Devotion 357 - joy

We had just finished supper and big beautiful cups of hot cocoa.

It was priceless.  We had splurged.  Something about the holidays gives us cause to say yes more than no.

We walked for maybe ninety seconds.  The lights were stellar, the decorations simply delightful.   We all drank in the cold crystallized air.  Then it happened.

One and a half minutes into our holiday stroll, my crew began begging for another cup of cocoa.  I dismissed them and then suggested we wait QUIETly as the live nativity along our journey was about to take place.

The first carol played.  The music escorted Mary, Joseph and their baby.  The next carol brought the shepherds then angels and finally, the wise men.  None of the young actors or actresses spoke.  The carols told every detail.  We watched in awe.

Memories seem to come alive at this time of year, emotions too and expectations.  My children expecting another cup of cocoa and me expecting my children to embrace holiness instead of selfishness. 

I watched as Mary sat on a bale of hay.  She quietly held a little doll playing the role of baby Jesus and I wondered if this is where I started getting things wrong.

When Jesus came, we received the greatest gift we could ever possibly imagine.  In one tiny baby’s grasp the keys to life were handed to us all.

The earthly life of hope and the supernatural promise of heaven rested under one glorious star.

I am like my children.  I get so comfortable with the glory of it all that I forget He didn’t come only to give but perhaps even more to teach us all how to give.

When I was a wee girl, my mother admonished me frequently that to have a friend, I must learn to be a true friend.  Yes, Mother had it exactly right.

We can look at this holiday as a long journey of shopping and doing, or as an opportunity to bring joy to those who may have no idea what Joy is.

Joy has been unfairly mixed with happiness as if it was the right and Holy Grail of every American.

Joy is something that is born with the rebirth of the soul.

The moment the soul recognizes its void without the Savior and whispers His name, the breath of heaven fills that void and its name is joy.

As long as we profess Jesus, joy remains.  Circumstance cannot diminish joy, but giving miraculously grows it.

Joy is the deep down in the gut feeling of the manger dweller.

We receive it, we carry it, and we know the secret of it.  We have read clear through to the end of the book and understand the finale. 

It will be all worth it.  The loneliness or despair that flirts with our mood cannot last; and joy remains.

We are seeking Jesus.  We want more of Him.  We want to see Him in the headlines and footnotes of the chaos of the present earth.  Truly even those who do not know Him are seeking too; they just need an introduction, from you and me.

We are the gift bearers of joy to the rest of the world. 

Cards, wrapping and ribbon cannot ignite joy, they cannot spread joy, they cannot contain joy.  We are it.

We love on our neighbor and it begins.

We take the time to look in the eye of the store clerk and she sees something different in us.

It is listening; it is carrying and caring outside and in spite of differences in appearance and opinion. It is knowing Jesus didn’t find His ministry under the tree but on it. It is taking the expectations we have of others and putting them on ourselves. 

If we want love, we must love.

If we seek forgiveness, we must forgive.

If we desire compassion, we must humble ourselves.

If we thirst for cocoa, we must heat the milk and serve it.

The manger is not something to be stared at, but something to be shared.

Let’s give the gift of joy this Christmas.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Romans 15:13