God is With Us to Give Us Joy

What can give us joy at Christmas? Don Salmans explains how we can experience joy this Christmas and always.

Snow Covered Ground

Looking out our window this evening, we have some lights that we wrapped around a pole in front of our house, and we’ve just received this beautiful snow fall. So, the snow landing on the lights wrapped around the pole and the backdrop of the snow-covered ground is a beautiful picture.

I so enjoy Christmas. I love the lights. I love the sounds. I. Love the food. You know, as I’ve said before, I had a great start. I’ve had great Christmases as a kid growing up because I had great parents. But you know, part of the reason I had great parents and great Christmases is because they knew the real source of joy, and it takes us back to the Christmas story.

The Christmas Story

In Luke chapter 2 we read,

“..in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night,” Luke 2:8

..and I might inject this; shepherds, of all people, needed some joy. They had one of the most mundane jobs available.

“And an Angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. But the Angel said to them, do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:9-11

A Wonderful Thing

Oh, a Savior. What a wonderful thing. I so hope you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, that you’ve trusted Him to save you. He is the real source of joy.

You see, Immanuel, God with us; God is with us for our special benefit. One of those wonderful facets of the benefits God has for us is the joy He offers to us; He provides for us.

Psalm 16:11 says,

“In your presence (in the Lord’s presence) is fullness of joy.” Psalm 16:11

One has said

“joy is the surest sign of the presence of God.”

One version states,

“in your presence is fullness of joy,”

It says,

“In your presence is abundance of joy.”

“David’s personal fellowship with the Lord was his greatest joy,” as one writes.

Joy is the outcome of our fellowship with Him. When the Lord Jesus came as the Savior for the world, He brought a salvation that is so awesome. So overwhelming. It begins with forgiveness of sins, but that salvation is so expansive and wonderful that it extends for all of our life.

Salvation Brings Joy

You know in Romans. 1:16, it sets forth the theme of Romans. Paul writes;

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

It is the power of God for salvation. Now of course salvation starts with forgiveness of sins. What we have said in the past; justification; and that is the idea that we are declared right before God, because of the forgiveness we receive in Christ; we’re in His righteousness that He has provided through His death and resurrection.

It is so critical, but it is still not the whole picture; it’s not just to be forgiven, but Romans goes on and talks about how the Christian life can be one of really living. Living to the full, having life and peace. Knowing joy as the Spirit of God works in us and through us and matures us, we can really know joy in its fullness, and that fullness is because we can grow in our intimacy with God in our fellowship with Him.

Looking For Joy

One writes,

“the fullness of joy is in God’s immediate presence.”

You see, we can look for joy in all kinds of places at Christmas time, and people often do. We can all get caught up in this, you know. We want to get the right gift either to give or to get. We want to have just the right decorations. We want to have great music, and all of those things can be fun and bring a tad bit of joy. But you see, ultimate joy is wrapped up in the Lord. That’s lasting joy because we need more than just a little sprinkle of fun at Christmas to get through the whole year.

The Psalmist wrote,

“But let all who take refuge in you (in the Lord) be glad. Let them ever sing for joy.” Psalm 5:11

You know, we need refuge. We need help. We need what only God can give us to get through this life, to get through the year that’s coming and is found in the Lord.

Psalm 33:1 “Sing for joy in the Lord, oh you righteous ones.”

Those who have received the salvation of God, we can find it, we can sing for joy. Isn’t that one of the wonderful things about Christmas is all the beautiful Christmas music? Well, let’s sing for joy in the Lord.

“Praise is becoming to the upright,”

it says in the same Psalm, and then it goes on down in verse 3 of Psalm 33.

“Sing to Him a new song.”

Sing to Him! You see, it’s all about Him. And then it says,

“Play skillfully with a shout of joy.”

We Have Reason For Joy

You know, we, of all people on the planet, have reason for joy. Consider these verses,

Psalm 43:4 “To God my exceeding joy.”

My exceeding joy is wrapped up in the Lord.

Psalm 87:7 “All my springs of joy are in you,” speaking of the Lord.

Psalm 19:14. “Oh, satisfy in the morning with your loving kindness, (speaking to the Lord) that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”

As we have fellowship with the Lord, and we get to know the Lord, we get to understand who He is and what He is to us, and one of the things we learned of is His love.

Psalm 90:14 “Again, O satisfy in the morning with your loving kindness, with your love toward us.”

His steadfast love that will not let us down, let us go or abandon us. You see, that is why we could sing for joy and be glad all our days. God and His perfect presence and His wonderful love… He is with us. He is for us, and He is doing what is best on our behalf after this life after we leave this world through death or through the rapture, we will forever be in the presence of the Lord. When we are with the Lord, we will experience the ultimate fullness of joy.

Psalm 16:11 “In your presence is fullness of joy.”

We will experience ultimate joy throughout all eternity. We have so much reason to sing. Don’t you love the Christmas carol, “Joy to the World?”

“The Lord has come.

Let Earth receive her king.

Let every heart prepare Him room.

And heaven and nature sing.”

We have so much to sing about. We have reason for joy.

“Joy to the world.

The Savior reigns,” it says…

Does the Savior reign in your heart? Is He your savior? If He is, you have reason for joy now, and for all eternity.

The Gift You Want

I remember one time we were at a family gathering and it was cousins and uncles… And so, you’re supposed to give gifts, right? To find a gift and give it to one of the relatives. I remember, one of the relatives gave me a gift; I unwrapped this gift, and lo and behold, I unwrapped it… it was socks!

It was kind of meant to be a joke, but I wasn’t all that impressed. The older I get, the more I like socks because they keep my feet warm, right? But then, I thought, “socks, you got to be kidding me!” And not only were they just socks, but they had this funny decoration on them, and I thought, “…man, I’ll never wear those.” You know, I think I still have those socks because I never did wear them. They looked so funny.

Well, you know what? This Christmas you may not get the gift you want as far as unwrapping some package… But you know what? If you have the Lord Jesus, you have reason for joy whether you get socks or not. Because Jesus is not only the joy to the world, but He IS also the joy to those who know Him, who have trusted Him, who walk in intimate fellowship with Him.

We can know joy in this season of Christmas. And for the year that is ahead, may we know that joy in the Lord, because Emmanuel is with us. To provide us joy. May that be true for each one of you.

How does Jesus give us joy? What do you think? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.