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.  

Sabbath Music - Joy to the World

Shabbat is coming as the sun goes down. What a JOY to have Shabbat, Hanukkah, and Christmas all together in one weekend.


Yesterday, we went to a nearby city to run some errands.  The traffic was horrible gridlock, with people trying to get to the mall.  We knew a shortcut and avoided it, all the while thanking G-d we didn't have to get caught up in the craziness.  It brought back memories of years long past, when I was a part of it.  I'm so glad I learned to focus on worship instead of gift buying, decorating, and all that Christmas has become.  So much of the busyness of this time of year is about what the world presses us to do:  spend money.  G-d must shake his head in sadness.

Christmas is about the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  It's about rejoicing that our Savior has come.  Let's give Him the gift of our time, by being still, worshiping Him, praising Him, and rejoicing in all that He is to us.  Let's make it a holy time, Gail-Friends.  Let's make it about HIM. **

This rendition of Joy to the World is by Whitney Houston, and I love the JOY I feel every time I hear it. I hope you feel it, too, and I hope you get up and dance with me. And while you're there, listen to more of the songs on that album.  It is wonder-FULL.

  I pray you have a blessed Sabbath, and a JOY-filled Hanukkah and Christmas.

" The really important things are not houses and lands, 

stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state,

but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith."

~Bertrand Russell

**To learn how we combine Hanukkah and Christmas, click HERE.  

Beginning on December 24, I will be posting a series about Hanukkah entitled 8 Gifts of Hanukkah.  I hope you'll come back for a visit.

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