ADVENT BIBLE STUDY
Week 4: JOY & TRIUMPH
Day 3: You are God’s Joy and We are His.
via TJC
Shout for joy, daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, Israel!
Rejoice and triumph with all your heart,
Daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away His judgments against you,
He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
You will no longer fear disaster.
On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not be afraid, Zion;
Do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will rejoice over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
I will gather those who are worried about the appointed feasts—
They came from you, Zion;
The disgrace of exile is a burden on them.
Behold, I am going to deal at that time. With all your oppressors;
I will save those who limp
And gather the scattered,
And I will turn their shame into praise and fame
In all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in,
Even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will make you famous and praiseworthy
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.
Zephaniah 3:14-20 NASB
I am struck by the Lord’s command to ‘Shout for joy, to shout in triumph’. What strikes me is the command is given even though I have not actually seen the joyous or triumphal event. Though He HAS taken His judgment from me, I do not always SEE or FEEL that. Though He HAS cleared away my enemies, that does not imply that these enemies are not still talking to me, attempting to speak fear into my mind. This causes me to meditate on the meaning of Avent, which is from the Latin adventus, which means “coming”. In the Christian church calendar, Avent is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. I must not wait until I see or handle my joy. For as the Lord has said, my triumph and joy are ‘coming’. In preparation for this coming, I must shout for joy. My ‘shouting’ with joy and rejoicing will all my heart prepare me, while the words neutralize my enemy’s voices. In the middle of praising Him, no longer do I fear disaster. Our King promises that ‘at that time’, He will deal with all my oppressors. I will limp because I have wrestled with God. But He has promised to save me though I walk with a limp, turning my shame into praise AND fame. In fact, He states I will have fame and praise twice. He really means it! So I will not wait until I see the reality of His works, see His restoration. I will shout now, I will praise Him now. That is how I join in the battle WITH my Lord. That is my part in the advancement of His Kingdom. Shouting, making use of my voice is exactly like David roaring at Goliath! While the stone was not yet embedded in the giants’ skull, David’s words had already accomplished their purpose. At that moment, David was triumphant and the man from Gath was already a dead man! I will shout with JOY, shout in TRIUMPH and REJOICE with all my heart. He is my King! This is Advent…
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Every Man A Warrior is a discipleship Bible study that “Helps Men Succeed in Life". It helps them win the battles they fight every day. Since 2011, 50,000 men in 40 countries and in 18 languages have been impacted by the Every Man A Warrior curriculum. The Every Man A Warrior ministry joined Trans World Radio (TWR) in 2017 in order to take discipleship around the world. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EMAW and learn about how you can implement this training series in your men’s group.
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