Joy to the World!
8 And in the same region there
were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
10 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.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2: 8-11
Saying that we deserve to be happy or that happiness in this world is our right, is not the truth. It is, however, something that the current generations believe to be true.
Previous generations did not view happiness as their God given right. They did not seek it above all else. They knew that happiness is a by-product of
living a good life. People worked and
lived their lives and helped each other. Happiness came and went.but it was not the sole goal of life.
Generations
now, ours and those coming up, seek happiness as if it were all that was
important in life. In fact, studies show
that even young Christians have bought into this belief that we deserve to be
happy. These "Me" generations are all about
self. They will do anything and
everything if they think it will make them happy. If it’s hard, uncomfortable, or a struggle, they are not going to do it. If they like it, they will have it.
If they want to say it, they will say it.
If it feels good they will do it.
And if it doesn’t feel good or is difficult, they will eliminate it from their lives.
When
the angels appeared to the Shepherds, they didn’t say “ hey here is some news that will make
you happy”. The angel said I bring you
good news of GREAT JOY that will be to all people. Not just them, not just the people of that
day but all people.
We
have a right to this joy. We, as
Christians deserve this JOY. We shouldn’t settle for anything less.
Happiness
is a feeling, and joy is so much more.
Joy is not based on feelings. Happiness is like really weak coffee. Cola with no caffeine. Happiness
is fleeting, but joy is everlasting.
Happiness depends on circumstances or other people, but joy is a fruit
of the Holy Spirit. Happiness is worldly, but joy is divine. Paul and Silas were surely not happy
in jail, but they rejoiced anyway. They had joy and they sang songs.
The original Greek meaning in the bible is closer to rejoice. Rejoicing is a
choice. Joy/Rejoicing is a fruit of the Spirit, and we need to pick it, we need
to climb the tree and choose to rejoice.
Fruit is not just given, it is sought
after. Gifts are different than fruit.
We can choose to rejoice in all things with
the help of the Holy Spirit. We can seek joy and rejoicing even when we
are not happy as the world defines happiness.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12
One writer said that the best word, if
there was such a word, to translate the word for Joy would be rejoicefullness. Rejoicefullness, as in we have an attitude that always wants to
rejoice. Think of the angel saying it
this way. I bring you good news that
will cause all people to rejoice greatly. And this is the time of year we are celebrating His birth and
the joy that His birth brought to the world.
Rejoicing
is not always easy, especially when we are not happy. But look back on the
times you were unhappy, and you just let it take you down into the depths. I’ve
done it many times. Seeking to rejoice when you lose a loved one or even a job is not our first reaction.
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials. James 1:2
That’s the last thing we want to do is rejoice during trials, but if we
chose to rejoice (sometimes faking it till we make it) we can persevere through
trials. Our faith becomes stronger and we mature as Christians.
There is no standing still as a
Christian. Choosing to rejoice even when we are unhappy, is one of the
ways that we can move forward in our walk with the Lord and become more like
Him. The joy of the Lord is our
strength.
I believe the joy and rejoicing that the
angel brought to the shepherds is the same joy that we are to show to the world. Not just at Christmas time but all the time.
The angel said I bring you good news of GREAT JOY and that joy is Jesus Christ. We have that joy because we have Jesus
Christ in our hearts. We have
received the Holy Spirit when we accepted Him as our Lord. We have a right to the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It’s just not in our
power to react with joy in all circumstances.
So how do we have joy when we are not
happy?
First we have to ask for it. Making a choice or choosing to rejoice if first and calling
out to God and asking His Holy Spirit for help is usually the first step and may be
the hardest step, but there are practical things out there that will help us.
We can
listen to Christian music. We can read daily devotionals and, of course, the bible.
Another
important step we can take to help us rejoice in times of trials is to follow Christ’s example by doing things for other people. We spend way too much time thinking about my own problems.
Also when we are struggling to rejoice, we
can call on other members of
Christ’s body and get some of their joy to help us until we can get our
own.
The
point is we can’t create joy out of nothing on our own. We have
to seek it from the Holy Spirit and borrow it from others. It takes some work. If it didn’t take work, it wouldn’t be worth
it.
Those that seek only after happiness are
very unhappy and become more and more
unhappy every day. Just look around
you. The world is a very unhappy place. Those
who seek joy, become more and more joyful everyday.
As we chose to rejoice,
our light shines in a dark world and we show the difference
between joy and happiness, We show the
difference between Christianity and worldliness . Our joy is a light to unbelievers
and we are told to let our light shine. The world’s happiness will fade,
but we will have joy forever.
We
have a right to joy. We deserve
joy. We must chose joy.
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