JESUS JOY JOURNEY

It’s that time of year again….the Christmas music has begun and our neighborhood is sparkling with lights. There are outward signs all around us but how are you doing on the inside as we head into the “happiest time of the year”?  All of us carry different  “emotional luggage”.  

For some it is a handbag of joy…. You are grateful for your life and your heart is filled with joy and you are excited to celebrate your favorite upcoming traditions. Some of you may be carrying a heavy suitcase of caregiving as you are regularly caring for loved ones and it is getting harder to lift. Perhaps you have a backpack of regret and wish things could be different. Some of you may have a sparkly purse of anticipation looking forward to seeing family and special friends in the upcoming weeks.  Or maybe you are carrying a fanny pack of worry and you are wondering how you are going to afford all that is expected for Christmas this year. 

Whatever you are carrying…. This is an opportunity to set it down and be still in God’s presence and receive an invitation from Jesus. He says,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

I would like you to consider how you can prepare your heart for what is coming. I encourage you to reframe the way you think about the upcoming holiday season. For Christians around the world, the four weeks leading up to Christmas is called Advent and anticipates both the birth of Jesus and his eventual second coming.  The word “advent” refers to a coming, an arrival, or the beginning of something new.

As Isaiah was prophesying about the coming of Jesus he said this, “See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”Isaiah 43:19

That’s what Jesus does in our lives.  Through his death and resurrection, He gives us a “restart”   a chance to begin again, a clean slate, a new direction….a way in the wilderness.

God wants to do “a new thing” in our lives this Advent season. He is inviting you to sing a “new song” through His power.  As David wrote in Psalm 40:3, “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”  

As Advent begins today, I invite you to intentionally set down the luggage you are carrying at the feet of Jesus and accept His invitation to be filled with peace and allow Him to give you a “restart” each day as you prepare for his birth.