Tidings of Comfort & True Joy

During this Christmas season, I have been learning a lesson about true joy.

The world, things, and people around us sometimes bring us sadness and hurt, but they also bring us happiness.

Did you know, that all of those things fail to give us true joy?

Happiness is a feeling, 

but joy is something that you carry with you

 regardless of things or circumstances.

As I have read through the Christmas story numerous times in the last few weeks,  I cannot help wondering what feelings and emotions 

Mary and Joseph carried with them on that journey to Bethlehem.

 Why would God plan to have them travel so far

 during Mary's 9th month of pregnancy?

When they arrived, there was no welcoming committee, 

not even a bed to lay thier heads on.

Why would God not have planned a better welcoming 

for this virgin to miraculously give birth to the King of Kings?  

Mary might have even wondered what she had done wrong 

to deserve such a lowly time in labor - no midwife to help, 

no family or friends to encourage her on, 

just some smelly animals in a crowded stable.

Things happen in our lives that are out of our control.  

We find ourselves in circumstances where there seems to be no hope, 

but yet God has a plan!

How can I be happy amidst a time where circumstances 

seem to have turned my world upside-down?  

The truth is, I can't be happy.

 BUT I can have JOY!!!

True joy comes from knowing and walking with the Lord.

"Joy to the World" the Savior has come!!!

The other day, I spent some time doing a word study on "joy/rejoicing".

Below are some of the highlights from my study.

There is joy in Salvation-
John 16:22 
"And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." 
~ noone can steal the joy that we receive when trusting Christ as Savior.  That joy is constant because we have tasted of the Lord's grace and mercy in not being worthy of Him.

Psalm 13:5 
"But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation."

Psalm 33:21 "For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name."

It is good for me to be joyful -
Psalm 32:11 
"Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all [ye that are] upright in heart."

Psalm 33:1 
"Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: [for] praise is comely for the upright."
~ i like that thought! "praise is comely for the upright".  No matter what happens to me in life, I am not alone.  I am His and He is mine!  I can praise God regardless of hardships, because He loves me, He knows, and He cares!

My daily walk with Him brings joy -
1Chronicles 16:10 "Glory ye in His holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD."

Psalm 40:16
 "Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: let such as love Thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified."

Nehemiah 8:10 "...for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
~ This verse is so helpful, because I find that if I put on joy, I have the strength to carry my through the day.  Where does that joy come from?  It comes from the remembering of all that the Lord has done for me, reading His word to remind me, and being faithful where He has placed me.

Witnessing & bearing fruit brings joy -
John 4:36 
"And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."

His provision makes me rejoice -
Deuteronomy 26:11 
"And thou shalt rejoice in every good [thing] which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that [is] among you."
~ He gives me all good things!  What else can I do, but rejoice!!!

Trusing He will be there with me brings me joy -
Psalm 5:11 
"But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love Thy name be joyful in 
Thee."
~If I trust Him, He promises to defend and care for me.  The verse says it wil cause me to shout for joy!

Joel 2:21 
"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things."

~ I can claim the truth that He will do great things in my life!

1Peter 1:8 
"Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [Him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:"
~ My joy & rejoicing is evidence of my faith in His love and care for me.

Joy during trials and adversities-
Psalm 31:7 
"I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy: for Thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities;"
~ What s precious verse! He considers my troubles and knows how my soul hurts during adversities. How comforting to know that he cares for me so personally.  When noone else may know the deep hurt of a situtation, my Loving Heavenly Father knows it ALL!

Psalm 51:8 
"Make me to hear joy and gladness; [that] the bones [which] Thou hast broken may rejoice."
~ What a plea, to ask to be made to hear joy and gladness.  I have experienced some deep hurt already in my lifetime.  Some hurt is so deep that you do feel that your bones are broken.  your body feels so sick and weak, you sometimes just wish to give up.  Your hope is like the Psalmist's.  You long to hear the sound of joy again.  When that sounds hit your ears, it lifts your spirit.  God sometimes brings joy into our lives to life our heavy hearts and to relieve our brokeness.

Psalm 63:7
"Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice."
~ His protection makes me rejoice.  Like a bird sheltering her young with strong, protective wings, God is our help and shelter int he time of storm!

Isaiah 61:10 
"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels."

Matthew 5:12 "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
~ Persecution or trials may come, but we can rejoicing in knowing that we have a great reward awaiting us!

1Peter 4:13 "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
~ Our own sufferings for the cause of Christ, make us fellow partakers in Christ's sufferings.  I have found that trials and sufferings draw me closer to my precious Lord.

