APRIL 25, John15:11,16:24

Very often, we sing this carol without knowing how meaningful the lyrics are.
            Joy to the World. The Lord is come.Let earth receive her king.
         Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing;
     And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and heaven and nature sing.

To us, the coming of Jesus to earth is the fulfillment of the exceedingly great and most precious promise. If Jesus was not sent to save sinners, we will perish because of our sin. At the first Christmas, God’s promise of a saviour for fallen man was fulfilled. There were certainly glad tidings of joy. It was good news. Great is the rejoicing!

The context of John 15:11 is in the 10 verses before that – that his disciples were to abide or stay close to Jesus. That also means to love God with all their hearts, their souls, their minds and strength. To show their love, they must keep His commandments. He has promised that His joy will remain in them and their joy can be full. Without Jesus, we can do nothing. In Jesus, we can ask for anything and will receive it if it is in God’s will. In other words, if we continue in faith and keep His commandments, our joy will be full.

No other love can be greater than the love of Jesus. But I guess many still do not know Jesus. These could include your parents, other family members, many friends and classmates…

If you make a short list of those who still do not have Jesus as Saviour, you can pray for them so that one day, perhaps they can also have the joy you have in Jesus.

Write the word “JOY’ where you want it to be:  

Thought: The joy of salvation is my strength.

Prayer: Our heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be my Saviour. Thank You for peace, love and joy. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.