Choose Joy

Joy is a choice.  Paul, while in a Roman prison and probably knowing that he would lose his life, wrote the letter to the Philippians. That is why it seems so incredulous that he states in Phil 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice."  Peter and John express the same sentiment, even after being beaten for sharing the good news of Jesus, in Acts 5:41, "So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name."  There must be an anchor much deeper and stronger than the present circumstances in which the believer's life and joyful well-being depend upon.  

We just celebrated the birth of Jesus.  We sing the words, "glorious morning when Christ was born!"  We not only celebrate His birth, but also enjoy forever the purpose of His coming.  How can we describe an awesome and excellent God who cares so much about each of us?  This message was declared by the angel "I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people." Jesus clearly demonstrated this through taking all men's sins to the cross and releasing everlasting life to all who call upon Him.  He explains to His disciples in John 15 the purpose of His life and His work, "that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."   

Have you noticed that children look forward to Christmas often because of the gifts, but the adults, or the mature, can see beyond the gifts to the loved ones who give gifts as tokens of their desire to give of themselves to those who are dear.  Certainly, in the midst of all God's gifts is the overriding truth that He has given Himself to us, and He desires to be our everlasting strength, joy, and life.  His gift of Jesus clearly reveals not only what He has given to us, but more importantly, the person and Life He is. 

Who are we and how can we respond to the fact that He has not only given Himself to us in coming as a child at Bethlehem, but also that this gift shows His heart which is willing to lay down His life for us in order to purchase our eternal joy with Him?   

In the carol O Holy Night, there is a line "and the soul felt its worth."  The fact that the infinite, glorious God would cheerfully lower Himself to be born a frail, helpless man in the most humble of circumstances, to a poor family in a dirty manager and and be known as from corrupt Nazareth (Can anything good come from Nazareth?), clearly reveals His total commitment to love us.  Psalm 8 reminds us "what is man?" with the answer that God has crowned us with glory and honor.  His coming and establishing us as His children with the authority and gift of ruling with Him forever is beyond our finite understanding, but the truth of His coming, His death and resurrection continue to manifest His eternal devotion to our value and place in His heart forever. 

No matter what happens or how evil the world becomes, the eternal truth of who we are in God's eyes and the value demonstrated by His coming, death, and resurrection far surpass any earthly suffering.  In short, all those who receive Him receive His love and nothing can separate us from the joy of reigning with Him forever.  Let us rejoice. 

Why You Do What You Do

What do you do?  The truth is that you do what you value.
You spend 3 hours a night watching television or surfing on the computer because you value that stimulation or lack of it.  You go to church or you don't go to church because that is something you value.  If you play a musical instrument at some point you valued learning and being able to play that instrument to create music.

If you take time to chart out a 24 hour day or better yet, a 168 hour week, you will discover what the true values in your life are.   A person who loves football may actually spend 3 hours watching the game, listen to the announcers wrap up the highlights of the contest, and then listen to 30 minutes on the coach's show the next day.  He may read 15 minutes of news story about the players the next day and even read ESPN summaries and previews for next week.  In short his 6 hours of attention demonstrates that he values the entertainment and stimulation of football. On the other hand, a person who states that he values time with God but spends less than 10 minutes a day is trying to fool himself into believing that is something he treasures.

What if you want to change your values to include something that you have chosen to make important to you?  Let's suppose you wish to learn how to improve your golf game or get better at some activity.  The first step would be to seek out classes or someone who could give instruction, then schedule the time to work on it, and finally take a certain amount of hours to practice or be involved in the activity until you make progress or master it.  The same principle applies if you wish to know God.

In order to live for God, to place the highest value in your life on glorifying Him, you have to make some deliberate choices.  It all starts with the realization or revelation that Jesus Christ is worth your everything, your whole effort, and your greatest attention.  Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.  Human nature just won't or can't do this without God Himself accomplishing it in us.  Scripture tells us that in His light, we become light.  We are changed by beholding His glory.  In short, man only changes when we see God.  What is it worth to you to see God?

If seeing Him and knowing Him is a high value, then you choose to set aside time to be with Him, to seek teachers who can explain spiritual principles, and to put yourself in a place and disposition to receive His revelation.  The time you give and what you do shows you value this relationship.  We invite you to choose to make knowing God a higher value in your life.  Give greater priority and time to seeking God and let Him work through your new desire.  As you treasure getting to know Him and His great love, you will begin to find time and to reflect on His character more each day.  Gradually this desire will reshape the things you do, until your actions demonstrate the greatest value in your life.  The awesome, beautiful, holy, all-wise, worthy Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus is worth your time and effort.