Rejoice in the Lord always!
I will say it again,
rejoice!
(Philippians 4:4)
Today’s verse is pretty simple.
What are we supposed to do?
Rejoice! Repeat.
Prepare Him Room
It’s CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN here on GUWG. Here’s today’s featured Bible verse:
She gave birth
to her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths
and placed him in a manger,
because there was no room
for them in the inn.
(Luke 2:7)
Is there room in your heart for Jesus? Or is it sort of like the inn in the Christmas story — too packed to let the Savior in?
In the days leading up to Christmas it often seems that the dominant feeling is STRESS rather than JOY. I don’t know about you, but here’s what my schedule for the next few days looks like: Work. Shopping. Work. Decorating. Work. Holiday parties. More work. More shopping. More holiday parties. Cooking. Cleaning. Collapsing.
If we’re not careful, Christmas can fly right by us and then all of a sudden it’s December 26 and there’s nothing left to do but to watch parades and lame bowl games on TV.
Don’t let that happen this year. Leave room in your hearts for rest, reflection and the reason for the season: JESUS.
Below is some great age-old advice. We sing it every Christmas season. Let’s live it out this year.
Joy to the world,
The Lord has come!
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart
prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
(Isaac Watts)
Joy to the World!
It’s CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN here on GUWG, where from now until December 25 we’re preparing our hearts for the arrival of the Savior of the World.
I spent most of yesterday feeling a combination of fear, dread and grumbliness. The (admittedly lame) reasons?
- I suddenly realized that I have approximately 2,894,327 days’ worth of work to finish before the end of the year.
- I caught a nasty flu bug that makes it feel like an army of aliens has infested my abdomen.
- My favorite basketball team lost, despite my best (albeit flu-weakened) attempts to cheer them on from my living room.
God wants to replace our fear, dread and grumbles with JOY. Here’s what the angel said to the shepherds when he announced Jesus’ birth:
Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
(Luke 2:10b)
So, what exactly is joy? Joy isn’t an emotion. It isn’t happiness. It isn’t pleasure. It’s deeper than that.
Joy comes from God. It’s available to us 24/7, no matter the circumstances.
What does the Bible say? Joy is a major theme in God’s word. It sings in the Psalms, graces the Gospels, epitomizes the Epistles and reverberates in Revelation. Here’s just a sampling:
- “Shout with joy to God, all the earth!” (Psalm 66:1)
- “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
- “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
- Jesus told His disciples: “I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:22)
- “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!” (Revelation 19:7)
C.S. Lewis called joy “the serious business of heaven.” Billy Sunday said: “If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you to overflowing with joy and then …
BRING JOY TO THE WORLD
THIS CHRISTMAS
OT Week: ♥
We conclude OLD TESTAMENT WEEK here on GUWG with a prayer from David, whom God called a “man after my own heart.” Pray through each precious word with all YOUR heart.
I will exalt you, O Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
O Lord my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.
O Lord, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit.
Sing to the Lord, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.
AMEN
(Psalm 30:1-5, 11-12)
Grumbling Antidote #4: Fill ‘Er Up
It’s NO GRUMBLING WEEK here on GUWG.
Ever feel like you’re running on empty?
I find that I’m most prone to grumble when I try to navigate life under my own power. Here’s what we get when we let our sinful nature take the wheel:
hatred
discord
jealousy
fits of rage
selfish ambition
dissensions
factions
envy
and much much more
(Galatians 5:20-21)
What should we do? Use an alternative fuel source . . .
BE
the fruit of the Spirit
FILLED
is love, joy, peace,
WITH
patience, kindness, goodness,
THE
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
SPIRIT
(Ephesians 5:18b, Galatians 5:22-23)
Grumbling Antidote #1: Thankfulness
Yesterday, we officially kicked off NO GRUMBLING WEEK here on GUWG.
We started off with a pair of Bible verses that make it clear that grumbling, whining and complaining are bad things. We then issued a challenge: we asked all of our grumble-prone readers to (1) pinch themselves every time they feel a grumble coming on and instead (2) recite one of the verses.
I reported that by 7:12 a.m. I had already pinched myself four times. That number hit approximately 273 by the time I called it a day. But — with God’s help — I had managed to reduce my daily grumbling by approximately 84.1%.
I received Twitter tweets reporting grumble-prevention-pinching going on all over the world. One person called for No Grumbling Week to be sanctioned by Congress as an annual national celebration. (If anyone knows John Boehner and/or Nancy Pelosi, please let me know.)
Today, I thought I’d offer a biblically approved antidote to grumbling. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live out this verse moment by moment. It’s God’s will.
Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
How often are we supposed to be joyful? Always.
When should we pray? Continually.
What should we thank God for? Everything.
It’s hard to grumble when you’re joyful, praying and giving thanks!
Spirit Week: Joy
It’s SPIRIT WEEK here on GUWG. For the next few days, we’ll be taking a closer look at each fruit of the Spirit.
Today’s featured fruit: JOY.
What exactly is joy? Joy isn’t an emotion. It isn’t happiness. It isn’t pleasure. It’s way deeper than that.
Joy comes from God. It’s available to us 24/7, no matter the circumstances.
What does the Bible say? Joy is a major theme in the Bible. It sings in the Psalms, graces the Gospels, epitomizes the Epistles and reverberates in Revelation. Here’s just a sampling . . .
