I am thinking about expressions of JOY that are memorable. Often these come from children. It seems that children have a wonderful capacity to enter into the exuberant JOY of the moment. Thoughts of children opening presents and being so delighted with what they have received expresses JOY. Recalling children anticipating an adventure on which they are eager to go is indisputable JOY. Children, who are swept up in the arms of those who love them, radiate JOY. The good news that we celebrate at Christmas of Jesus, God’s Son entering our world, signals a JOY that is not reserved for children. Anyone of any age can enter into a JOY that knows no bounds because Jesus has come to be ‘God with us.” Extreme JOY is intended to burst out, not to be contained. In Psalm 28:6 & 7 we read, “Praise be to the LORD, for He has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. My heart leaps for JOY and I will give thanks to Him in song.” JOY does not concern itself with what people might think. JOY does not permit all the things that could go wrong to douse its intensity. JOY is an honest and uncontained response to God and Who He is what He has done for us. In our ongoing preparation for Christmas, this coming Sunday we will light the Advent Candle of JOY. Our potential for JOY is real and life changing. As we anticipate the JOY that Jesus is prepared to release in our hearts, we can be praying that we will listen for Jesus to remind us of all our reasons to burst out with JOY. We can pray with expectancy that God will release His JOY in us and that like young children we will be swept up with JOY in the arms of our God Who loves us most of all. Today December 7th, we will again set aside time for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER at 1 pm. We will be thanking God for His gift of Jesus Who gives us JOY.
Praying that God will release His extraordinary JOY in us and that we will not resist this gift, Pastor Lola
Thank you God for the possibility of JOY that comes to each of us because of Jesus. Thank You that You have created us to know and to participate in Your JOY. Our God we think of times in our lives when we have been overcome with JOY. Thank You that those times don’t need to be past now that we are older. We want to bask in the warmth of your Presence. We long to be uplifted by the light of Your immense love for us. Please renew our desire for You and our longing for JOY in close companionship with You. When the shadows of our cares overtake us, we ask You to dispel the shadows and to reveal Jesus our reason for immeasurable JOY. And God please allow us to understand that JOY can meet with us in our sad times, in our times of loss and grief. Your JOY is not a denial of the pain of loss and disappointment. Your JOY acknowledges the places where we hurt and offers us JOY in the midst of sorrow. JOY breathes new life into every experience and we need that God. Please guard us against not expecting much from You or anyone else. Please move us away from the tendency to focus on what seems hopeless. We admit to You God that sometimes we feel as if we want to protect our fragile hearts. We do not want to risk hoping that we could receive abundant JOY only to have that hope dashed. Our confidence is in You God. You are the same God Who trusted Your precious Son Jesus to our broken world. When Jesus entered this place where we live, He introduced cause for great JOY that would be for all people. What more of Your great JOY is there for us to know and to experience? Our God we believe that You do design good things for us to receive and to be blessed by. Thank you that the sending of Your Son provides evidence that You want us to know JOY. Thank You God for every time that You hear our prayers and our cries for mercy. Thank You God for the ways You have shown us that You are our strength and our shield. We praise You that our hearts trust in You and are helped. We look for our hearts to leap for JOY. We do not want to be held back by concern about being undignified. Our God we will give thanks to you in song. We will recognize that You have arranged for JOY to come and to live with us in our homes because Jesus lives with us in our homes. Our uncertainty about what is to come could dampen our JOY, but we choose instead to trust You and to have JOY anyway. In our expressions of JOY from You, we do not want to be insensitive to others. Always we want to be caring about how others feel and how they are affected by their unique circumstances. Our God we are asking that Your JOY can be seen as a gift that brings promise and restored possibility for life to be meaningful and worthwhile. We are praying that the JOY You give us will inspire us to urge others to discover JOY with You. Thank You God that the miracle of Christmas never wears out and so there is JOY for us to treasure again this year. We want to learn new lessons of JOY as we commit ourselves fully to You. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN