I hope and pray this Christmas season finds you experiencing the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life!

No Christmas carol list would be complete without the exuberant celebration song, “Joy to the World.” This lively tune is easily memorized and simple to play on an instrument. But do you know the interesting story behind this well loved hymn?

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), author of around 750 songs, is commonly called “The Father of Hymns” due to his popularity as the first English hymn writer. A few of his most well-known songs still sung today include: Come ye that Love the Lord; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross; At the Cross; and the topic of today’s post, Joy to the World. Isaac Watts was a young man when hymns other than the Psalms were allowed to be sung in the Church of England. This gave way to Watts developing many beloved songs. Watts still based many of his songs on the Psalms, but he was especially interested in writing hymns based on the “Christian experience.”

Joy to the World was written in 1719 and based on Psalm 98:

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together. Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

If you notice the lyrics of the song, Joy to the World, you will see nothing about shepherds, a manger, wise men, angels, or any other character or element that we normally associate with the Christmas story. The reason being that Isaac Watts did not write Joy to the World to be a Christmas song. The original theme of this song was the second coming of the Lord. Christmas won’t always be a joyful time, but when Jesus comes back, even the rocks will sing!

Over 100 years later, in 1839, Lowell Mason adapted and arranged this song into a melody many believe to have been written by Handel. In my research, however, I have not been able to establish when or why this hymn became associated with Christmas. Certainly we can look at the message in the song and see that it can be applied to Christ’s appearance as a babe in Bethlehem. We must prepare room for Him in our hearts and lives. This is a joyous occasion!

As you hear and sing this beloved carol this season, think about the words. Yes, they apply to the Christmas story in that the Lord is come! We should rejoice! But, let the lyrics all point you to the reason Jesus came: to save the world. Be ready because He is coming again! What a glorious day THAT will be when the whole earth celebrates His appearing!

Joy to the World

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

(from the website “A Godly Heritage”)

If you seek true joy then check out my blog “Guaranteed Reservation in Heaven”.

Guaranteed Reservation in Heaven!

From now until Christmas I will be featuring some of my favorite carols. Where available, I’ll share the story behind them or will comment on the messages they contain. Today’s story is from the “Dean of Gospel Music” Dr. Alfred B. Smith, a great hymn writer and soloist whom I had the priveledge of getting to know early in my Christian life. The below information in part is excerpted from his book “Hymn Histories”.

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The idea for this song had been simmering in the heart of pastor Phillips Brooks since 1865 when, on a trip abroad, he was able to spend Christmas in Bethlehem. It was an experience he would never forget. On Sunday, December 24, he rode on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and as twilight was falling, he went out to the field where tradition says the shepherds saw the glory of the Lord. As he looked toward the little town of Bethlehem, with the moon acting as the illuminator and the stars shining in the sky, he witnessed a scene much the same as the shepherds had witnessed almost 2000 years before. Except for the absence of the great light and the shepherds, nothing had changed very much. Instead of a candle to light their way, some who were traveling through the quiet streets were using lamps. There also were no angels present, yet the aura of the occasion lent a holy hush to the surroundings.

Speaking of this experience in a letter to his Sunday school in Philadelphia, Phillips Brooks wrote, “Again and again it seemed I could hear voices telling each other of the ‘Wonderful Night’ of the Savior’s birth.” All this while the words of a new carol were singing in his heart, but it would not be until he came home to America that and three years later that he would write them down a short while before Christmas 1868. He was preparing for the Christmas service for the Sunday school and as he began to review the music he would use, there again flooded through his soul a re-echo of the Christmas Eve he had spent in the shepherd fields overlooking Bethlehem, and the carol that had been singing in his heart since that time. He could contain it no longer, and as it burst forth, he began to write:

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born to us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

Phillips Brooks then hurriedly left his study and walked to the home of Mr. Lewis Redner, who was the organist of the church. Upon showing him his poem, Mr. Redner consented to try his hand at writing an appropriate melody. His effort proved successful, and today in all of hymnology there can be found no tune which so greatly enhances a set of words as does this one.

It took more than twenty years before it would receive general recognition and be sung around the world.

If you’ve read some of my Grandma blogs then you probably recall the modest means in which grandma found herself, especially early in her families life. Sometimes she just didn’t know how their next meal was going to be provided, but God always came through for them. In fact when it came to Christmas they just couldn’t afford to celebrate the holiday, but that’s when the love of family came to their rescue. One year they heard a car outside and a knock at the door and to her surprise her inlaws arrived with a huge box of navel oranges and bags of candy as gifts for all of them for Christmas. It would be a memory never forgotten and a tradition was established.

I recall Grandma’s Christmas trees and they were usually of the Charlie Brown variety, if you know what I mean. I’ll explain why from an entry in her diary in a minute. Her tree was usually adorned with popcorn strings, paper chains made of red and green links, candy canes, ancient Christmas balls you just don’t see anymore today and multi-colored Christmas lights which were candles that had bubbles floating inside of them. Her gifts were often things she could make with her own hands and the value of them was more than money could buy. Here’s one story about why her trees were usually pretty straggly.

