Hope you had a Joy-FULL Christmas!

I love Christmas—all the sights, sounds, and smells that make the holiday cheery and bright. I even love the shopping, though I rarely darken the doors of the local malls the rest of the year. Why? Well, when else can you walk into a department store and hear songs about our wonderful God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus Christ the Lord? In the grocery or in the middle of Walmart, glorious hymns and silly seasonal songs mingle with a message that declares joy to the world! The Lord is come! So I don’t let cold cashiers or commercialism
or ridiculous renegade reindeer songs deter my holly jolly celebration of the season. Christmas is supposed to be merry, isn’t it?

Amidst all the hustle and bustle, baking and taking, shopping and mopping, wrapping and flapping, festive music accompanies every holiday activity. To me, Christmas and Christmas carols are like peanut butter and jelly. They just go together. In yuletide songs of yesteryear we find lessons and messages for today. We hear words like joyful and rejoice, but let’s stop for a minute, “selah,” and think about these words. Instead of glossing over joyful, consider for a moment that its meaning is “joy full” or full of joy. It means we have joy all the way to top, to the edge of the cup. We aren’t filled to the rim with grim, but with gladness.

When you hear or read rejoice this holiday, think “re-joy” as in having joy again and again and again! We’ve heard the songs and sayings so many times, it seems we may have lost some of the impact of the true meaning of their words. But remember, my friend, Christmas brings tidings of comfort and joy! That’s greetings of peace and happiness for you and me and all humanity! Across the ages and generations we join the cast of the Christmas story and respond to the message of Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 9:6, and John 3:16—passages of Scripture telling of the Son given to redeem sinful mankind to a holy God.  Did you ever notice in Luke 1:47 that Mary rejoiced in God her savior before the conception of the promise? Consider, also, the wise men from the East. They rejoiced with exceeding great joy when they had only seen the star. This was before they saw the babe lying in a manger. They celebrated the sign, the direction God gave prior to the fulfillment of their hopes and efforts made to find and worship the newborn King (Matthew 2:10). As we go through our days, we likely have promises yet unfulfilled in our lives, but Mary and the wise men give us great examples to follow in these times. Rejoice now! We have the promise! We have the Word to show us the way. Hallelujah!

What does Jesus have to say about joy? In John 15:11, He said, “these things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” The joy of Jesus is the joy that remains for us today. He’s given us His Spirit, His comfort, to abide with us as we journey through this weary world. “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth: and with my song will I praise him” (Psalms 28:7). Oh, come, let us adore Him. In Christ, we are joyful and triumphant!

That’s all well and good for us, and I like well and good, by the way, but did you ever wonder what gives Jesus joy? Luke 10:21 tells us that Jesus “rejoiced in His spirit” when His disciples returned from going out in the land ministering in the power and authority of His name. What a wonderful opportunity Christmas brings for us to do the same. Doors are open that are often shut throughout the year. Hearts may be, even if unconsciously so, more open to thoughts of Jesus—the reason for the season. Along with churches of all denominations, secular facilities and organizations join in the Christmas spirit of giving and reaching out to those in need.

More than a basket of goodies, or a utility bill met, Jesus was and still is the best gift ever—the Son given for all mankind—a gift wrapped in swaddling clothes in Bethlehem’s manger and unwrapped on Calvary’s cross. And while we’re talking about joy, think about this: It was the joy set before Him that enabled Jesus to endure the shame and the pain of the cross.

Calvary behind, Jesus now looks forward to another joyous occasion. We read in Jude 1:24 that the One Who is able to keep us from falling anticipates presenting us “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” Wow. That’s something we can all be joyful about, don’t you agree? Just thinking about being faultless is more than I can wrap my mind around. Maybe that’s why we read in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him.” Oh, how I love Him!

Amidst all the carols and celebrations, there’s no denying that some people experience misery with the memories of Christmases past. Bitter, sweet or bittersweet reflections of previous holidays affect the way we feel about Christmas today. I can understand some of that from my own experiences. Not every Christmas in my past holds sweet memories, and I cry when I unwrap mementos from loved ones now passed—my Dad who died the day before my first child was born and my first husband who preceded me into glory after only
seven years of marriage.

It’s an undeniable fact that holidays magnify emotions—positive and negative. If you or someone you know is struggling to find joy, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about the Lord. Before Mary rejoiced, she first said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” Sure, that was easy for her to say, right? She had just received an angelic visitor and the best news ever. But with Mary’s acceptance of the Christ child in her womb, she faced the hardship and ridicule of becoming an unwed mother and the very real possibility of rejection by her betrothed. Her future was precarious, at best. It was a mixed blessing, we might say, yet she chose to be joyful.

Good Christian men (and women), rejoice! We have been redeemed and have the promise of heaven to celebrate. When we magnify the Lord, instead of our emotions and challenges, looking to God’s Word, His character, His faithfulness, His provision, His power, His friendship, His sacrifice, His great love—I believe we can enter, even now, into the joy
of the Lord. If we’re in Christ and He’s in us, joy is part of the equation. It’s a joy that lasts and a joy that gives us strength. It’s the joy of fellowship with God, even in sufferings.If joy seems a long way from where you are right now, I want to encourage you today. If you had joy once, you can “re-joy” again. If you just have a little joy tucked away in a dry corner of your soul, I pray that your joy is renewed as you magnify the Lord with me. He is great! He is mighty! He’s an awesome God! He’s worthy of our praise and He is our exceeding great reward! May the joy of Jesus bubble up in your spirit like a dishwasher loaded with the wrong kind of soap. Have you ever done that? Oh, those bubbles just can’t be contained—they ooze out all over the place!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season. That as you shopped, wrapped, baked, decorated and commemorated the birth of Jesus, your heart was truly full to overflowing with the abiding joy of Jesus. And in the new year, may we give joy in return to the Lord by ministering to those around us, reaching out in His name with a helping hand, an encouraging word, an
impacting prayer.