Joy didn't come easy for me (1 Peter 1:8)

 

Though you have not seen him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.       (1 Peter 1:8 NIV)

Christmas, Decoration, Christmas Decoration

Don't you ever think that joy came easy for me.  Like I said before, I have a mental illness and Christmas was always a depressing time for me.  On top of all this, was the passing of my father around Christmas 2015.

No joy, didn't come easy for me.  I am a fighter and I am motivated to fight for something as precious as joy.  If the Bible calls it unspeakable, then I am willing to fight for it and leave all the darkest memories behind.

Strangely though, joy didn't come to me right away.  It came upon my Bible study on the Presence of God.  My eyes opened by God and hope came to me.  Hope was not it though, I had to learn to focus on love first.  Love is the greatest over faith and hope.  Without love you can have them but, you still are nothing.  Love is the cherry on top of the cake.  Joy comes as a result of love.  No love, no joy!

The hardest thing for me has been to love.  I was such a stranger to love before I became a Christian some 40 years ago.  Let me tell you that I have never looked back on all the hatred I had.  Hatred is horrible and miserable.  I hope you will not have hatred in your heart this Christmas but only love.  Hate comes from a lonely and messed up heart.  It is not  enviable and it's terrible, besides that, it's a waste of time.  Love, embrace it this Christmas and always. It feels so much better to love and joy.  Love can save you so much trouble in life.  Relationships are extremely important not only to God but to the world as well.  For example, a person will have a difficult time getting a job if they can't get along with co-workers.  An employer will know this before he hires that person.  Divorces happens because of neglect in relationships.  Think about it!  Don't neglect relationships even with God himself.

God came in a precious bundle as a baby, full of love.  Everything that was planned ahead was for you.  He had you in mind!

Christmas Manger, Jesus Baby, Mary, Joseph, Donkey

 

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