This Sunday, December 20th at 10:00 am ET – “That Your Joy May Be Full”

An Advent Message

Sunday, December 20th, 2020

2000 years ago, an extraordinary person came to earth to teach us, and to demonstrate how each of us can grow in amazing ways and overcome any difficulty, challenge, or burden life might present.  Jesus stated that one of his main purposes in coming was to help us be more full of Joy.  He is quoted in Jn16, “These things I have spoken that my joy may be in you and your joy might be full.”

Jesus understood that, while Joy might be your natural state, with the pressures of this world, Joy does not occur automatically.  You must bring it about.  Your spirit needs to be fed positive, uplifting thoughts.

It is by embracing an attitude of Joy that we open ourselves to God’s presence.

The spiritual quality of Joy is misunderstood more than perhaps any other subject of spirituality.  Some misperceptions include: That Joy is fleeting; that it’s out there somewhere to be discovered; is the result of what happens to us or for us; is a reaction to favorable circumstances; that we must do something to deserve it; that we should not expect too much Joy.

Joy is a choice you and I can make.  We have within us the means to draw it forth into expression in our lives.  The true source of Joy is our conscious awareness of the Christ Spirit within.  When we acknowledge and recognize this perpetual fountain of Joy, we come to see that Joy is not a temporary and fleeting emotion, but rather an attitude we can adopt and practice regularly.

We can open the door to a fountainhead of Joy that is within us and let it pour forth to bless ourselves and others.  Joy is one of the most powerful forces unleashed by tapping into the Presence and Power of God.  God is Joy, just as God is Love and Peace.  So our basic self is Joy and Joy seeks to pour forth from us.

We can learn to make Joy a habit because Joy is inherent in our soul.  Joy felt within us grows within us and expands to others.  It is the nature of Joy to magnify and multiply.  It is rooted in the awareness that God is our Life.  So it stands strong even in the midst of turmoil and can never be diminished.  This Joy bears up under all kinds of trials and heartaches because it’s founded on that which is unshakeable and unchangeable – the Spirit of God alive within you.

In every age, in the midst of the most difficult situations imaginable, there have been persons who have lived a life of Joy – because they have known the secret Jesus was conveying to us.  It is not rooted inouter circumstances.  It is rather gained from the Light within you, the inner Joy of Spirit.  And captured in a statement by the prophet Nehemiah, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”