Matthew 2:13 “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up! Take the Child and
His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is
going to search for the Child to destroy Him.’” (NASB)
Hey – that verse sounds like lots of joy! As we have looked
at joy being found to be most full in the presence of God – let us not miss the
fact that the enemy wants to steal our joy from us. Whatever he can do, he will
to keep us separated from God. He tried to use Herod to steal the joy while
Jesus was yet an infant, and he continues today to do things that will take our
joy away. This isn’t always by introducing the obviously evil, sometimes it is
done by him in introducing the things that look good or fine on the outside –
but are truly intended to distract us from the presence and will of God.
Jesus knew the plan to come for His life on earth, and knew
that He would have to die. The enemy would try and use that to steal the joy
from folks, but Jesus knew that was just temporary - and His presence again will bring a joy that
cannot be taken away from us. Jesus goes through this discussion in John 16 –
with verse 22 saying “ Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you
again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”
(NASB)
Have a joyful day!
No comments:
Post a Comment