Bible Verse of the Day Saturday December 23rd, 2023

John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Over one hundred years ago, during the Christmas Season, a preacher named Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon on the true joy of Christmas. The message from this sermon from over a century ago still holds today and will never lose its value. The truth embedded in this message has retained its meaning and importance all these years later. The true joy of Christmas does not come from sources that the world sees as imperative. We cannot find absolute joy in possessions; the Baby Jesus had none. Even in the later life of Jesus, He made it clear that he had no worldly possessions.

Luke 9:58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

We will learn that God is all we need when we find ourselves with nothing left but God. We live in a world that exalts and venerates "winning." Whether it's position, power, recognition, or acceptance, the world's goal is to achieve a position of acceptance and worth. The problem with "position" is that it rests on what other people think, not what is true. Eric Hoffer, a social philosopher who won the Presidential Medal of Honor, taught that no matter how much we guard against it, human nature tends to shape itself in the image that other people have shaped of us. Living our lives in that manner stems from a lack of true meaning in our own lives.

True Joy does not stem from philosophy. Christ's Birth and Ministry rest solely on the simplicity of ordinary people and life. Furthermore, true joy does not come from peace in our lives; the first century overflowed with dangers and persecution.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.