Grandma’s trees weren’t of the trimmed or pruned type to achieve the perfect shape. For you see, down the road a short walk from her house was a military reservation and the Army had planted a parcel of the land with pine trees. Grandma figured it was an example of her tax dollars at work, so when Pop hadn’t provided a tree she took matters into her own hands and walked down to the tree lot carrying her trusty hand saw. While sizing up a tree she heard someone pull off the road and start into the tree lot as well. So she just ducked down behind a tree and stayed there until the gentleman had cut down his tree and was on his way. Out came Grandma with her saw and before you know it she was on the way home dragging a tree behind her!

This entry from her diary is an excellent example of Grandma’s servant heart which was filled with love for her neighbors and her seemingly endless supply of energy!

December 19, 1952 Went up to Ann and waxed her floors for $1.50. Came home at 12 noon. Addressed some Christmas cards for Ann. Cleaned my kitchen and rooms. Was rather tired but went to the mountain for a Christmas tree. Enjoyed the walk, got a Spruce tree. Made supper and then we went over to Amos and Emma to visit.

Here’s a lady whose day usually started at 7am at the latest taking care of her own family, but still found the time to scrub an elderly neighbor ladies floors and address her Christmas cards. Then do the same cleaning at her house, chop down a pine tree which was about a one mile round trip to the mountain and back, make supper for her family and then get spruced up for an evening visit to some good friends! Whew!

Grandma was a doer of the Word of God. The Bible says in the book of James “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” She put her faith into practice. James also says, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

This back and forth might get a little confusing, but leave it to say we can’t get the cart before the horse. The horse is FAITH, the cart is WORKS. The Apostle Paul really cleared up the matter when he said in Ephesians 2:8-10. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Grandma’s faith was in Jesus and because of the great work He did in her heart and her love for Him, she spread His great love through her servant actions to family and friends and that’s how it’s supposed to work! Now, where’s my saw? I need a Christmas tree!!

Next story “Grandma Pays It Forward” below:

Grandma Pays It Forward

Hello lobochonicles readers! Blessings are certainly missed by our prayerlessness. Be blessed by the below devotional on prayer by my brother the truckstop evangelist.

Just the other day I got a call from a Driver who told me he wants to give God ten percent of his day…2.4 hours…the first part of the day. I was struck by his declaration because it brought back memories of when I was first saved and had the same idea and intent. One Godly preacher of old declared: “I’ll have to pray two extra hours this morning so I have enough time to get all the things accomplished the Lord has given me to do.” Another preacher has rightly said: “Prayer is the battle, the ministry is just the picking up of the spoils.” The time we spend in effectual fervent prayer the first thing in the morning preparing our day enables the Lord to go before us getting the victory as He answers each specific prayer. Then, all we have to do is “Pick up the spoils” for without Him “We can do NOTHING! (John 15:5). Yes, we must plan and pray as though each day might be the last day of our life, for it may well be so, Drivers!

Intimacy is the most necessary ingredient, so much so, that the Lord Jesus opened His heart rending impassioned prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane by first displaying this most important quality of prayer. He was and still is the Son of God! He could have begun with any declaration or request, but He opted for this very unique word “Abba” providing us with this most valuable example. Only those who have spent TIME with their Father know what intimacy is all about. When the Lord saved me I was 35yrs old. It was His great love for me as my “new” Father that produced my child-like love for Him. My earthly father was mostly non-existent throughout my life leaving a great void which I never realized until the Lord saved me. Now, He has given me everything that I missed, and so much more! And, I realize that He allowed it all for His glory and my good. What a marvelous and merciful heavenly Father!

When I experienced this intimacy with my “new” Father, immediately on that day, it drew me so close to Him that I began to devour His Word which gave me deliverance from the numerous addictions and habits that controlled my life for many years. My joy was unspeakable, but it was the love and immediate intimacy that drove me in my desire to obey Him and communicate with Him. I remember declaring: “Can you imagine, the God of Creation wants to speak to me?” This phone call from my trucker friend has reminded me of those days, and my great need to once again establish and maintain that great TIME of communion which I enjoyed when my days were begun with an intimate and extended TIME of communion with my Abba, Father through the precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is truly miraculous how God works through His people at just the right time and place! Divine Appointment Xtraordinaire!

I am thanking and praising the Lord for this timely reminder from a truly unexpected source. But, it is just how He has worked in my life throughout the three plus decades since He saved my soul way back in March of 1980. He has faithfully sent various messengers to direct my steps and keep me ‘Cranking’ on the straight and narrow time and time again, and, for that I am extremely thankful. He is in complete control, praise His holy and most precious Name! Now, Drivers, it is high time we spend TIME in the Holiest each morning so that we can declare with great joy: “Souls for Jesus” as our daily battle cry! TIME is the issue and the great need of the hour in order for us to enjoy the intimacy necessary to really know Him. Then, we can experience the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering being conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, personal revival comes as we see Him moving among us, doing all of those seemingly impossible things that only He can do through The Effectual Fervent Prayer!

Chaplain LEWolfe http://www.btmi.org I-85 Exit 35 SC ‘McPilot’ Stop in, and please pray for our ministry and REVIVAL in the USA…it begins with US!