{"id":13805,"date":"2025-12-20T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=13805"},"modified":"2025-12-09T13:19:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:19:54","slug":"great-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/20\/great-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cChara,\u201d the original Hebrew word for joy, means rejoicing, happiness, gladness, filled with joy.[1]<\/strong><\/a> <\/em>An Angel proclaimed Jesus\u2019s entrance into the world. A bold announcement of the gospel, the baby in the manger came to change the world, lighting the darkness and sharing the truth. On that day, so long ago, the best news we will ever receive began its trek through the ages, generation after generation sharing the story of Christ\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a shepherd on a hill, the stars shining in the night and the angels appearing would scare me. But heavenly hosts quickly assured the men, \u201cFear not, I bring you good news.\u201d Only divine intervention would calm my nerves in such a climactic moment. A new era of peace and salvation came with the babe in the manger, as an angelic choir sang praises to God as the story unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy, unspeakable Joy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An overflowing well<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No tongue can tell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy, unspeakable joy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rises in my soul<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never lets me go<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ Tomlin[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traveling over Christmas, Ron and I attended Family Church Marco. Within their walls, I heard Chris Tomlin\u2019s version of Joy to the World<\/em> for the first time. As the chords of the guitar began, the worship leader\u2019s voice led us through the lyrics, and joy filled my heart as I thought of the birth of the Savior, my lifeline, my everything. Without Christ, I can\u2019t live, but with Him, I can do all things through the One who strengthens me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we celebrate the Savior\u2019s birth, listen to the words of your favorite Christmas hymn and let it seep into your soul. Fill your heart with the love of Christ, dispelling all fears and anxieties, and letting your soul overflow with the divine love that entered the world that starry night so long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What makes you fearful this holiday season?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what ways does Jesus\u2019s birth fill your heart with joy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you celebrate Jesus\u2019s birth in a fresh, new way this year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joyful Application:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sing joyful praises to the Lord with the angelic hosts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary Copyright \u00a9 2015 by Zondervan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.worshiptogether.com\/songs\/joy-to-the-world-unspeakable-joy-chris-tomlin\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-minute read. \u201cChara,\u201d the original Hebrew word for joy, means rejoicing, happiness, gladness, filled with joy.[1] An Angel proclaimed Jesus\u2019s entrance into the world. A bold announcement of the gospel, the baby in the manger came to change the world, lighting the darkness and sharing the truth. On that day, so long ago, the best… Continue reading Great Joy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13805"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13809,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13805\/revisions\/13809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}