Archive for the ‘joy’ Tag
“God With Us: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love!”
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Leave a comment Christmas Reveals The God Who Is Always Near
As Christmas approaches, many of us are not longing for more celebration, we are longing for relief. December often arrives with exhaustion. Schedules fill up, spending piles on, emotions run close to the surface, and even the gatherings we hope will bring connection can carry tension and unspoken strain. We rush toward one day of joy, only to feel strangely empty, tired, or deflated when it passes.
For many, this season doesn’t feel light or magical. It feels heavy. We carry grief, disappointment, unresolved relationships, financial pressure, and the sense that nothing quite goes the way we planned. Beneath the lights and songs, there can be a quiet cloud of weariness, sadness, and confusion.
Scripture does not ignore this reality. It names it honestly:
Romans 8:22–23 (CSB) “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”
And yet, this is exactly the kind of season into which Advent speaks.
As Advent comes to its close, we have been formed week by week by hope, peace, joy, and love. These are not passing emotions or seasonal themes. They are names for what happens when God comes near. Christmas is not the story of God stepping in only when things go wrong. It is the declaration that God has always intended to be with us, in joy and in sorrow, in clarity and in confusion. In Jesus Christ, God does not merely respond to human need; He reveals who He has always been.
Scripture tells us plainly how this love is made known:
1 John 4:9 (CSB) “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.”
Hope is born not because the world suddenly improves, but because God has arrived. Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of Christ. Joy is not the denial of suffering, but the deep assurance that life is held by God. Love is not something we create, but something we receive because God loved us first.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit God define love for us. We do not define it ourselves.
As the apostle John declares: 1 John 4:8 (CSB) “God is love.”
1 John 4:16 (CSB) “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.”
These are not sentimental statements. They are theological declarations. They tell us that love is not merely what God does when circumstances demand it. Love is who God is. And Christmas represents the moment when that love takes flesh and dwells among us.
Theologian T. F. Torrance captures this truth beautifully: “God loves you so utterly and completely that he has given himself for you in Jesus Christ his beloved Son, and has thereby pledged his very being as God for your salvation.”— T. F. Torrance, The Mediation of Christ, p. 94.
This is the heart of Christmas: God does not give us something other than Himself. He gives Himself. His love is self-giving, faithful, and permanent.
In a world filled with uncertainty and noise, Christmas reminds us that the most serious reality in our lives is not the chaos around us, but the God who has come to dwell with us. God is not distant. God is not neutral. God is near and He is love.
Writing in the midst of a broken and violent world, Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminded the Church: “God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”
A Reflection Moment:
Pause for a moment and consider this: God did not wait for the world to become peaceful and perfect before coming near. God did not wait for us to become joyful or loving before acting. Love arrived first.
Where do you need to stop striving and simply receive this love again?
What fear might be loosened if you trusted that God has already moved toward you?
This Christmas, rest in and enjoy the good news that the One who is our hope, peace, joy, and love has come near and He is here to stay.
“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
“Advent in a World of Suffering: Hope in the Final Coming of Christ!”
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Advent does not ask us to pretend the world isn’t aching. It does not demand that grief be hidden beneath Christmas lights, or that broken relationships suddenly feel whole because the calendar has turned to December. In fact, doesn’t December often feel harder, more hectic, more strained, more overwhelming than we expected?
Advent is given to turn our tired eyes back to Jesus Christ, to anchor our hope not in circumstances but in the certainty of His glorious coming again.
For all who sit in the tension of already but not yet, Advent whispers that Christ has come, Christ comes to us now, and Christ will come again in splendor.
It is the Father-Son-Holy Spirit-God’s word to the tired church, the grieving widow, the waiting intercessor, the one watching a loved one slip toward death, the member sitting in the sanctuary with silent pain behind the smile.
Advent is not the denial of sorrow; it is the defiant declaration that sorrow does not get the final word. It is the season where the Church lifts her eyes through tears and whispers Come, Lord Jesus. It is where we remember that Christ has already come, Christ comes to us now by His Spirit, and Christ will come again in glory. Advent reminds us that the manger was only the beginning, and the Cross was the victory; but the second Advent is the trumpet of victory, the unveiling of glory. This needs to be our focus.
Salvation is already accomplished, yet not fully consummated. We are redeemed, yet still being sanctified. Christ reigns, yet the world still groans beneath death and decay. And so we wait, not with wishful thinking, but with Christ’s promise.
