Thursday Devotional - Joy to the World!

Joy to the World is one of my favorite Christmas hymns because it truly expresses excited celebration of Jesus, our King and Savior! So, we’ve already sung it several times with the kids this year.

Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders, of His love

Isaac Watts wrote the words to this hymn in 1719, at the age of 45.  It was part of a huge work he wrote “The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and Applied to the Christian State and Worship.”  Isaac Watts saw how much David praised the Lord through song (in the Psalms) and knew we as New Testament believers have much more for which to praise God, having received Jesus!!! From reading the preface to Isaac Watt’s work, it sounds as though the church during his day used only David’s Psalms for worship.  Isaac didn’t think that was sufficient for fully worshipping God in light of Christ’s coming, so he wrote over 500 hymns!  Besides Joy to the World, another well-known hymn of his is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.

Psalm 28:6-7 ⁶ Praise be to the LORD,    for he has heard my cry for mercy. ⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy,    and with my song I praise him.  

How will you and I truly worship God with joy (for who He is and what He’s done through Jesus), as we hear and sing Christmas Carols this time of year?  Let our joy be contagious!!! 

Alice

Hungry And Thirsty

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 NIV

We all have had moments where we haven't had anything to eat or drink.  Some of us get irritable, and others start to wear down.  No matter what the effect, it all means one thing.  We can't focus on little else other than that feeling of hunger or thirst.  I was reading a prayer from St. Augustine. It was energizing as he was speaking about how his love for Christ had blossomed in his early 30s.  He said words that truly resonated with me.  As the prayer ended, it read, “I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace.” There are times that I did not relate to God, and I felt lost. However, there was this moment where it all changed, and I suddenly felt alive.  It has continued to this day, and I could not imagine life without Him.

Our pursuit of God should be filled with passion.  As we know relationships take a lot of work.  There are days you are tired, and others where you are frustrated.  But when it is right, there is a level of positivity and connection that is unmatched.  In today’s verses, Paul points out that we are full-fledged possessions of Christ.  So if we are truly representative of Christ, others will be attracted to Him as well (i.e. spreading the aroma of the knowledge of him).  Having the spirit of God in us means there will be joy in our hearts that is infectious to others.  It might draw a smile from some, and others might even ask why you are so happy.  This is not to say that every day will be that way, but on the days where you are not, other people notice even more those moments when you are not connected.  When we have passion for following Christ, you will know God is wired into you.  And if we are not feeling wired, we must find ways we to reconnect with Him (worship, reading scripture, helping others, volunteering, touching base with a spiritual advisor, etc.).

God intended to have fellowship with us.  This means that we should have awareness of His presence at all times, and be wary when we struggle to have that connection.  God once said to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”  God knows us that way.  It is not to say He will look favorably no matter what we do, but He always knows of us.  Our goal is to pursue Him as passionately as St. Augustine did; to be touched and burn for His peace.  Let us not lose sight of that.  Where is your passion meter for Christ today?  What disciplines have you identified as things that increase your awareness of God?  My prayer is that we focus intently on God where we hunger and thirst for Him.  Amen. 

Tues Devo: Come back

Hello,

Last week I wrote about the intentional creation – and how we were made for that relationship and fellowship with God.

The Old Testament is a repeating story of the followers of God breaking fellowship and returning. Sometimes the returning is when they feel their pain, other times it is God calling out to them and urging their return. Either way, we should be glad that God desires the restored relationship. His love is stronger than the effect of sin.

Jeremiah 9:12-14, 23-24 (NASB)

“Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? The Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” “

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”

I pray you are encouraged that the call back to God is strong and genuine.

Will Hill