities, family dinners and time spent with cousins and friends we haven't seen all year long, kids' presentations at church with special treats and candy bags, ice skating or building snow castles, carol sing-a-longs at the senior centres and Christmas Eve services with friends.
You can almost see the scene on a Christmas card with the words "JOY" written across the top.
But how can we have JOY when Christmas time reminds us of the hard moments?
The accident that changed everything, loneliness after moving to a new city, a doctor's report of a terminal illness, the first Christmas without a loved one.
As we listen to Christmas carols at this time of year. the carol, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" reminds me that no matter what we are going through, God is where we find our JOY.
God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing, you dismay
When you are faced with sudden disappointment you can remember the words of Jesus.
John 16:22, "So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy."
Remember Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day
We can remember that Jesus came to bring His light into the darkness.
John 12:46. "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."
To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray
Thank Jesus for the JOY of His salvation!
Romans 4:7-8, "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put of out sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sins."
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy!
Even in the hardest moments that can happen to us in this life, God gives us strength and hope to ease the grief or trouble we are facing.
Jeremiah 31:13b, "I will turn mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow."
Practicing Joy
The Holy Spirit, through Jeremiah, points us to a truth which sets us free. Unlike happiness, which is based on our circumstances at the moment, JOY transcends and helps us rise above the circumstances of our lives. Happiness reacts in the moment. JOY transcends. Happiness comes and goes. JOY is a fruit of the Spirit, growing within us because the Spirit lives within us.
JOY is also a choice, a practice and behaviour. It's deliberate and intentional. JOY focuses not on my life circumstances, but upon the person of God, who He is, and what He has done for me.
This is the JOY transcends:
Romans 14:17." For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." And this in Paul's benediction at the end of Romans, 15:13, "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
No matter what you face this Christmas, the good news that Jesus is the One who brought JOY for all people and this is what we remember through all the good and hard times. I testify of this truth and thank God for giving me JOY in all seasons of life.
This Christmas season, may you spread the JOY of Jesus wherever you go by telling people the GOOD NEWS of His HOPE, PEACE, LOVE and His JOY!
Advent reflections shared by Leann Woelk, Mission Canada Next Gen: Children's Coordinator.