11th December 2023
Joy to the world
He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
Job 8:22 (NLT)
‘What do you want me to know Lord?’, I said in my mind. Joy and laughter was my whisper in the middle of the night. I thought of a dear acquaintance who was going through anything but this as she went through one trial after another. Oh, how her joy had been sapped out of her. This promise is real when it comes from the Lord and Saviour, but it is not always answered in the way we may hope or think. I may think I am having the trial of my life, but I have not yet had the trials of Job placed upon me; we all have trials do we not? Again, I am reminded of these words from John 16:33 (NIV), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”.
Can you hear in your head the words of the song Joy to the World? ‘Joy to the world! The Lord has come: let earth receive her King! Let every heart, prepare him room…’ Can we really have a full amount of joy before his return? This is a part of our waiting process here on earth, waiting for the fulfilment of his promises at his return. This song cries out that I must prepare him a room. When he left, he said he was preparing a place for us (John 14:2), and yet on earth, we must make room for him, we must invite him into our lives. In order to invite him in I thought, I have a lot of cleaning to do, moving out those things that get in the way of his return, making a comfortable place for him in my heart. Clutter, we all have clutter. Clutter that serves no purpose, that which we cannot let go of. I might need it, cries out my mind. What is my clutter, I thought. What is yours?
I did not remember these words from this song: ‘No more let sins and sorrows grow, no thorns infest the ground: he comes to make his blessings flow as far as the curse is found.’ Yet, despite the possibility, Christ still lets his blessings flow in order to remove the curse of mankind; all the brokenness and all of the stumbles and failures – this he will do. Over the years I have come to see that there is a great distance between the fleeting happiness of our earthly human lives and the deep bottomless joy of Christ. Hope and peace come bound together with the joy of Christ. The healing balm of God! This is the joy that the world needs.
‘Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!’ (Psalm 34:8 NLT) May you be filled with the joy of Christ, not only during this season but at all times.
Prayer
God, I pray that you remove the thorns and the rubble in our hearts and make room for your presence to reside in us, in our hearts and minds. We have a lot of clutter, Lord, help us to toss it out and make room for you. Bind us together in one unity of love. Your joy will bring eternal happiness. I look forward to your joy to fill us to the full. Thank you, God, for your never-ending love for us! In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Study by Anne Gillam
About the writer:
Anne Gillam is a retired Pastor in Grace Communion International, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA.
Local congregation:
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