Isaiah 12:3
Therefore with joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation.
Merry Christmas Season! This is the season of anticipation, of remembering that there is always a season of waiting before God’s promises are fulfilled. Think what it would have been like for the Jewish people who waited and believed for hundreds of years. Think of Mary, who knew she carried the promise but had to wait nine months under the stressful conditions of being an unwed mother in a time when she could have been killed for that. In this season we can relate as we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise to us in our own lives and in Christ’s return.
One of my favorite Christmas carols, Joy To The World, was actually written in anticipation of the return of Christ. It was written by Isaac Watts, a man of passion for the Lord and a man of principal who endured persecution for living out the the faith he held dear. He was a man of sorrow and hardship and yet a man who wrote one of the most well known hymns about the joy there is in Jesus. He found joy, despite his circumstances as he lived for, wrote about and sang of Jesus.
This is how we must live and how we will overcome the adversity we so often find ourselves surrounded by. It is in worship and devotion that we are able to draw from the wells of salvation that never cease to flow, no matter what the season. Sometimes we have to dig a little deeper than other times and sometimes there is a very personal season of anticipation as we wait on the Lord. It may feel like it is taking far too long, but take heart. The season of refreshing will come. The season of promises fulfilled will come. The season of anticipation is a season of being held very closely by the Lord. Rest. A new season will come and with it new joys and trials but for now think of all the ways He has answered before. He is so faithful.
Joy to the World
Verse 1
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Verse 2
Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
Verse 3
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
Verse 4
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
Amen. He is faithful. He is also in the final stage of consumating this age. As the book of Psalm reminds us, God wants the earth! The word ‘earth’ appears about one hundred ninety times altogether in the Psalms.
“God’s purpose in the entire universe is to express Himself in a corporate way, not just to exress Himself through you or me or some other individual…With God’s will there is no problem in heaven, but there is a real problem on this earth (Matt.6:10). The beachhead, the steppingstone, for God to take over the earth is the church. Today God has not yet obtained the key, the church that is built up with Christ in humanity.” -Book: Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms.
I’m just thankful that as Christians we don’t have to rely on a pagan holiday (Dec.25th being the worship of the Roman sun god) to remember to be loaded with good (the Triune God Himself). My family will never put up a tree or lights, but will praise God unceasingly..and walk by the spirit, remaining in the fellowship of other saints to establish what God wants. May he continue to gain our praise!!
Repeat the sounding joy! Amen!
Have a great holiday break, Tyler crew. – Dee
Thanks for stopping by, Dee! And yes, Our faithful God is continually expressing Himself through His Church which comes in so many wonderful flavors and dimensions. We are just tiny threads in His tapestry of love.
And, yes, Christmas, Easter, etc. have been hijacked by Paganism as have many aspects of modern Christianity. However, I believe these things would fall under the category of 1 Corinthians 8:4-8. We must live and walk by the Spirit and not do anything that our conscience condemns while being mindful that our brothers and sisters are also free to do the same.
Beautiful! Thank you for reminding us of this, Kelly. Only in the Lord and His salvation is there true joy. I never knew the history of the song and its composer. Thanks for inspiring me to dig deeper into the wells of salvation and find joy. As always, even though for now your legs may be paralyzed, you WALK THE WALK instead of just talking the talk. You walk it out just as the Lord did. Christmas blessings, dear friend and sister!