Sabbath Music - Joy to the World

JOY to you, Gail-Friends, and Shabbat Shalom!  Are you experiencing JOY this holiday season?  Are you focusing on HIM or the madness that accompanies what the world says you have to do?  

You know you don't have to go along with the world.  You don't have to buy presents, decorate, put up a tree**, have parties, cook special food, and especially spend tons of money during this time.  

What would you do if all of that was not a part of the picture?  Would you be content to just be still and sit at His feet and worship Him?  Would you praise God for sending His Son for your salvation and your JOY?  Would you sing?  Dance?  Most of all, would you give Him your the gift of your of obedience to His Word?  That's what He wants, Gail-Friends.  That's your gift to Him.  

Listening to music and worshiping Him are what brings me (and Him) overflowing JOY during the holidays.  Let's remember that this word holiday means "holy days."

This is my favorite song for this season - Joy to the World by the Bach Choir.
The video has the lyrics, and I hope you'll read them and meditate on them as you celebrate the Sabbath.  I pray you will feel that overflowing JOY in your heart - not the crazy, stressful, rush that the world gives at Christmas time.

Let's also remember that Yeshua did not set up a new holiday.  He was born, lived, died, and rose again as a Torah observant Jew. He observed Adonai's holy days - the Feasts and Festivals listed in the Torah.  

Also, if you look into the historical record, which includes the Bible as well as other sources, Yeshua was not born in winter.  The observance of Christmas on December 25 is cultural more than anything else.  The date was set by the Roman Catholic Church to coincide with a pagan holiday.  God is not pleased when we replace His holiness with paganism. 

I celebrate His birth during this season because He is worthy of praise and worship.  I treasure the fact that the world pauses to remember His birth, and I find JOY because His Name is lifted up.  May that always be so until He returns.  And may His returning be soon is my prayer. 

I have another JOY song for you, Gail-Friends.  I always en-JOY this one.  The movie from which it came is a good one for the holiday season, too.  
JOY by Whitney Houston in the Preacher's Wife 

I pray that you Unplug the World's Christmas Machine and en-JOY this season. 

** Read Jerimiah 10:1-5 to see what Adonai thinks of a Christmas tree.