_________ to the World???

Joy unspeakable joy

An overflowing well

No tongue can tell

Joy unspeakable joy

It rises in my soul

Never lets me go

“Joy
to the World (Unspeakable Joy)”

Chris
Tomlin | Ed Cash | George Frederic Handel | Isaac Watts | Matt Gilder

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The
third week of Advent starts now and our theme? 
Joy!  Joy to the world, our Lord
has come!  And yet for all the joy we
feel, December and January are the highpoints in the year for another kind of
feeling: depression and the medication accompanying it.  Anxiety, sleeplessness, worry…and I don’t
mean children on Christmas Eve!  It seems
we have lost something in our celebration of joy.

Look
at the anticipation of joy expected by the prophet Isaiah.

⁴ Say to those
with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear,

for
your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.”

⁵ And when he
comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.

⁶ The lame will
leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!

Springs
will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland.

⁷ The parched
ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.

Marsh
grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.

⁸ And a great
road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of
Holiness.

Evil-minded
people will never travel on it.

It
will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.

⁹ Lions will
not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious beasts.

There
will be no other dangers. Only the redeemed will walk on it.

¹⁰ Those who
have been ransomed by the Lord will return.

They
will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy.

Sorrow
and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

Isaiah
35:4–10 (NLT)

We
can be joyful this third week of Advent as we look back and remember the
freedom we have been given by Jesus Christ and as we look forward to His
return.  But in the meantime, there is
joy in our hearts because He goes with us, guiding and protecting us.

So…are
you joyful on this third week of Advent?  Do you seize the joy that is yours in
Christ?  What miracles has He performed
for you?  I can’t look into the eyes of
my children and not see miracles.  How
has He blessed you or how has He brought you joy from others He has blessed?  Has He ever filled your spirit?  When was the last time you counted your
blessings?

O Holy Father in Heaven,
forgive us for not being joyful here in the shadow of the ultimate miracle of
Christmas: the incarnation.  Give us the
eyes to see your mercy, miracles, corrective hand, filling of our spirits, and
your promises.  May we, like Isaiah, praise
You joyfully, O Lord of all Joy!

Be
joyful on this third week of Advent, my friends.  May God bless you with the joy found only in
Him this season!

Suggestions
for reading and meditation through this week: