"Joy unspeakable and full of glory"

1 Peter 1:8

“Joy to the world!” What a great truth to remember in an old hymn! And then consider the rest of that stanza, “The Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing.” Those are refreshing and even rejuvenating words for today’s weary world.

I have heard the phrase, “A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms” many times over the years, and I wonder how much truth is in that phrase. I don't think anything has hurt the church throughout the years more than the idea that a sour and sullen believer is the norm.

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "I would have entered the ministry if clergymen I know didn't look and act so much like undertakers."

Joy is one of the most powerful signs of the presence of God in us, not just at Christmas time, but all year long. You see, a joyful believer is a beautiful believer. When somebody has authentic joy it's attractive and people want to know where it came from. Think about this – a joyful Christian is a powerful representative of the good news.

Paul wrote the book of Philippians, the epistle of joy, when he was in a Roman prison. Yet joy runs throughout the book. Even in the worst possible circumstances, Paul had the joy of the Lord.

Joy is interesting because it’s never found through direct pursuit – it's a byproduct of pursuing Christ. As long as you live for self, you'll never find it. But when you turn your life over to Christ and live for Him, you'll find true joy.

One of the keys to Paul's joy is that whatever negative experience he was facing, he looked for how God was working through it. When something bad happened, he would think "What's God up to?" Remember, when life happens unexpectedly, God is working supernaturally.

There are always two sides to every event in our lives. There's the factual side: we want to know the who, what, where, and how. But then there's the actual side: the why. Why did this happen? Paul lived his life looking for the actual side of every event: What's God up to? And as he discovered the will of God, he was joyful.

And that's why he could write, "I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel" (Philippians 1:12). Then, in Philippians 4:4, he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"

The byproduct of seeking the Lord and surrendering to Him is "joy unspeakable and full of glory." It’s an experience every believer can have. If we decide to look for God’s purpose, even in the bleakest times, we will find joy every day of the year!

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Dave