WORD WORKS: Christ Born of Mary. Matthew 1: 18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His
mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not
wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put
her away secretly.20 But while he thought about these things,                                                                                                                                                         behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary
you wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit.
21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His
name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
23 “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and
they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated,
“God with us.”
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel
of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,
25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her
firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
JESUS came as a son of man. He was a great example of
man building a relationship with God. Believing God to
bring to pass all that He said He would do through JESUS.
MAN NEEDS THE GOSPEL. Romans 10:9-13. 9 that if you
confess with your mouth the LORD JESUS and believe in
your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved. 10. For with the heart one believes to
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to
salvation. 11. For the Scripture says, “ Whoever believes on
Him will not be put to shame.” 12. For there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same LORD                                                                                                                                                                          over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13. For “whoever
calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

WORD WORKS: MERRY- Greek, euthumeo, compound of
eu and thumos. EU DESCRIBES A GOOD FEELING, THE
WORD EUPHORIC COMES FROM THAT. It could describe
someone who is elated, thrilled, or ecstatic about
something. The word THUMOS DESCRIBES the idea of
swelling emotions or a strong and growing passion about
something. Put these two words together and they are
powerful. The new word expresses the idea of a person
who is just about to explode with joy!

So much excitement inside that he can hardly contain himself, and can no longer
restrain the happiness he feels!
JAMES 5:13 “…IS THERE ANYONE AMONG YOU WHO IS SO
EXCITED THAT HE CAN HARDLY CONTAIN IT AND WHO FEELS AS
IF HE IS ABOUT TO BURST WITH JOY? IF THAT PERSON IS SO
OVERJOYED AND TICKLED THAT HE CAN NO LONGER RESTRAIN
THE HAPPINESS HE FEELS, LET HIM SING THE SONG HE FEELS IN
HIS HEART.”
That is a moment that should not be passed over. Let
your heart be glad and rejoice. Great are those
moments when your spirit is filled with God’s Presence.
That’s why James says when you are filled with that
kind of overflowing joy, “…Is any merry? Let him sing
psalms. Let your emotions loose when are overjoyed at
something God has done for you. Go ahead and
express yourself. Don’t be concerned if other people
are around you. It healthy for you to let your joy out.
We all have had experiences like that. Take the time to
reflect back when you were overtaken with incredible
joy that you needed to express yourself in some way.
Such as singing, take off running to release the joy, or
start hugging the people around you, even crying,
because your heart was so touched by the event.

Don’t let your rejoicing depend on the others around
you. Jesus will be happy to celebrate with you! So shout it
out, sing it out, smile it out, run it out, happy cry it out.
Just don’t miss the opportunity to release a joyfulsound.