Maybe, you are experiencing some things in your life 

right now that seem to steal your joy.

It is your happiness that is gone, 

but you must remember where true joy comes from.

True Joy comes from God!

When I am feeling weak in joy,

I try to take some extra time to study His Word 

and rest on His promises.

Very soon, you will find that even amidst your trial

God has given you true joy.

"The Joy of the Lord is My Strength"!!!

Spiritual Warfare

The Bible tells us, as Christians, that there will be spiritual warfare in our lives.

Things may come up that are out of our control.  

We may even wonder why circumstances happen.

We can know that God has a purpose for everything 

and that

purpose is that He might be glorified through it.

Trials may even come to strengthen our faith-

Romans 4:20 

" He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; 

but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;"

I find right now that my faith is being strengthened.

This is our church, 

Village Bible Baptist Church 

in Hillcrest, KZN South Africa.

We are a small church.

Our Sunday morning usually looks like this,

but there are only a few faithful families.

You can

PRAY FOR OUR CHURCH:

1. FACILITIES- while I was in the USA, the building was broken into.

-Praise the Lord, no one was there and that they only took minor things

- Pray for a NEW BUILDING: the rent for the one in the above picture

 has been raised almost 50%.

We do not currently have a facility, 

so we have been meeting in my & other's homes for Sunday AM services.

One of the homes we met for church in.

2. FAMILIES - we have 4 families that come most of the time.

In each face that you see,

there are separate trials that are faced.

Each person is at a differant stage in their spiritual growth.

Each has a battle going on inside between the flesh and the spirit.

You can also pray for their and our safety.

Hillcrest is a big place for crime. 

One of the older couples above had a break-in recently.

The robbers broke into their home,

tied her up and put her in the bathtub,

while they robbed her.

Praise the Lord, she and her husband were unharmed!

You can pray for our Zulu young men.

They have so many temptations that they are faced with each day.

Many Zulus use the "cultural" excuse to sin.

For example - drinking, drugs, immorailty are all permissable in the Zulu culture.

Please pray that these young men will stand strong in the Lord and if they fall, 

that they will be willing to confess their sins to God and walk right.

Also pray for the single ladies in our church.

Many are going through times of discouragement,

loneliness, depression, lies from satan to compromise in order not to be alone.

Busyness takes up the lives of some to fill the gap of loneliness,

but sadly, it is not busyness for the Lord,

but rather more worldliness.

As you know, I have a huge burden for the single woman, because I am one.

I praise God for putting me in a ministry where I can 

encourage others through personal experience.

He has been my very present help & joy!

I can encourage these ladies that He is ALL WE NEED!!!

3. FAITHFULNESS- please pray for the faithfulness of the people.

Not a week goes by when one or more people 

are not at church because of one reason or another.

Satan does his best to keep people from growing.

This is one of the hardest things for a missionary working 

amongst the people here in South Africa.

People do not see the importance of being faithful to church.

We know that they cannot grow in Christ unless

 they are under the preaching and teaching of His Word.

2 Peter 3:18 

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."

Missionaries : Robbin & Jeff Demarest

There is so much unfaithfulness.

It can get frustrating from a missionary's perspective, 

because we are giving our all 

to help them grow in love and obedience to God, 

but yet they don't want to.

"Have they lost their love for God, Do they have a heart of rebellion, Are they really saved?"

these questions have come through my mind.

Robbin & I

After a time of feeling very frustrated and discouraged,

God reminded me that His will for me as a spiritual leader/missionary

is just to do His will - 

love & obey Him in my personal walk,

study His Word,

teach what He asks,

in love confront those who are disobedient to His Word,

lead those who are willing to grow in their spiritual growth,

and leave the convicting & chastening to God.

A few verses of encouragement when going through spiritual warfare-

1Timothy 6:12 

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, 

whereunto thou art also called,

 and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

Romans 4:20  

"He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief;

 but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;"

2Corinthians 10:4 

"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, 

but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)"

 Ephesians 6:10

 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, 

and in the power of His might."

Ephesians 6:12 

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 

but against principalities, against powers, 

against the rulers of the darkness of this world,

 against spiritual wickedness in high places."

My heart's desire is not to have my eyes on people,

but on the One who sent me to South Africa

to do the work He has called me to do.

May we each be Faithful to the one who is the Author & Finisher of our faith.

Hebrews 12:1a&2

"...Let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

 Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; 

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

 despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."