Joy.

What an odd little word. Say it a few times. It comes out kinda funny, gets a bit tangled up in the mouth if you say it too much. What a loaded word. Joy. We see it all around during the season; we sing it in a half-dozen little songs. The instant image that comes to mind is big smiles, Christmas sweaters, candles, greenery, and all the things that make you happy. But joy is more.

Joy, from what I've read, is more than being happy. It goes deeper than the feelings of glad tidings and giving gifts. It is a deep seated confidence, a quiet strength, founded upon the solid truth of hope being given to us at the critical point of our need. It is happiness, but not the make you giddy with laughter kind. Rather, it is the assurance that every little thing is gonna be alright. That Jesus came, and is coming back, and that no trouble of this world -- job, money, illness, sorrow -- can rob us of our promised inheritance.

How might it look for us to bring 'joy to the world'?