"JOY!"

“JOY!”

 

The Angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all people.  Today your Savior was born in the town of David.  He is Christ, the Lord.”       Luke 2:10-11

You have not seen Christ, but still you love Him.  You cannot see Him now, but you believe in Him.  So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory.       1 Peter 1:8

 

JOY and HAPPINESS are really two different feelings.  Happiness occurs when POSITIVE circumstances are happening around you.  When negative circumstances happen, you are NOT happy.  JOY, on the other hand, is a PERMANENT feeling in the heart.  Spiritually speaking, it is an INNER PEACE that comes from God and is ALWAYS in the HEART of a TRUE BELIEVER, regardless of their outward circumstances. 

 

That starry, dark night on a lonely hillside, where some shepherds were watching over their flocks of sheep, a STARTLING thing happened, the sky lit up like a torch, and suddenly the Angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord was shining all around them, and they were VERY much AFRAID.  The Angel told them to NOT be AFRAID, “I am bringing you GOOD NEWS that will be a GREAT JOY to ALL the people.  Today your SAVIOR was born in the town of David.  He is Christ, the Lord.” 

 

The birth of Jesus is the GOOD NEWS for ALL people, He is our SAVIOR and LORD, He is the ONLY one who can SAVE us from our sins and an ETERNITY in Hell with all of its horrors.  He is our REDEEMER, KING of kings, and LORD of lords, He is the JOY of our SALVATION.  Because of His BIRTH, LIFE, DEATH, and RESURRECTION, we can have GREAT JOY in our HEART if we belong to Him. 

 

Even though we have NOT seen Him we still LOVE Him.   To me, this is possible through the work of the HOLY SPIRIT, which comes into the HEART of the TRUE BELIEVER at the moment of conversion.  The Spirit teaches us and leads us to a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God and His Son, Jesus.  Part of that RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God and Jesus is LOVE, we LOVE Him, because He FIRST LOVED us.  Another aspect of the RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God and Jesus, is BELIEVING, even though we CANNOT see Him NOW, we STILL BELIEVE in Him.   And because of the LOVE and BELIEVING we are filled with a JOY that mere words fail to explain.  It is a GREAT JOY that is FULL of GLORY.  A JOY that is FOREVER EMBEDDED in the HEARTS of the TRUE BELIEVERS.  Do YOU possess this JOY?   If NOT, you can.  God is giving you the opportunity NOW to RECEIVE this GREAT JOY, by TURNING AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURNING TO Him with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART, CONFESSING your sins to Him, and asking Him for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION and start experiencing JOY UNSPEAKABLE and FULL of GLORY.  Do it NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!