LIVING IN COMPLETE JOY

Philippians 2: ¹ So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

So how are you today?  Two days left before all of the shopping is culminated by unwrapping presents, gathering all of the friends and family, and setting the table all to sit down to............................what?  Allow me the opportunity to back track; Mary and Joseph wasn't going to a celebration, nor was this full term pregnant woman joyful about the journey they had to make, and if Joseph was truly human, he probably was tired & frustrated too.  But all of that seemed not to matter the moment the labor pains ceased and they wrapped their minds & cloths around the foretold birth of the Christ infant they now held.   Will you allow yourself to get lost in the wonderment of the meaning of CHRIST coming into the world?  Will you too, wrap your mind around this reason to be filled with and exuded by the JOY HE brings?   TODAYS SCRIPTURE SAYS " if there's anything to be encouraged....comforted by......complete HIS JOY by being......"   FOLKS this reason to celebrate aint about you!  But how YOU handle it can make it JOYFILLED just by being as humble as HE came.     I get the whole wanting to make the DAY larger than life (trees, ornaments, lights, presents, action!) but let's not lose focus.  Mary & Joseph JOY WAS COMPLETE because their focuses was on the ONE, nothing else mattered.   The wise men showed up a few years later with gifts, but their focuses continued to be on caring for the ONE!  HOW in your celebration are you CARING FOR THE ONE or IS HE not the visible focus in your celebration?

SO as friends and family gather make sure you aren't doing any of this for your glory, but rather ALL THAT YOU DO, do it in humility, and love so that people can look past you, your bought or prepared feast, and presents, and see your reasoning was for CHRIST alone!  May your Christmas be Merry & Filled with the JOY OF THE LORD!  LGLP

HOPE-FILLED JOY

Psalms 146: ⁵ But joyful are those who have the God of Israel^[a] as their helper,
      whose hope is in the Lord their God.⁶ He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever.

What was before the BUT in today's scripture because that may prove just as important as this verse?   Before the but was about people who put their trust in other people instead of GOD.   Who are you trusting to help you through this holiday season?  I am sure everyone isn't excited about Christmas.   Studies show that this is the MOST depressing, lonliest and violent time of the year, due to frustrations of want. Maybe you want more money to make a better Christmas, maybe you want your family members home, maybe you wanted to just have your mom, dad, aunt, child etc back again.  Or maybe you want just peace.  Whatever it is you are in want for.....I encourage you to reflect on the promise in the scripture; that those whose helper is the LORD will be JOYFUL!  WHY?  Because HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES to never leave us or forsake us (Matt. 28:19-20)   I don't attempt to minimize the frustration of the season, I mean really....it began that way....Joseph stressed about being with a woman that is pregnant and the child isn't his, them not being married, taxes due, he has to get a pregnant woman to town, and I'm sure that was a long, arduous journey...so the the encourage is to be found in KNOWING....GOD is PRESENT with you today.  It's HE who can bring a smile to your face.  It's HE who needs to be on the guestlist before anyone else while you cook, shop, entertain and serve friends, families, and strangers. 

Santa has his helpers.....Satan has his imps,....God has the angel & us.........WHO DO YOU HAVE TO HELP YOU?   Honestly....GOD CREATED THIS DAY, and depending upon how much you choose to include Him (in the preparation & celebration), will greatly affected how JOYFILLED or JOYFUL it is!   LGLP

REFLECT; & BECOME FILLED WITH JOY & LAUGHTER

PSALMS 126: 1-6

 ¹ When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
   we were like those who dreamed.
² Our mouths were filled with laughter,
   our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
   “The LORD has done great things for them.”
³ The LORD has done great things for us,
   and we are filled with joy.

 ⁴ Restore our fortunes,^[c] LORD,
   like streams in the Negev.
⁵ Those who sow with tears
   will reap with songs of joy.
⁶ Those who go out weeping,
   carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
   carrying sheaves with them.

Psalms 126 talks about waking up to the reality of what it is, that GOD has done for them, and upon doing so...it's like they were dreaming.   As we approach the CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST (& I pray you don't wait til 12-25...but rather everyday)  I want you to think about a time when you received a gift that so caught you off guard, that you began to laugh, and couldn't stop because there was this wellspring of JOY coming from a depth that spoke to your needing of GOD to spring it for you!   This is what this Psalm is all about it.   Having endured the pain of life, and working in/through tears to the point you really didn't know what the results would be, you just hoped & prayed they'd be in your favor, and as this Psalms winds down you realize that you went from carrying seeds to carrying out sheaves!  A harvest has occurred, and you joyfully find yourself the recipient of GOD's goodness.

