MERRY (Joy for Today) & BRIGHT (Hope for Tomorrow)!
Last year, at our Merry & Bright Women’s Christmas event, I spoke on the concept of being “Merry” ie; Joyful.
By definition “Merry” is: Cheerful; In Good Spirits; High-Spirited; Bright; Light-Hearted; Bubbly; Lively; Carefree; Joyful; Joyous.
Joy is internal. Happiness and joy are not the same…you can be happy in one situation and then sad in in another, but JOY is deeper and lasting…you can be filled with joy no matter what is going on around you. And you can only be filled with that joy through Jesus. Jesus is our joy. You can read more about this in my blog posts, Joy vs. Happiness & Building Joy Into Your Legacy.
This year at Merry & Bright we looked at the definition of “Bright”: Emitting or Reflecting Light in Large Amounts; Shining; Full of Illumination; Glorious; Splendid; Full of Promise & Hope.
Jesus is our JOY and our HOPE.
There are so many things in the world today that steal our hope. Terrorist attacks steal our hope. Failing health steals our hope. Not enough money for Christmas gifts, or bills for that matter, steals our hope. A husband struggling with pornography steals our hope. A ‘shameful’ past steals our hope.
Satan doesn’t have to destroy you, he just needs to take away your hope….and then we will destroy ourselves!
So, how do we have hope when the DNA of our culture is hopelessness? We have to grab hold of the fact that GOD’S ONLY PLAN FOR OUR LIFE IS HOPE…IN HIM.
I recently got to meet Bob Goff, author of “Love Does”. He is basically a Christian version of Will Ferrell’s “Buddy the Elf”…he is incredibly positive and full of hope. So to meet him, you would never even think that his parents never told him they loved him or even hugged him in all his life. Yet, he thinks his upbringing made him who he is today, a guy beaming with joy and hope, because he got to choose whether to be a reflection of his parents or a reaction to them. Instead of reflecting their negativity right back out to the world, he chose to react in a positive way. He chose to be a beautiful reaction.
“Don’t put your confidence in powerful people (EARTHLY PARENTS); there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them.
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God (HE’S OUR PARENT). He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever (NEVER FAILS US). He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry.
The LORD frees the prisoners. The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are weighed down. The LORD loves the godly. The LORD protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.
The LORD will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.” - Psalm 146: 3-10, NLT.
Two applications for HOPE FOR TOMORROW: Hope begins when we accept and extend Jesus’ Love.
1. How to Extend Jesus’ Love:
As Jesus people, we don’t GET To NOT Love.
As women, as influencers at work, at home, in our relationships, with our kids –we set the love tone. We get to be a thermostat (control the temperature of a situation) not a thermometer (react to the temperature of a situation).
Our words cost us more than we think. Our parents words hurt us more than we think and we as parents hurt through words more than we think. I used to think the words spoken about us describe who we are, but now I know they shape who we are.
“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” - Proverbs 18:2, ESV.
Opinions aren’t intriguing, they are revealing. They reveal what is really going on inside.
Things to remember when extending hope:
Humble voices carry further; less shooting accusations at people, and more loving on them.
Have an open hand; I used to think clinched fists would help me fight better, but now I know they make me weaker.
Know what matters;. I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.
Choose the right people; I used to think life could be shared with anyone, but on your final day you will fit about 8 people around your bed. I want to navigate those relationships well.
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset (our example!) as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” - Philippians 2:5-8.
2. How to Accept Jesus’ Love:
I used the think Jesus motivated us with ultimatums, but now I know He pursues us in love.
I used to think God wouldn’t talk to me, but now I know I’m just selective with what I choose to hear.
I used to think there were some prisons you couldn’t escape, but now I know there’s no place I can go where God can’t rescue us.
I used to think I had no control over how I reflected my past, but now I see that I can be a BEAUTIFUL REACTION because of the hope Jesus gives me.
Pastor Sonny