1 QUOTE

““Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen.”

- Mother Teresa of Calcutta

1 NOTE

We begin 2026 with a call to joy and cry for prayer. The Apostle Paul ended his second letter to the church at Thessalonica with two power packed verses: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17).  Both one word commands have a similar descriptor: always and without ceasing. Paul urges to us be consistent, vigilant and without intermission. The immediate context is a believer who is under pressure from worldly leadership (governments, bosses) and discouraged by Christian community (the lazy, timid, weak, those who do us harm). When tempers run short, we lash out at ‘those over us.’ When wells are dry, we lack the resources to be patient and slow to anger. Without patience and perspective we are tempted, and sometimes commit the sin of repaying evil for evil.

Loving those who are over us, and those who frustrate us, is impossible without abiding in Jesus. If you have lost it recently because of politics, bosses, or those who just don’t seem ‘to get it,’ you shouldn’t beat yourself up. You should go to God. The great challenge in obeying this text is to be consistent in our joy. Anyone can rejoice when the circumstances of life bend our way. Being full of joy when we scream “We up!” requires no faith. To be steady in our joy demands ‘more than human’ resources. In human terms, the Thessalonians had no reason for joy. They were being persecuted from the outside. Relationships were full of tension on the inside. But their joy was never in their daily circumstances. Their joy was anchored in Jesus.

1 QUESTION

Do you have joy today?

Until Next Tuesday,

John