Joy

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:10-12)

Join me in singing the following old hymn:

There’s within my heart a melody

Jesus whispers sweet and low,

“Fear not, I am with thee; Peace be still

In all of life’s ebb and flow.”

Songs like this fill my heart with the same thrill that strikes me when I think about the Nativity. That thrill can be described in one word: JOY.

The old preacher said that Christians should live a life that is guided by joy. He explained that meant that we should approach life in the following manner:

o Jesus

o Others

o Yourself

This Christmas season, let us put J. O. Y. into practical use in our lives.

Heavenly Father, remind us of the joy that came down at Christmas. Help us to make that joy the hallmark of our life. In the name of Christ we pray, Amen.

Love

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

I love Mexican food. It doesn’t always love me back (especially if it’s spicy), but I love Mexican food. I believe that I could eat Mexican food at least five times a week if my stomach would hold out. But my love for Mexican food is simply a passing thought when I think of love.

The movies have taught us that love is something that can develop overnight, or something that we fall into, like a vat of goo. We have so cheapened love that we don’t really know what love is.

Christ taught us what love is: He left all the glory that belongs to him to become a simple man living simply in a simpler time than our own. He made his first cradle in a manger, in a stall that was probably located behind a house in a crowded city. And he did all this for the express purpose of taking my place in death for my sins. That is love—true love. That is the love we sing about and remember at Christmas. Share it this season!

Father, Help us love one another enough to tell each other about your love for us. Amen.

Peace

You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

One of the verses of a favorite children’s song says,

I have the Peace that passes understanding
Down in my heart;
Down in my heart;
Down in my heart;
I have the Peace that passes understanding
Down in my heart;
Down in my heart to stay.

It’s that peace that, sometimes confusing to the world, is so much a part of life with Jesus Christ. It is a peace that came to Earth in the form of a Baby in an out of the way place. It is that same peace that is deposited in the hearts and lives of everyone who trusts the Savior that the Baby was and is.

This season let us spread the peace that passes all understanding.

Dear Father, May your peace be in, around, and through us this day, and throughout this season. Amen.

Hope

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7)

It’s an interesting word. We so often misuse it. We say things like, “I hope he calls today,” or “I hope I get a raise,” or “I hope my package comes today.” These statements are not really statements of hope, but personal wishes or desires.

True hope is that thing that we know for sure is going to happen, and it makes us thrill at the thought of its occurrence. Hope is more concrete than a wishy-washy wish. Hope is foundational. Hope springs from Jesus Christ. Our hope is not to see him, or even to be with him at some future date. No, He is our hope.

This season, when we think about His coming and why He even bothered to become a man to dwell among us, let us remember that our hope is set in Christ Jesus. He is our truth and our way—He is the truth and the way. Hope is that knot that we can tie on the end of a rope and hold to, when we’ve reached the end of ours.

Set our hope on You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Advent

On this Thanksgiving Day, I would like to invite you to begin thinking about the Advent of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Advent season begins this Sunday and I will once again be offering weekly Advent thoughts to ponder. If you would like to get a head-start on the Advent season, you may want to see last year's entries.

• Week 1, Hope
• Week 2, Peace
  
• Week 3, Joy
  
• Week 4, Love
  
• Christmas Eve, Christ

Enjoy the reruns and come back each Sunday (and on Christmas Eve) in 2008 to Worship the Christ and His Advent with us.

Thankful for . . . Faith

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith does so much for the follower of Christ. It is the beginning point of real life; it is the hope for a future; it is the redemption of past mistakes. Faith exercised builds more faith. Faith itself is the pinnacle of all that can be said about a Christ follower.

In the words of hymn writer John Yates:

Encamped along the hills of light,
Ye Christian soldiers, rise.
And press the battle ere the night
Shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the foe in vales below
Let all our strength be hurled.
Faith is the victory, we know,
That overcomes the world.

Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
(“Faith is the Victory”)

Father, increase our faith. Amen.

Thankful for . . . Family

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (II Timothy 1:3-7)

My family of origin may be somewhat like yours. Then again, maybe not. My father was a preacher of the gospel—Baptist by tradition and choice. He was a man full of faith, and that helped to instill in me a desire to follow the same road. My mother was a school teacher, sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity. In any case, she was always quietly living the faith before my siblings and me.

One reason that I’m thankful for family is the strong ties to faith that were given to me—even as a youngster. Not everyone has those memories or those roots. Here is a list of the things that family often brings to a person:

Love

Belonging

Care

Friendship

The list could grow and grow. This week let us be thankful for our family—the one we have by birth or by choice.

Father, thank you that you created family, and that you blessed the institution of family. Amen.

[Please feel free to add to the list of thankful reasons for family in the comment section.]