Making room for Joy!

Listen along here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/429ffbd8/making-room-fo...

With the angelic announcement of the birth of the Savior,

Jesus is linked with joy for all time. But that is because JOY!

comes from the very heart of God.

Hmmm... a God of joy?

That truth about the nature of God was a long time coming for me because I grew up with the view of a harsh, sometimes punitive God. *yet another reason to get your understanding about God from the Bible, not from anyone else.

Consider David's words, written a thousand years before the angel's birth announcement. Had you ever thought of David as a prophet?

You make known to me the path of life;

    in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.1

Imagine what this looks like in Heaven. Twelve times in Scripture,

Jesus is described as being at the right hand of the Father.2

In the presence of God, JOY...pleasure!

And so we sing "Joy to the world, the Lord is come; let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare him room..."

When I think about making room in my heart,

and then turn my thoughts toward my soul,

once again the flowers in my garden speak. 

Everything that grows into something beautiful comes from a healthy root.   

Now in this season, I love putting Narcissus bulbs in glass containers and watching their little fingers go down, even as their stocks shoot up. After a few weeks, little white flowers open and emit a sweet fragrance. However, if the roots rot, the tips turn dark and the flowers do not materialize.

That is not unlike our souls. The writer of Hebrews issues a warning about this phenomenon: "See to it that... no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."3   Friends, there are so many of us that have held onto hurts and nursed them, allowing them to take root inside of us. When your heart is crowded from the  bitter root sending out its shoots, Jesus will have little room--at Christmas time or any time.

How do you know if you have a  'root of bitterness'? Are you easily offended, harsh, critical or judgmental of others? Perhaps you cover it with sarcasm.  Maybe your root of bitterness is un-forgiveness. You were hurt, someone did you wrong and you would feel weak or foolish if you forgave that person who did that to you! A little root starts to grow. Sometimes you nip it in the bud, but you never really empty that tank inside your soul of wrongs done to you-whether they were intended or not. As a result, you are guarded, perhaps sullen or easily angered.  

Your bitterness leads to wrath, (on the inside), or anger which comes pouring out in disproportionate measures at unexpected times. Paul told us what to do, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."4  

Why? Bitterness -> wrath -> anger -> hateful thoughts and words; not only that, bitterness is the root of many of our modern-day 'dis-eases'. What we carry inside makes us sick. Not much room for Jesus, not much room for joy.

Hand God the flashlight, let Him search out any root of bitterness, cleanse you, forgive you as you forgive others and start really living. Look up Psalm 139.23,24 - 'Search us, O God~' hearts and minds ... excellent verses to memorize and pray.

May the river of the Holy Spirit wash us, cleanse us, empty us and renew us so that we have room for Jesus to fill us anew . . . so that we can experience joy

and also spread joy! Make room, starting right now, for joy.

Listen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPA0jTQI2HM&list=RDTPA0jTQI2HM&a...

It is true--you can experience joy!

Christine

 PastorWoman.net

1 - Psalm 16.11

2 - the 12 references in Scripture, Jesus at the right hand of God: https://www.esv.org/Acts+7:55%E2%80%9356;Romans+8:34;Ephesians+1:20...

3 - Hebrews 12.15 

4 - Philippians 4.31