joy

Every day this year, you and I will be tempted to make anything and anyone but Jesus the unifying Person and purpose of our lives. Some have made politics their purpose, others sexual freedom, others material prosperity, and still others personal happiness. But as we march past the coffins waiting for us all (if the Lord tarries), remember this fact: “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

How can we have and share the joy of Jesus in this season as we celebrate his birth? The answer is not to wait until the world is more joyful. When the pandemic is finally over, other fears and threats will take its place. The answer is to seek joy—a sense of wellbeing that transcends circumstances—rather than happiness, which is based on happenings. 

Happiness is far less the result of our circumstances than our response to them. Psychologists refer to the “hedonic treadmill” as “the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.” However, we were made for more than happiness.

How can you and I love God with “all our souls” more fully today than ever before? As with any relationship, spending time together is vital. This works on two levels.

One is private: making time to focus on our Lord by practicing his presence through intentional solitude. The other is public: walking at his side as we experience the events of the day.

One of the paradoxes of the Christian faith is that believers often find the greatest joy in the most difficult circumstances. This is because joy is one of the “fruit of the Spirit” independent from any and all circumstances (Galatians 5:22). We find the joy of the Lord not in our lives but in our Lord.

Christians can have joy in a fallen world because the risen Christ is risen in us.

The best-known verse in the Bible declares, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, my italics). In the moment we make Christ our Lord, we have eternal life. Not just when we die—right now.

Anne Graham Lotz’s journey has been a tough one lately: A year ago, three years after the death of her husband and six months after the funeral of her famous evangelist father, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

But the 71-year-old Bible teacher and daughter of Billy Graham says she has refused to give up hope and her faith remains a constant.

My spiritual birthday was yesterday. On September 9, 1973, I asked Jesus Christ to forgive my sins and become my Savior and Lord.

Actor Danny Trejo helped rescue a baby trapped in an overturned car in Los Angeles last Wednesday. Video shows him at the scene where two cars crashed. He says he crawled into the wrecked vehicle from one side but couldn’t unbuckle the child’s car seat from that angle.

Another bystander, a young woman, was able to undo the buckle. Together, they pulled the baby safely from the wreckage.

The actor Keanu Reeves (of The Matrix fame) was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert recently. At one point, Colbert asked his guest, “What do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?”