Joy

Monday, December 16                                                                        Isaiah 12:1-6

“With joy you willdraw water from the wells of salvation”

     This beautiful two-part hymn concludesthis section of Isaiah (chapters 7 through 12) in which the prophet haschallenged King Ahaz to trust in God. When Ahaz rejected God’s protection, Isaiah announced that what Ahaz hadtrusted in place of God – the nation of Assyria – would turn on Israel anddestroy it.

     But, demonstrating how genuinely faithfulGod is to his people, the prophet then declared that God would give light inplace of Israel’s self-induced darkness – light in the form of a descendant ofDavid who would be Immanuel, “God with us.” Furthermore, once Israel faced the fact that it was God who controlledher destiny and not Assyria, God would demonstrate that truth by destroying arrogantAssyria and bringing about a messianic kingdom of peace not only with his ownpeople but also with representatives of all the Gentile nations.  “In that day” all God’s children will singthe hymn of Isaiah 12, joyfully proclaiming that God’s salvation is for us aswe draw its water from his well.

You give me joy, Lord God, for you havesaved me from my sin.  Amen.

Tuesday, December 17                                                                       Psalm 66:1-7

“Shout joyful praisesto God”

     This is a psalmof joyful thanksgiving for God’s loving mercy. It declares that Godis in the midst of his people like a watchman on the watch-tower, not onlyobserving all that is taking place within the city of God, but keeping a keen eyeon the enemies surrounding the city, lest the rebellious should exaltthemselves (verse 7).

     Of this protecting care an instance neverto be forgotten was the scene at the Red Sea, when the sea was turned into dryland and God’s people, who had been in mortal terror of the Egyptian army, hadtheir fears turned into rejoicings.  Anotherwas the passage of the people across the Jordan River, when they entered thePromised Land under the leadership of Joshua. 

     Against the backdrop of this biblicalaffirmation of God’s deeds on behalf of Israel, we lift our own joyful praisefor all that God is doing for us today. When we gather to worship with the people of God, we sing his praises.  When we pray to him in the quiet place of ourpersonal devotion, we thank him for his many blessings.

Withjoy I praise you, Lord, for the blessing of your protection.  Amen.

Wednesday, December 18                                                                    Luke 2:8-12

“Good news of great joy”

     Jesus’ birth isannounced to the shepherds by a host of angels. Creation has no more mysterious and exalted beings than angels whorepresent the testimony of the heavens to what God is doing.  Moreover, there are no more “normal Joes” inancient culture than shepherds.  Theyrepresent the lowly and humble who responds to God’s message.  Thus, heaven meets and greets the averageperson through the angelic announcement to these pastoral figures.  Jesus’ birth is more than a familyaffair.  The announcement of “good newsof great joy that will be for all the people” indicates that God desires tospeak to every person about the coming of Jesus, since all humanity is impactedby his coming.

     After calmingthe shepherds’ fears, the angel declares what God is doing.  Humanity has nothing to fear when God movesin grace.  The text refers to theannouncement as “good news,” using the verbal form of the word from which weget the term gospel.  This is why all people can be filled withjoy.  Jesus may be lying in an animaltrough, but heaven is present at his birth.

Joy to the world,the Lord is come!  Amen.

Thursday, December 19                                                    1 Thessalonians 1:1-6 

“You received the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit” 

     The Thessalonian Christians’ reception ofthe Good News of Jesus Christ resulted in a blend of suffering and joy.  Had the Gospel just been a source of blessingand gain, their response might well have been attributed to selfishmotives.  But when they voluntarily tookon the opposition of those who denied Christ, they showed their willingness tomake sacrifices for the sake of Christ. For Paul and for them, obedience to God was always costly and frequentlyresulted in suffering.  But again andagain they witnessed to the joy that the Holy Spirit gives in the midst ofsuffering.

     Perhaps one of the most completelyconcealed truths of our modern world is that suffering and joy gotogether.  Life without problems andsuffering is a fantasy.  If we live asfollowers of Jesus in the midst of a fallen world, a world at war with God anditself, we will suffer.  But sufferingwill not break us or lessen our confidence in God.  On the contrary, suffering for what we knowto be true in Jesus Christ will only draw us closer to God.

Give me joy, HolySpirit, when the world opposes the faith I have in Jesus.  Amen.

 Friday, December 20                                                                  Nehemiah 8:5-12

“They celebratedwith great joy, for they now understood the word of the Lord”

     When Ezra unrolled the scroll to read theword of God, all the people stood in reverence. Their twofold “amen” expresses agreement with the blessing of the Lordand their acceptance of the law. Thirteen Levites then moved through the crowd, interpreting and applyingthe law of God, and for the first time the people truly understood it.  Reflecting their guilt for having failed toobserve the law they now understood, the people began to mourn and cry.  Ezra urged them not to express their dismayat having failed to follow God’s commands, but instead to celebrate what theyhad learned about God by eating choice foods and drinking sweet drinks.

     There was to be no bitterness on thisday!  They were even to send portions offood and drink to those who had not had the opportunity, or the means, tocelebrate their newfound understanding. For, while there was righteous sorrow due to having disobeyed God, therewas a greater reality to be celebrated: the joy of understanding what Goddesired of them so that, from this time forth, they could live in obedience toGod.

You reveal your Word to me, Lord, that Imay joyfully understand and live it.  Amen.

Saturday, December 21                                                                       John 15:9-12

“My joy in you,that your joy may be complete”

     The union between Jesus and his disciplesis not an external arrangement, but an internal, personal relationship whichJesus defines as a “triad of love.”  TheSon loves these disciples as the Father loves the Son, and they are to love oneanother as the Son loves them.  This lovefor one another is not a vague, sentimental feeling that comes and goes, but atough reality that is always revealed in obedience.  The Son is perfectly obedient to the Father,and the disciples can only live in the love of Jesus if they keep hiscommandments.  Love and obedience are twosides of the same reality.

     This does not mean these disciples arecalled to a grim, cheerless existence. On the contrary, if they live in the love of Jesus by obeying hiscommands, they will remain in his joy. Jesus’ joy will be in them constantly, not sporadically.  G. K. Chesterton called this joy “thegigantic secret of the Christian.”  Andwhen Malcolm Muggeridge, man of the world, first encountered Mother Teresa in Calcutta,he could not explain the “luminous quality” he saw in this little, plainwoman.  Eventually it was that joy whichdrew him to Christ, who always shares his joy with those who obey him.

Ithank you, Jesus, for the gift of your joy growing out of my relationship withyou.  Amen.

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