John Calvin directs our longing upwards: “We must hunger after Christ until the dawning of that great day when our Lord will fully manifest the glory of His kingdom.” Institutes III.25.1
Hunger grows strongest in seasons of ache, when our solutions fail, when prayers seem unanswered, when reconciliation never arrives, when hope feels thin. Yet, Advent proclaims that what we long for is coming. Not possibly. Not faintly. SURELY. Because Christ is not merely the child wrapped in straw anymore. He is The King who will return in glory.
John Calvin also comforts the suffering believer: “The Lord himself, by adversity, trains us to patience and obedience.” Institutes III.8.1
We can still hope, knowing that suffering with Christ is never meaningless. It sanctifies. It loosens our grip on this passing age we live in and anchors us to the world to come. The world where God Himself will wipe every tear from our eyes and death will be no more. (Revelation 21:4). And even now, Scripture reminds us that “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord… they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them” (Revelation 14:13 NIV). In Christ, pain is never wasted; it becomes seed for glory.
John Calvin continues: “Our present life is indeed a fleeting pilgrimage, but we are sustained by the hope of eternal life.” Institutes III.9.5
Hope is not fragile. It is rooted in Christ.
Martin Luther, writing in the shadow of plague and death, declared: “Even in the midst of death, we Christians have a sure and certain hope.” Sermon on Preparing to Die (1519)
This is Advent. Not sentiment, but substance.
Not shallow cheer, but the hope that defies the grave.
Not escape, but expectation.
Not rushing past pain, but waiting for the One who will end it.
Scripture tells us: “We wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13 (CSB) Blessed hope. Not a feeling but a promise. Not a mood but a return.
So, as we light the candles of Hope, Love, Joy, Peace, we are not just decorating tradition.
We are training our eyes for dawn while it is still dark.
We are forming hearts that know how to wait well.
We are teaching our souls to look to Christ Himself, not merely to relief.
Advent is for those who limp, not those who float. For disciples who fail and rise again. For churches who bury saints on Saturday and worship again on Sunday. For the weak, the wounded, the worn out. For us.
Christ has come. Christ comes to us now. Christ will come again. And when He comes, every tear will dry, every grave will surrender, every sorrow will be healed, every saint will stand in glory. Until then, we wait, hands lifted rather than empty. Not with fading hope, but with blessed hope. Not with denial of pain, but with faith in the One who will end it.
Come, Lord Jesus, COME. Our hope is in YOU ALONE. We are waiting, and with YOU we will not give up.
Once Greedy, Now Generous!
Filed under: Bible, By Melvin McKee, Jr., Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Jesus Christ, Lent, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Gospel Project, The Holy Spirit, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Cheerfully, Generosity, Generous, Generous vs. Greedy, Gift, Giving, Health, Hear, Heart, Jesus, joy, Love, Melvin McKee Jr., money, Overflow, Poverty, Provide, Rich, Share, Surplus, Wealth
Comments (1) 
Bible Verse: 2 Cor 8:1, 2 Cor 9:6-15
Introduction:
The grace of God works deeply into us so that it can also work out of us to benefit others. Grace
hoarded is grace squandered; in fact, it may be grace misunderstood or even unexperienced. God’s
gracious gifts are meant to be held loosely with generosity, not held onto tightly with greed. Our
motivation for living with generosity comes from God’s exceeding generosity to us in giving us the
fullness of His Son despite our total spiritual bankruptcy. Because we have been given the eternal
riches of His glory in Christ Jesus, we are compelled to live generously, not reluctantly, and with joy
and gratitude.
Theological Theme:
God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit already owns all that we have. He has called us to be stewards of the wealth He entrusts to us.
Christ Connection:
In Jesus Christ, we have both a model and a motivation for generosity. Because God has been
merciful and generous to us by giving us His Son, we are empowered to be merciful and generous
toward others.
Missional Application:
God gives us wealth in order that we might share it with others in need, not out of a sense of guilt or
obligation but cheerfully and willingly.
Photo Compliments: sharinghorizons.com
Facing Fear
Filed under: By Nan Kuhlman, Christian Living | Tags: Fear, joy, Pema Chodron
Comments (6)
photo courtesy of centertechnews.com
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.” ~ Pema Chodron
When I first heard the above quote by author and Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, it didn’t make sense to me. As I thought more about her words, I realized I was putting them in the context of, “There’s a grizzly bear in front of me!” or some other situation where fear is a useful, maybe even a life-saving, emotion to have. But that’s not what Chodron was speaking about. Let me put it in the context of my recent venture back into the academic world, not as an instructor, but as a 52-year-old student.
