The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation

THE GIFTS OF CHRISTMAS: The Gift of JOY // JOY Starts with Saying YES to Jesus

• Tosha Williams for FDM • Season 5 • Episode 18

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Embracing the JOY of Jesus will transform our lives, not just during the Christmas season but all year round. Let's explore this truth, drawing inspiration from the story of the angels and the shepherds, who discovered the joy of saying "yes" to God's invitation. Let's unpack how joy is not just a fleeting emotion but a deep, intrinsic part of our relationship with Him. Whether you're navigating the complexities of life or facing moments of loneliness, this episode invites you to consider how accepting God's invitation can lead you to a lasting and fulfilling joy.

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“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with JOY in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11 NIV

SEEK HIM: Devotion is Meeting with God in Our Own Lives! Christmas is known as the happiest time of the year, but what about the rest of the year? What gives us true happiness? Thing is, Jesus came at Christmas bringing the gift of His presence. This can fill us with joy at Christmas and always. Let’s spend some time unwrapping the gift of joy through His Word!

  • WHAT:  What is God saying through this Scripture? God doesn’t just give occasional joy; He promises to fill us up with joy as we stay close to Him. He helps us know what paths to follow, and He gives us joy as we walk with Him along the way. ~ Does God sound like a generous gift giver in our key verse? What stands out to you from our verse? Where is joy found? 
  • WHY:  Why does this Scripture matter? The truth of our key verse mattered so much to the Apostle Peter that he recited it in his testimony centuries later (Acts 2:28). Joy in God’s presence has mattered to generations of His people, and we can choose for this to matter to us, too. ~ How does this verse encourage you? What does God’s presence feel like to you? What type of path do you want to walk?
  • HOW: How does God want us to respond to this truth? Each of us gets to decide every day whether or not we will stay close to Jesus. Being in His presence means being mindful of Him, relying on Him, talking to Him and spending time with Him in His Word. This is His path that keeps us close to Him and will result in giving us joy. ~ How are you choosing to stay close to Jesus? How much joy do you have today? 

SPEAK HIM: Discipleship is Making God Known to Others! After Christmas, we put away the decorations, but the joy of God’s presence can decorate our lives all year long. As we “Seek Him,” we can pray with joy (Philippians 1:4), ask for more joy (Psalm 86:4) and sing with joy, because “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:2a, 3 NIV). God’s gift of joy is always available, and we can “open” this gift and experience His joy again and again. What’s more, our joy with Him can overflow so that we “Speak Him” and share His joy with others, at Christmastime and always. 

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

Speaker 1:

Merry Christmas. I hope that you are in the midst of the most amazing Christmas holiday season. I hope that you're surrounded by friends and family and meaningful relationships that are filling your heart with so much joy. Or maybe your life is a little like mine this year, because I don't have everybody who matters to me around me this Christmas holiday season. But the question for all of us is how do we experience joy, true joy, at Christmas, regardless of our circumstances, and experience true joy all year long, no matter what is happening in our lives? You know my last podcast. I have to admit it was a rather long episode. I had a lot to say, but in this episode I'm going to keep it really brief because I believe God has something for us that well, it's pretty quick and just like that we can get on with all the holiday happening. So I'm going to cue the intro and I'll be right back to talk about God's gift of joy.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.

Speaker 1:

We all know that in the Christmas story, the angels appeared to the shepherds as they were watching their sheep in the fields, and one of the angels said to them fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, joy that will be for all people, for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ, the Lord. That's Luke, chapter 2, verses 10 and 11, that good news of great joy. It was available for everybody, for all people. The question is how do we receive that joy? This is the question I've been pondering as I've been leading up to this podcast and thinking about what it means to receive joy. How do we find it, how do we receive it, how do we keep it? And I've honestly been laying awake in my bed saying, lord, show me something new about joy. And he answered my cry, because here's the thing when we seek him, he promises that he'll be found by us. He promises that he will speak to us, that he will show us what's next, in his timing, in his way and as I was seeking him about joy, this is what he told me the way to have joy is one word, and that one word is yes. Now that may seem really strange to you, but I believe it's absolutely intrinsic to the concept and the truth of joy in Scripture.

