End the Year with JOYful Thanksgiving

Have you had your JOY JUICE today?   It will be such a blessing if you’ll learn to drink it faithfully!

            As we near the end of 2011, I’d like to thank each of you who have listened to my radio programs or read this blog throughout the past year and sipped your JOY JUICE along with me each day. As we reflect back over the year, each of us had some unexpected things to happen…some good, some bad.  There were times of joyful celebration…and there were tough times like deaths of loved ones, health issues, marriages that fell apart. Where is the joy in those kinds of things?

            Keep in mind that God never promised us that we’d always be HAPPY! Instead, through people like Paul and James, He reminded us often that we will have trials and tribulations throughout our life!  But even then, we can have JOY.  It’s in the truth that GOD will be there to walk with us through those tough times…and we’ll be better for having gone through them.

            James 1:2-4 tells us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

• Thank you God for being with us through the times of heartache.
• Thank you, Father, for giving us your strength when we didn’t think we could make it!
• Thank you, Lord, for friends and family who come along beside us when we need help or to celebrate with us in times of happiness.

 I’d also like to thank God today for the blessing of YOU and the opportunity to share our love and joy of the Lord!  May the New Year be FILLED TO OVERFLOWING with HIS JOY!

Listen for God's Amazing Gift of JOY

Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  It’ll fill you with amazing JOY!

            This week after Christmas we’ve been following Mary and Joseph as they took Jesus to the temple to be consecrated.  There they met Simeon and were amazed at the words that came from his heart and mouth. My Bible footnote explains that they were amazed for three reasons:

1. Simeon said that Jesus was a gift from God.
2. Simeon recognized Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Simeon said Jesus would be a light to the entire world.

How did he know these things?  By the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

This was the second time that Mary had been greeted with a prophecy about her son. You remember the first time---when Elizabeth welcomed her as the mother of her Lord. Can you imagine what must have been going through Mary’s mind?  All kinds of questions, I’m sure.  But her faith remained strong and she was willing to be God’s loyal servant.

            God speaks to us today, if we will only listen.  Many times He speaks and leads, yet we don’t understand all the details.  My prayer is that we will be like Mary and have a faith so strong that we will remain faithful and loyal…even when it seems things don’t make sense.  We can trust that God knows the plan and our part is to follow obediently one step at a time.

            Never give up on God…remain faithful and He will continue to amaze you and fill you with His JOY.

AMAZING JOY

Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  It’s an amazing drink that makes you feel warm and JOYful from the inside out!  You may even want to sing!

            Christmas Day has come and gone, but let’s remember that the JOY of Christmas can last the whole year through!  We should “marvel” at the goodness of God for sending His Son to the earth for us.  We should see the “amazing” truth that without Him, we are lost.

            Let’s revisit the passage in Luke that tells about Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple and meeting Simeon.  Verses 29-32 tell us that Simeon was moved by the Holy Spirit and knew that he was meeting the Messiah, Christ.  He was overjoyed…and broke out in a “song” of sorts.  Here are his words again:

 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
 and the glory of your people Israel.” 

And verse 33 tells us about how Joseph and Mary reacted to Simeon’s words:
"The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him."


            Do you see all the joy in this short passage?  Simeon….overflowing with joy for living long enough to see the Messiah…singing praises to God.  And then Mary and Joseph quietly marveling over the continued revelation of God and that they had been chosen to be Jesus’ earthly parents.

            It doesn’t matter whether we loudly rejoice or quietly marvel over God’s goodness.  The important thing is to praise Him…joyfully….for His love.

Sing a Song of JOY

Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  Don’t stop singing the songs of joy simply because Christmas Day is over!

            This month we’ve made it our mission to be on the lookout for examples of JOY throughout the Biblical account of the birth of Christ.  We talked about many of the familiar parts of the story….like the angels singing to the shepherds and the presentation of the gifts to Jesus by the wise men.  But so often we stop there…

            Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, “Here’s the ‘rest of the story!’”  In Luke 2: 25 – 31 we read,  “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 

  “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations"


            Joseph and Mary had taken Jesus to the temple to be consecrated to God according to the Law. There they met old Simeon who knew by the Holy Spirit’s revelation that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah! JOY flooded his heart….so much so that he felt his life was now complete.  He praised God for allowing him to live long enough to see Christ.
             Let’s praise God, as Simeon did, for the birth of Jesus and for sending us a Savior!

The JOY of JESUS

Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  It’s just the thing we need to keep the Christmas JOY in our hearts.

            We've just celebrated Christmas Day…the day set aside for celebrating the birth of Jesus.  Often we get so wrapped up in the activities and gift swapping that we don’t allow ourselves the time to bask in the wonder of this awesome event.  Let’s take just a moment to reflect on what the birth of this tiny baby truly means to each of us personally.

• First….God loves us!
• He proved that love by sending His Son to earth.
• From the beginning His plan was that Jesus would be born and live as a man among us.   In Isaiah 7:14 we read: “ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

• Through this miraculous birth came hope.  No one would argue that our world is sinful and in so many ways, HOPELESS!  Yet, Jesus Christ was born into the world as our Savior. And our source of HOPE.
• He willing gave His life to pay the penalty for my sins and yours. That means that when we accept him into our hearts and lives, we are guaranteed to spend eternity with Him.  Now…..THAT should bring us Christmas JOY all year round!

Let's take a few minutes today to ponder, meditate and praise God for His “unspeakable gift”…the gift of JOY in the form of a baby named Jesus.

Note of JOY from JOYce

Just in case you've noticed, I've not blogged for the past few days....I've been JOYfully celebrating Christmas with our family.  We were blessed to have them ALLLLLL here with us for a few days.  Oh, my!  What a blessing.  I'll try to catch up on the "JOY JUICE" devotionals that I missed posting.  Thanks for reading the blog and for being such a JOYful encouragement to me.  

PLEASE feel free to make comments on this page from time to time.  I love hearing from you!

JOYfully His......JOYce

Glorify and Praise God with JOY

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  It’ll fill your heart with glory and praise as we celebrate the birth of Christ!!

            Tomorrow is Christmas Eve…and most of us still have a few (or more than a few) errands to run and things to do to be ready for the big day: but don’t panic! Instead, remember that this whole month we’ve been seeking Christmas JOY.  We’ve found some unexpected examples of JOY tucked into the scriptures. Christmas Day is too close to give up and lose that JOY now…..so let’s hang in there together!

             Let’s look back again at the joyful shepherds after they had seen the baby Jesus lying in the manger. Verse 20 of Luke 2 says: “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

            They were glorifying and praising God…WITH JOY, people!  That’s what we should be doing every day, not just at Christmas! Why are we so bold about some things, yet so timid about sharing our faith?  We don’t want to offend; we don’t want to be politically incorrect; we don’t want to infringe upon someone’s rights? We can come up with a multitude of excuses.

            The shepherds didn’t seem to be shy about sharing what they had seen and heard!  Their faith was strong and they were excited to be a part of this great world-changing event. They were filled with exceeding, abundant JOY!  And we can be, too!  By accepting the truth found in scripture and sharing it with those around us!

           My Christmas prayer for YOU is that you will have the merriest, most JOYful Christmas ever!  Be sure to invite Jesus to be your special guest as you glorify and praise Him above all.