I started my master’s degree in English and creative writing through an online program this past August. It has always been something I wanted to do, but up to this point, I had managed to make enough excuses to keep it on the back burner. Each time I thought about it, my heart would rise up in excitement, like an eternal “YES,” until my mind would fill with thoughts about time and money, or how I would juggle other competing responsibilities, and most of all, whether I could handle the work and do it well. Essentially, FEAR.
I wish I could say I had a formula worked out for overcoming this fear, but I think that what spurred me to act when I hadn’t in the past was that I told people (specifically, I told my boss) that I was going to do it. So when fear began to creep in, filling my mind with doubts, I had to follow through.
I can’t say that once I was accepted into the online program I wasn’t afraid. I was; in fact, I still am every time I sit down at my computer to type another assignment. At times, I don’t have a clue what I’m going to write, or any outline I have seems stupid and sketchy. Once again, FEAR.
Each time I feel this fear, this unworthiness, this feeling of “not good enough,” I press on, not because the fear goes away, but because I know I’m moving toward my truth, the person God created me to be. Fear is just an emotion, an ego-reaction that is seeking to undermine the Holy Spirit’s prompting to move toward joy.
What is your truth? What has the Father, Son, and Spirit given you to do that brings you joy and makes your heart leap? This fear we feel is not from God, but from ourselves. It is easier to play small and low-key than to rise up and be completely authentic from the inside out. By facing our fears and living in the truth of who we are created to be by God, we open ourselves to fully participating in whatever God is doing in the lives of those around us, and we become an encouragement to others to live authentically, too. The joy I have experienced as I’ve moved closer to my truth, the truth of who God created me to be, has far outweighed the uncomfortable feelings of fear that try to hold me back.
~by Nan Kuhlman
You’ll Be In My Heart
Filed under: By Craig Kuhlman | Tags: Click, Easter Sunday, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Hope, Incarnation, joy, Phil Collins, Resurrection
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This weekend we celebrate the life and resurrection of our risen Lord, traditionally called Easter Sunday.
Too often this is depicted as a time of sadness and regret, and for Jesus’ disciples that ran with him there certainly was sadness, but Jesus addressed it to remind them that He had to go so that He could send His comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would be with us always, forevermore.
Last night I caught the last half of Adam Sandler’s movie, Click. I have to admit, it still brought tears to my eyes. The movie depicts the life of an individual on fast forward, missing out on many special moments of his children growing up and not being there for them and his wife. Many tears were shed by his family in the last moments of his life. But then the screen returned to him waking up in a bed and realizing it had all been a dreamlike vision of what his life might be if he kept on that path. He was joyful that he had another chance to live life right as a much younger man. The sadness immediately left his character, and no doubt the movie viewer when he “came back to life.” A resurrection, if you will.
In the same way, Jesus’s disciples’ sadness turned to joy when they took Jesus’s words for them to heart, in the last chapter of Matthew. He had this to say to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
I was recently reminded of this when I heard Phil Collins track “You’ll Be In My Heart” to the Disney movie, Tarzan. Imagine Jesus singing these words to his disciples and by inference, to us today. Not a time of sadness, but joy, knowing he will be with us forevermore.
Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand
Hold it tight
I will protect you
From all around you
I will be here
Don’t you cry
For one so small,
You seem so strong
My arms will hold you
Keep you safe and warm
This bond between us
Can’t be broken
I will be here
Don’t you cry
Jesus promises us that because of His death, and resurrection, the bond that he forged with humanity can’t be broken. Not a time of sadness, but of great joy.
[Chorus]
‘Cause you’ll be in my heart
Yes, you’ll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more
Easter Sunday depicts the time when Jesus bound humanity to Himself, forever. Unfortunately not all at this time believe who they are in Him.
You’ll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You’ll be here in my heart, always
Why can’t they understand
The way we feel?
They just don’t trust
What they can’t explain
I know we’re different but,
Deep inside us
We’re not that different at all
Although Jesus was God, He chose to become man and will forever retain His dual nature of God and man. We’re different, but because Jesus rose and took humanity with Him, we’re not that different at all.
Don’t listen to them
‘Cause what do they know?
We need each other
To have, to hold
They’ll see in time I know
Although many don’t know today who they are in Christ, they will see in time, He knows. He knows because that was the Triune God’s plan from the foundation of the world, and today He is reconciling all things to Himself.