Speaker 1:

You see, when the angels gave the shepherds the news of great joy, they could have responded in so many different ways. They could have said an outright no. They could have said wait. They could have said well, let's just see what happens in the morning. They could have said, you know, sounds kind of iffy, not going to pay attention to that one. They could have said they could have responded so many different ways. And yet what their actions say, that they said, was this they said yes, no. That's not explicitly in the scriptures, so I'm not trying to add to what the Word of God says, but we know that they said yes in their hearts because their actions then led them to the manger scene. Their actions then led them to Jesus and friend. I believe it's the same for us when we are given the good news of great joy. And really, who doesn't want great joy? Great joy leads to Jesus. And we can respond in so many different ways as well. We can say an outright no. We can say maybe. We can say I'll check it out, maybe in the morning? Or what are my other options? Or we can say yes.

Speaker 1:

God's word says in Psalm 16, verse 11, you make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Over and over and over again, god's word says that our joy, true joy, is found with Jesus. That our joy, true joy, is found with Jesus. Oh, my goodness, we love the joy of being with the people that matter most to us. Not going to negate that, but scripture tells us that the greatest of our joy comes from being with the Lord himself. The question is what's our answer to that invitation?

Speaker 1:

I was reading in my devotions this morning as I continued processing Lord, show me what you want to show me about joy, and I came upon these words in Psalm, chapter 73, words that actually led me into a conversation as I spent time seeking the Lord. When I got to verse 23, it reads Yet I am always with you, you hold my right hand, and I felt like God said Do you want this? And I said yes. Then I continued reading. Verse 24 says you guide me with your counsel and afterward you will take me up in glory, and I felt like the Spirit of God said Do you want to be this close to me? And my spirit said yes.

Speaker 1:

The scripture continues, saying who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth. But you and the Spirit of God said is this true in your life, tasha? And I said yes, I want this to be true. Scripture continues my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever. But God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever. And he said am I truly your portion forever, no matter what, regardless of who is with you, who is not, what's going right, what's going wrong, no matter what is happening, am I your portion forever? And my spirit said to him yes. The passage ends with these words as for me, god's presence is my good. Oh, friend, how do you respond to that? Does your spirit say no? Does your spirit say, well, maybe, or I'll think about that tomorrow, or I think I'm going to look into other options, or does your spirit respond to that and say yes?

Speaker 1:

I'm convinced that one reason so many people experience joy at Christmas is because it's the one season where they get closer than ever to the presence of God Because, well, the presence of Jesus is all over Christmas. Whether you want to accept it or not, christmas is about Christ and because of that, there is a sense of joy that is inexplicable, that even people who want nothing to do with God experience, even people who want nothing to do with God experience. And yet, if we want that joy to fill our hearts always, not just at Christmastime but the whole year through, the question is how are we going to respond to God? Will we say yes, oh, friend, I pray that as you spend the rest of this holiday season and then conclude this year, I pray that you'll spend some time seeking the Lord and listening to what His Spirit wants to say to you.

Speaker 1:

Through this scripture, god has made known to us the paths of life. He will fill us with joy in His presence. Friend, seek Him about this and then, what's more, don't just stop there. Turn around and speak Him into the life of someone that he has entrusted to you. This is devotion-driven discipleship. This is how we can make a difference in this world. As we seek the Lord and we experience Him and know Him better in our own lives, as we meet with Him, then we can turn around and make Him known. Oh friend, choose joy, choose Jesus. As this year ends and we get ready to begin a new year, don't miss a moment of the amazing, amazing gift that you have that I have to be in His presence. He is with us, he wants us to be close to Him and this is the tidings, the good news of great joy that is for all people. Be encouraged Until next time, god bless.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode. You can find the matching conversation guide in the show notes. To get the latest updates about the Family Disciple Me ministry, as well as word about our soon-to-be-released app, sign up to be the first to know at familydisciplemeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek him. Speak him.