Joy To The World take 2

Psalm 98:4-6 (ESV)

4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

    with the lyre and the sound of melody!

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn

    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

Joy to the world

The Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart

Prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing

Let heaven and nature sing

Let heaven and heaven

And nature sing

Joy to the world

The Savior reigns

Let men their songs employ

It amazes me at the thought of Mary and Joseph and their quest to literally find a room for the Son of God to be born. Since there was nowhere prepared for Jesus’s birth, many people missed out on the most shocking moment in human history.

God born as a baby.

Let’s face it, the Christmas season is busy. Our schedules fill with parties, activities luncheons, shopping, family traditions and errands. The room in our heart can also fill up quickly with the schedule of the season!

However, as Christ-followers, we should be drawn to celebrate differently than the rest of the world, because we observe the birth of the most amazing human who has ever lived: our God-Jesus Christ. And this Christ is worthy of our time, attention and hearts.

There have been countless people throughout history who have missed out on Jesus, even some who proclaimed themselves to be followers. They missed out because they didn’t make Him central in their lives.

They didn’t prepare a room for him.

As this song reminds us, we should be primarily preparing for Christ during this season. Not the celebration of Jesus, but for the person of Jesus himself.

While this season can undoubtedly bring stress and busyness, we do not celebrate because it’s Christmas. We celebrate because Jesus Christ came and brought his love, light, truth and way. He came to bring us back to God, for our God saves.

May you embrace the gift Jesus brought you this Christmas season, which is him. He is here right with you today as you are reading this; loving you and wanting you to fall into his loving, tender, safe arms.

Have you prepared a room for him this season? It’s never too late to prepare the room!

Dear Lord, we don’t always have space for you in our life. We don’t always carve out the time, or show You attention, or recognize Your movements around us. We pray that You’ll help us overcome our distractions, and make You a greater priority in our life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Joy to the World

Luke 2:10-11 (ESV)

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

I love the Christmas season. I like the cheerful decorations, spending time with family and friends, and eating Christmas goodies. One of my favorite part of Christmas, is the Christmas carols like “Joy to the World!”

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come,” God’s people announce at Christmastime. Based on Psalm 98, Isaac Watts’s eighteenth-century carol celebrates the coming of Jesus, the Christ. The joy of the Savior’s coming resounds throughout all of creation, even the fields and rocks and hills and plains “repeat the sounding joy.” This is good news for all of God’s world!

What’s so good about this news announced each Christmas? Why sing this carol with such exuberance? Watts answers that question in the third stanza, where he declares that Jesus has come to deal with the curse of human sin and rebellion. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus brings the blessing as “far as the curse is found.”

In Watts’s hymn, this phrase repeats several times—and for good reason. Released from bondage to sin and the power of death over us, we are now freed to live with joy, to love God and our neighbor, and to cultivate the earth God has given us. So let’s sing with joy that good news: “Joy to the world! The Lord is come”!

Dear Lord, You have come and released us from the ­power of sin and death. Help us to live in ways that proclaim the wonders of Your love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Joy To The World

Psalm 47:1 (ESV)

Clap your hands, all peoples!

    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King.

Isaac Watts wrote “Joy to the World” in 1719. Since then, every Christmas season, carolers cast those words into the air like a lifeline out into the ocean of humanity. And every “fish” surely finds something inviting and worth nibbling. The thrill of hope within the message spools out to touch a weary world with anticipation of tasting something truly good!

Joy came to the world because God, our great Creator, loved His creation so much that He sent His Son to reveal His story, so that over time, His character and ultimate good will toward mankind would be recognized. The impact on earth of Christ’s birth will never diminish despite enemies’ attempts to stop it. John 21:25 says that the world would not be able to contain the books that could be written about what the Lord did while on earth. Since then many more testimonies of His transforming love have been and will be written.

Nehemiah 8 records that Nehemiah, the leaders, and the people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with great joy, after sharing God’s Word. This season, we too can rejoice! We rejoice at the thought of the Savior’s birth, His purpose, and His inheritance.

What will you rejoice about during this Christmas season?

Dear Lord, help us to look at the things around us and rejoice. Give us the opportunity to share Your joy with those around us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Joy to the World

Psalm 98:4-6 (ESV)

 4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

    with the lyre and the sound of melody!

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn

    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

Some of our favorite Christmas carols aren't actually carols at all--they're hymns! One of those hymns is "Joy to the World," written by Isaac Watts as a paraphrase of Psalm 98, about "The Messiah's coming and kingdom."  But why do we sing a hymn based on an old psalm at Christmas? Because that's what the psalm says to do! Psalm 98 is all about singing a new song to God, who promised to "judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity." Ultimately, God fulfilled that promise by sending a king unlike any other king, who would save people from their sin and sadness--that king is King Jesus! So when we celebrate Christmas, we're celebrating when God kept his promise with the birth of Christ Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And what does "Joy to the World" tell us to sing? We sing about being there in the moment of Jesus' birth, and announcing that the King that God promised is coming. We sing that we should prepare our hearts for him, and that because Jesus is king the whole creation should sing. This new king brings joy and he will remove sin and sorrow, and then he will let his blessings flow like a river "Far as the curse is found." That means that wherever there's sin, Christ our King will fix it, and he will rule over his creation with truth and grace, and all the nations will sing about his righteousness and love. Although this is a great hymn to sing year round, it's also a great one to sing at Christmas because it reminds us of the joy that Christians should have as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the time of the year we can celebrate Your birth. May we spread that joy to those around us this Christmas season. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.