So I challenge you right now, to just stop and reflect on the occurrences of this week.  Were there moments of doubt, fear, mabye even tears?  Can you, do you see today as a gift....as a harvest?  Harvesting the goodness of GOD upon you, your children........It always point back to HIM; your JOY!  LGLP

Personal note:  I experienced this type of laughter, when I was at a conference with a brother in Christ and Erwin McManus (the speaker) said "We were an idea in the mind of GOD long before we became conceived, and GOD doesn't create ordinary people....we are made in His image, we are meant to live extraordinary lives." Folks my brother and I laughed uncontrollably coming to such knowledge.

Got JOY? (If not....get into the WORD & you'll get JOY)

Psalms 19:7-8  ⁷ The Law of the Lord is perfect, giving new strength to the soul. The Law He has made known is sure, making the child-like wise. ⁸ The Laws of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The Word of the Lord is pure, giving light to the eyes.  

Good morning!  Was your Monday, as challenging as mine?  Did you feel or even see the JOY you may have recieved from worship & the WORD on Sunday slowing slipping or being sucked out of you from maybe a case of the Mondays?  Hey it's only Tuesday and I wonder do you have what you need to make it to Wed., Thurs.........Sunday?  Our gas guages are indicators of how much fuel do we have to get to where we are trying to go.   I believe if we are all honest we need to refuel if not today, very soon, and I wonder what will you FILL yourself with.  Today's scripture instructs us that the WORD of GOD, and following it is our source of JOY!   That the commandments alone  (the LAW or PRECEPTS of GOD) bring refreshment to our soul!   People don't miss this.....the first commandment is make GOD first! 

If we truly MAKE, PUT, PLACE GOD first that solves a lot of problems right there.  There is no way that if you looking at, focused on GOD that you can be depressed or worried because in Him you see hope, in Him you see strength.  You become wise by understanding by keeping things in order it benefits you and you can't be anything other than FILLED WITH JOY.....but and there is a but, when we take our eyes off of GOD & HIS WORD, we can become quickly overwhelmed & consumed finding ourselves on the brink of out of gas, fuel, and/or joy and can't quite go another step.  My challenge to you.......wherever you are with JOY tank, turn in to the WORD of GOD so that you maybe revived and filled with ETERNAL JOY so that our heart would guide our actions, and that our eyes would be attentive to the needs of others!  LGLP

FIRST THING FIRST

Deut. 28:46-48  They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. ⁴⁷ Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸ therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

Check out this pic....you have a couple of oxen, in a yoke, being driven by their master with an instrument called and ox goad ( a stick, or staff with a sharp end to stick into your skin to encourage you to work harder, faster).   This doesn't look fun, and I'm sure if the oxen could talk they'd confirm that this is not real living for them.   Today's scripture is an excerpt out of Deuteronomy when GOD lays out blessings (from choosing to keep His commandments & serve Him) as well as curses, and I'm sure you realize that today's passage is about being cursed.   But the question is WHO ARE YOU SERVING TODAY?    If you attitude is sour about getting up to go to work, or about dealing with your family members during the holiday, or going shopping for Christmas gifts....then apparently YOU ARE NOT SERVING LORD, and therefore you are serving the enemies which is why you have the burden (the iron yoke) and those very people are driving you.

GOD desires that we'd FIRST LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, ALL OF OUR SOUL........so your purpose in going to work should be to SERVE HIM & SHOW YOUR LOVE FOR HIM THERE through how you treat His people.    Your purpose in spending time with you family.....to show & share with them the LOVE of JESUS CHRIST.   I pray & hope your purpose in HOW you celebrate CHRISTMAS isn't polluted or so dilluted by the presents that they are left with the JOY of JESUS, not the happiness of the happenings of what you were able to score at the store.  As titled first THING first, J.O.Y. is about representing & serving JESUS first.....I pray you communicate this how you live out this day......cause if you don't you may very well be the oxen in this pic, or the people experiencing the IRON YOKE promised in this scripture.  LGLP