As we learned last week, the word “advent” means, “coming” or “arrival”. They were awaiting the arrival of our Savior and King during this Christmas season. We talked about HOPE and PEACE last week and, this week, I’m going to move it up a little, and focus on JOY and LOVE.

JOY. Some view joy and happiness as the same thing, but that’s not the case. Joy is more Spiritual and intentional. Happiness is shaped by what happens to you, joy is found deep within no matter what’s going on around you. If you’re going through a hard time and feel like all your strength has been sapped, declare this verse: “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).Be reminded of the promises of God, (they’re in the Bible), and don’t listen to the temptations of the enemy. And, as a witness, people would expect you to be happy when good things happen to you. But the best witness could be that, when you’re in a storm of life, that you show joy and faith that God will bring you through. That is Spiritual and internal. Jesus endured the cross, “for the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). We can too.

LOVE. “An intense feeling of deep affection:” Oh wow, love. How much love is displayed during Christmas? We see the love of God toward us in action by the events of Jesus’ birth and early life. God is love! We should be showing our love for God during Christmas, and every day, by the way we love others. Jesus said, “Love one another.” (John 13:34). God loves us with a never-ending love and we should try to do the same toward Him and His creation. We can love our car, our sports team or our phone but what about people? We can love our spouse, kids, grandkids and others in our family but what about those we meet each day, our co-workers, our church family? Show the love of God.

Let’s demonstrate our Christianity during this Christmas season by showing our JOY and LOVE. God will be pleased.