Joy

Hope is the spiritual anchor for the soul. Hopelessness leads to despair. Hope pushes us toward joy and peace. Biblical hope is not a wish or a desire expressed in a statement like, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” Hope in God produces certainty and confidence because it is based in the Person of God.

Thanks for joining us for Promises in the Psalms—a devo series right from the Old Testament book of worship. We have learned that God is our helper and healer. He is always present with us and meets us wherever we are. He is right there when our hearts are broken. He tends to our deepest wounds. He is our great God! That’s why we praise him through our joy and our tears.

David’s sin of adultery led to his great prayer for repentance. Yesterday we noted where true repentance begins. Here are three more important steps.

Hurt. Disappointment. Anger. Confusion. Fear. Mary was probably feeling all those emotions following the death of her brother Lazarus. She made her way to Jesus, fell at his feet, and let him know exactly what was on her mind. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32). Those words were spoken with tears running down her cheeks and between the loud sobs of grief.

As we move through the week of Christmas, we are focusing on Jesus, the One Isaiah described as the “Prince of Peace.” 

Jesus was a great teacher, but education was not the reason for his coming. Jesus was a great leader, but simply learning leadership principles from the life of Jesus misses his primary purpose.

Seven hundred years before Jesus brought eternal joy, the prophet Isaiah told us that the Messiah was on the way. These titles describe the Messiah’s character.

For the joy set before him, Jesus took on the cross for us (Hebrews 12:1-2). Christ the Lord is the One, the only One, who delivers true joy to the deepest part of our hearts. 

Why did God become flesh? Why did God humble himself to become a man? The writer of the Hebrews tells us that it was for the joy of providing man the way to God (Hebrews 12:1-2).