- “Shout with joy to God, all the earth!” (Psalm 66:1)
- “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
- “[T]he joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
- Jesus told His disciples: “I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:22)
- “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2)
- “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!” (Revelation 19:7)
C. S. Lewis called joy “the serious business of heaven.” Billy Sunday said: “If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
LET THE SPIRIT
FILL YOU WITH JOY TODAY
Pursuit of Happiness
He who pursues righteousness and love
finds life, prosperity and honor.
(Proverbs 21:21)
While all men seek after happiness,
scarcely one in a hundred looks for it from God.
– John Calvin
Some thought-provoking advice from Rich Mullins about the pursuit of happiness . . .
1.
Forget about finding happiness. Happiness is not worthy of your search.
2.
Bake a cake — a really rich cake, preferably from scratch (and especially if you are an inexperienced baker or a tested, tried and notoriously awful cook). The value is in the baking more than in the cake.
3.
Call up some enemy of yours and invite that enemy to eat the cake with you. If the cake is good, you may lose an enemy and gain a friend. If the cake is bad, at least vengeance is sweet.
4.
If you can’t think of a single enemy, then call up a friend. Invite your friend over to eat the cake with you. If the cake is good, the favor may be returned. If the cake is awful, your friend may go buy one from a bakery for you. If you are without enemies or friends, take your cake to an old folks’ home. Eat it with them! If the cake is good, you will no longer be without friends. If the cake is terrible, you will no longer be without enemies. Finding a friend, making an enemy — now those are things worth pursuing. Happiness may come tagged on — but even if it doesn’t, at least you will have done something and established some relationships.
5.
Memorize Isaiah 40 or the first Psalm or Psalm 91. Read the closing chapters of the Book of Job. Meditate on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). Write out one of the Prison Epistles (Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians) and send them to some other unhappy person. All of this may not make you happy but it will tell you how to be holy. Once you tie that knot you may find yourself in a position to be made happy.
6.
Work hard. Clean something. Rake someone else’s yard for them. If you are unhappy maybe you can help someone else be less so.
7.
Go back to the 3rd chapter of Lamentations and then repeat after me:
It is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for man to bear
the yoke while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence
for the Lord has laid it on him.
8.
Re-read the 23rd Psalm and remember that if the Lord is your shepherd, then you are in a lush pasture. You are by a still stream. If it seems otherwise to you, it may be because you would rather be happy than be God’s. If this is so, then you have more reason to be happy than anyone. God has chosen you — ungrateful, decadent you — and being His is a joy and a happiness that goes beyond anything else you may seek, and in your folly settle for. God will (in His mercy) make you discontent with anything less than Him.
So we only have one step left . . .
9.
REJOICE!
Wednesday Worship
It’s Wednesday. According to lots of polls, it’s the worst day of the week and the day on which people do the most grumbling.
Let’s live differently today . . .
Shout for joy to Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
(Psalm 100)
Ask the Spirit to fill your day with exclamation points . . .
SHOUT for joy!
WORSHIP with gladness!!
THANK God!!!
PRAISE Him!!!!
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sing!
Sing joyfullly to the Lord, all you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
(Psalm 33:1)
When I first became a Christian, I tried really hard to like Christian music. I bought Christian CDs, listened to Christian radio stations, went to Christian concerts and even tried writing some Christian songs myself. What I found, though, was that for some reason approximately 99.3% of Christian music (and 100% of the songs I wrote) gave me gastrointestinal difficulty.
Over the years, I’ve managed to overcome my musical snobbery enough to discover several Christian-y songs that don’t upset my delicate musical sensibilities. So, without further ado, here are my . . .
ALL-TIME-TOP-TEN-DESERT-ISLAND-TURN-’EM-UP-TO-ELEVEN SONGS
1. Get Down by Audio Adrenaline
2. 40 (Live) by U2
3. It Is You by Newsboys
4. Amazing Grace (Live) by Tree63
5. Every Grain of Sand by Bob Dylan
6. Blood of Jesus by Rock ‘n Roll Worship Circus
7. I Need More Love by Robert Randolph
8. Super Good Feeling by Bleach
9. Life is Good (Eternal Life is Better) by Stellar Kart
10. In the Sun by Michael Stipe and Chris Martin
On the way to work the other day, I was singing along rather loudly (and badly) to Song #1 on the list. I love the lyrics:
GET DOWN
(By Audio Adrenaline)
Lavishly our lives are wasted
Humbleness is left untasted
You can’t live your life to please yourself
That’s a tip from my mistakes
Exactly what it doesn’t take
To win you gotta come in last place
To live your life you’ve got to lose it
And all the losers get a crown
(Chorus)
I get down, He lifts me up
I get down, He lifts me up
I get down, He lifts me up
I get down
All I need’s another day
Where I can’t seem to get away
From the many things that drag me down
I’m sure you’ve had a day like me
Where nothing seems to set you free
From burdens you can’t carry all alone
In your weakness He is stronger
In the darkness He shines through
When you’re crying He’s your comfort
When you’re all alone He’s carrying you
(Chorus)
This valley is so deep
I can barely see the sun
I cry out for mercy Lord
And you lift me up again
(Chorus)