When destiny calls you
You must be strong
I may not be with you
But you’ve got to hold on
They’ll see in time I know
We’ll show them together
Although Jesus is not with us today, physically, through faith we hold on, and as firstfruits we will show the way together to All, in time.
I’ll be with you
I’ll be there for you always
Always and always
Just look over your shoulder
Just look over your shoulder
Just look over your shoulder
I’ll be there always
This Sunday reminds us through the words of our Savior, and through Collins’s lyrics, “I’ll be there for you always.” This Sunday is not a day of sadness. Make it a day of hope and great rejoicing for who we are in Him.
~by Craig Kuhlman
Photo courtesy of Apologetics UK
The Happiness Recipe
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons | Tags: beatitudes, blessed, disciples, God, happiness, happy, hunger, Jesus, joy, kingdom of god, meek, mourn, peacemakers, pure in heart, Richmond Grace Fellowship, Sermon on the Mount
Comments (4) Jesus once sat down on a mountain side in Galilee and taught a multitude of his students about being blessed. The event is recorded in Matthew 5 and we have come to call it The Sermon on the Mount. Imagine how incredible it must have been to sit and listen to Jesus talk about being happy. You see so often religion makes us wary of being happy. Religion almost creates an atmosphere of guilt over pleasure and happiness. Jesus wants us to be happy in fact I can prove it…The heading over the first dozen verses in Matthew 5 in my Bible reads, “The Beatitudes”. Well, I have a confession to make. For many years as a teen and young adult I never knew what the word beatitude meant. It comes from the Latin beatitudinem and just means happiness. It is not in the original text but is simply a heading to help the reader better understand the context and meaning of what follows. I’d give the translators a C- for this one. Why didn’t they just put “Happiness” so we’d understand?
Two sources of my happiness!
In Matthew 5:1-12 Jesus gives a list of behaviors wherein he says, “Blessed are …” The word for blessed that we have, from the most reliable manuscripts, is a Greek word that just means the same- happy!
So think about these verses in the light of happiness. Happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God. Being poor in spirit simply means fully relying on God and this is how we see and experience the Kingdom of God.
Happy are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Well of course when we mourn the Holy Spirit comforts and works in and around us to restore our joy.
So you see The Beatitudes are not a formula to get in with God or make you right with him. The Beatitudes are simply a recipe for being happy.
How cool is that and why in the wide world of sports don’t the translators come up with something better than “The Beatitudes”? Why not put a new more easily understood heading over this part of the Sermon on the Mount like… The Happiness Recipe.
Making a Way in the Desert
Filed under: By Nan Kuhlman, Christian Living, The Plan of Adoption, Uncategorized | Tags: Gabby Giffords, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, Hope, Jeff Zaslow, joy, loss, Mark Kelly, sadness, trials
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The media has been featuring the best (and worst) of 2011, and like many of you, I am sucked into watching these list-making programs just to see a summary of what really made headlines in 2011. One of the year’s most-covered stories was about the shooting of Representative Gabby Giffords in Arizona and her subsequent work of recovery from a traumatic brain injury.
Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly’s memoir, called Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, was recently released in November. As the story goes, the couple was looking forward to consulting a fertility specialist in early 2011 and hopefully having their first child by the end of the year. This past Christmas ended up being very different from what they pictured a year ago, yet they still press forward. Kelly shared his thoughts on the events of the year with author Jeff Zaslow:
You don’t get the life you planned. That’s what Gabby and I have learned. When things look bad, the only answer is to find a path through it. What other choice do you have?
Gabby and Mark have learned that it’s possible to still find joy and hope, even in the most trying of circumstances. Maybe you find yourself in their camp this year, stretched to your limit and trying to find a path through it, wondering if it’s even possible to have joy after suffering such disappointment and trouble. Maybe you’re even wondering if God hears or cares about your misfortune and pain.
The nation of Judah had similar doubts about God’s care and concern for them, and the prophet Isaiah encouraged them (and us) by reminding them they were God’s special treasure:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze…Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland…(Isaiah 43:2, 18-19, NIV).
The promise of “making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” is still true for us today. Even as we encounter trouble and misfortune, we are never alone. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with us, keeping our heads above water, our feet from being burned. The Triune God helps us find a new path through whatever circumstances we face. And as Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly have learned, the new path, though different from our original plans, can have its own hope and joy.
~by Nan Kuhlman