Joy to the World...

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.


There’s something about the Christmas season that brings undeniable joy and good cheer. It always seems like the atmosphere changes and people smile more, are more cheerful and are just generally in a jolly good mood… and I’m not just talking Christians. I’m talking about everyone! smiling at random strangers and saying "Merry Christmas" even when they try to change it to "happy holidays" we still get the point... it's Christmas!

The malls and markets are over crowded… gift giving, food cooking and sharing, and the good life in general. They say it’s just the holiday season… but this isn’t just any holiday season even if they choose to deny the fact. It’s not just the stuff gotten that makes it special. I should know… trying to get Christmas gifts for my nieces as happy as I am to do it, is enough to suck the joy out of my thinning wallet… but look, I still have joy even in the midst of spending, however little.

This is the season when Gods salvation plan manifested.
Christ came… and joy came with him. Because in His coming was the fulfillment of his death, burial and resurrection that reconciles us with our heavenly Father and elevates us to the position of honor.
Yesterday, I heard Pastor Onyema Monye say that Christmas season is “a season of fulfilled prophecy"
Something leaped in me when I heard that. It put to words what my heart was trying to shape for this post. 

It Is indeed a season of fulfillment of prophecy… the word that was spoken through the prophets of old and recorded in the bible, from Genesis to Micah and the books between, was fulfilled in this season with the birth of Jesus… the word became flesh and dwelt among us(kjv0... the word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood(msg) John 1:14... who wouldn’t be excited when such a prophecy is fulfilled? That gives me butterflies in my belly. It causes me to rejoice… because it’s a season where my prophecies are fulfilled as well. Jesus coming changed everything for me, and for you. Circumstances and situations have no power to bury this truth.
Joy to the world, in His coming, was the beginning of the process for the perfect sacrifice for my redemption… “Because Jesus was conceived supernaturally without human intervention, His blood was divine, holy and untainted by human sin! And that’s why it was perfectly qualified and perfectly able to wash away every sin of mankind when it was shed at the cross.” Joseph Prince

The joy of the Lord is my strength(Nehemiah 8:10)… because He has come, You and I have Joy and this joy is our strength. Our strength to stare down opposition and shadows that try to cover us.
Because he has come… We will rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4) even when life doesn’t seem to give us reasons to. We will hold on to the ultimate reason; Christ was born, and through His birth, to the cross, in his death, burial and resurrection, we have eternal life. We have a perfect sacrifice speaking for us. We have salvation and in this salvation is hope… hope in the promise of the cross. In this salvation is all access that qualifies us to be called a son of God. That assures us that just as much as God loves Jesus, we are loved…

Joy to the world because as we have received or will receive Christ, not just into the world but into our lives, according to Ephesians 1:3-11….

We are blessed with every blessing… the minute we connect with him 

We are chosen in Him. 

We are holy, blameless and loved.

We are adopted into His family.

We are accepted in the beloved

We are forgiven… and certainly not licensed to sin in this forgiveness, this grace… rather in the total forgiveness, love and grace and our understanding of His complete undiluted forgiveness and extravagant grace; we are empowered to live above sin.  

We have wisdom; we have all knowledge (There’s so much left untapped because we don’t use the gift of the Holy Spirit as much as we should) 

We Know God's will, because His Spirit is in us.

We are joint heirs with Christ.
All things are ours.
God has invested Himself in us.

We cant be separated from the love of God... ever!

That’s a reason to rejoice. To live in Joy, and with all the points listed in Ephesians 1, there’s even more to rejoice about even in the face of the lies and evil reports the devil tries to throw at us.
Like Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus/the prophecy that was fulfilled, but was unable to even with all his efforts, the devil can’t kill our individual prophecy, as much as he tries … no matter how long it takes, or how far fetched it looks, in the words of Juanita Bynum “the prophecy is still alive” Be encouraged knowing, it can't and wouldn't be killed. be encouraged by the fulfillment of this prophecy that God does not and cannot lie... His word will surely come to pass in your life... the key? Keep your eyes fixed on the slain lamb... the sacrifice of Jesus, His finished work... the blood covenant. Look to the cross and walk in the fulfillment of Gods word concerning you.
So, joy to you... the King is come indeed!