Praise God as you reflect on all the Lord has saved you from. Pray that God would shine light into the dark areas of your heart. Repent of any sin. Ask the Lord to increase your joy.
Read Isaiah 9:4
….YOU have increased its joy...
Let us reflect once again at the abundant joy offered to us in Christ. Who does the passage say increases our joy? Is it something we can conjure up on our own? No. It is something that only God can increase. He is the one who sparks this joy in the depths of our soul and fans it into flame to produce a true and abiding happiness that is not dependent on circumstances. He produces this fruit in us by the power of His Holy Spirit.
Some look into the pages of the New Testament and it seems to them like a whole other world. Is this joy unspeakable and full of glory possible today? Is there a joy available that is greater than the abundance of harvest and great military victories? Jesus offers something that exceeds all these.
Perhaps you’ve never tasted the depths of this joy. What does it look like to receive this gift? Jesus says His desire is that His joy be in you and that your joy may be full. Some people talk about the Christian life like it is absolute drudgery...but heaven will be wonderful. I think it is important to remember, that, yes, Heaven WILL be wonderful... but there is also a joy available for us today!
This joy can sustain us through hard marriages and difficult children, loneliness, health issues, relationship problems, and financial difficulties. This joy is available to every believer in Christ, though some will experience in greater measure than others. People spend their whole life looking for happiness and satisfaction. Jesus is the answer. He is the source of all true joy. No matter your situation today, you can know this joy too.
How do we know more of this joy?
1. Take some time and meditate on what your life would be like without Christ. Meditate on what you truly deserve and what eternity would be like without Him. As we think on this, the rescue Jesus brings will be even more precious to us.
2. Allow God’s light to shine into your heart and enter into those dark areas. The Holy Spirit desires to enter into every area of your heart, but you must surrender all to Him. When we let God speak to the dark areas of our hearts, the Holy Spirit begins to transform them. He organizes the chaos, floods the darkness with His light, gives us purpose, satisfies our heart with His love, and grants us freedom from the darkness that enslaves. This surrender results in great joy.
3. Hope in His name being hallowed and His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Hope in the new heavens and new earth with no sickness, sorrows pain or death. Hope in the resurrection and new bodies that never experience discomfort, aching or agony. This life is but a breath. It is short, but the life to come, this glorious life, will last forever. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor 4:17-18
4. The great hymn, Joy to the World, has something to teach us. This line is short but profound: “let every heart prepare Him room”. This little lyric holds great significance. Remember the inns were too crowded to receive Mary on Christmas? Let us make sure our hearts are not too crowded to receive Him. It is easy for Him to be crowded out in this busy season. We are consumed with shopping, food, gifts, and zoom meetings. Let us make an effort to create space to meet with Him. Let every heart prepare Him room. Prepare your heart to receive Him. Make space to commune with Him. We cannot know His joy if we are not with Him. As we meet with Jesus in the Word and in prayer, not just reading to check off a box,—but truly communing, we will begin to see more of His glory and be filled with His joy.
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