JOY

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     First  John 1:3-4 saysm :That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”

     Have you ever wondered just what makes people happy?  How can a man or woman in Africa be happy in a little round hut with a straw roof and no refrigerator or microwave?  How can a person in Bangladesh be happy with only a few dollars in their pocket or in most case, less than that?   This is the time of the year when we think abou the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ and I usually speak on four topics each year.  The first one this season was “Joy” and then I spoke on “peace”  Two more will follow, love and hope.

     The shepherds were out watching their sheep that one night and there was a commotion taking place when some angels appeared with an announcement.  The Savior had been born in a stable in Bethlehem.  Now, some rich people were not happy but fearful such as King Herod.  The religious leaders were not happy as it seemed that they were being condemned adn their jobs were in jeopardy.  All of a sudden, the blind could see and the lame could walk and the lepers were made whole and even some of those that died were raised from the dead. .Now, we are sitting in the world with the conveniences with us that are far greater than ever before.  We can take our cell phone with us and take a picture to keep forever in a cloud in cyber space and then ask a question to a nonexistent person such as Siri, or Cortana or someone else and find the answer for the definition of heterochromia.  The accumulation of things that will perform all of these tasks such as an IPhone or and IPad or a Samsung will in the end not bring us joy.  The Apostle John had the message for us and our riches and the African in the hut adn the person in Bangladesh adn it is the Lord Jesus Chrsit.  John was a former fisherman on the Sea of Galilee and an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had been there when Jesus healed a person or when a dead girl was raised or at the transfiguration and most importantly, at the resurrection after t hey had put Jesus in a tomb and sealed it up.  John was a first hand witness of the events.  He walked along the dusty roads with the Messiah, he saw the feeding of the 5,000 adn the 4,000.  He saw Jesus calm he sea and the wind and he saw Jesus walk on the water.  He saw the crucifixion along with Mary and he saw the empty tomb and he saw Jesus stand before him in an upper room and eat fish after the resurrection and then he saw Jesus ascend into heaven.  All the money in the world cuckold make a person happier than that.  Even a Cadillac Escalade can have a flat tire, but the joy of knowing the Savior is the greatest joy of all.  Do you have fellowship with God?  Praise God today that we can have fellowship with Him through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.