Good morning,

 Last week we looked at the fruit of the Spirit. In the past we have looked at love. Now I would like to tackle joy. Joy is used 59 times in the New Testament. It is defined as gladness. Since joy is a characteristic, it should show action. So today we will look at Great Joy, tomorrow, With Joy, and Friday, Affliction/Tribulation Joy.

GREAT JOY

Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Matthew 28:8 And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word

Luke 24:52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

3  John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

So what do we see?

• They rejoiced
• Fear and ran
• Worshipped
• Heard

If we are joyous, we should be radiating it.

Have a day full of Great Joy.

Tom Stearns

WASI Chaplain

907 715-4001

 

 

January is a month of new beginnings.

Change is in the air. We are ready to try new things.  We make resolutions.  The old year is completed and another just beginning.

Change brings uncertainty.  Sometimes change is good; sometimes not so good.  There is no firm foundation.

One thing that does not change is God.  Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ: the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”  The theological term is immutability.

The Immutability of God is the principle that God does not change. He is the same today as He was a thousand years ago. God’s nature does not change, nor does His character or attributes. We know that whenever something changes, it is made better, worse, or different. But because God is perfect, He cannot be made better or develop into a holier being. There is no need for Him to change.”

Read more at: http://www.allaboutgod.com/the-immutability-of-god-faq.htm

A. W. Pink writes that God is immutable in his essence and his attributes. Of God’s essence he says, “His nature and being are infinite, and so, subject to no mutations. There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved. All that He is today, He has ever been, and ever will be.” Of God’s attributes he says, “Whatever the attributes of God were before the universe was called into existence, they are precisely the same now, and will remain so forever. Necessarily so; for they are the very perfections, the essential qualities of His being. His power is unabated, His wisdom undiminished, His holiness unsullied. The attributes of God can no more change than Deity can cease to be.”

The greatest change you could make this New Year is to repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior.  Acts 2:38 states, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Remember the words of the prophet Malachi in chapter 3 verse 6, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”