William Knelsen

Note: the following is taken from hymnary.org Joy to the world! The Lord is come:let earth receive her King;let ev’ry heart prepare him room,and heav’n and nature sing,and heav’n and nature sing,and heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing. Isaac Watts, 1719 Joy to the World was not actually written for Christmas. Isaac Watts wrote the …

Good News of Great Joy And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night… And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city …

Jesus provides us with a new source of joy: himself. We are not satisfied with the things that our sinful nature craves because we are only completely satisfied with Jesus as our source of joy. This is a hard thing to grasp. How do we actually experience this joy? How do we live in a …

I have heard it said that when someone starts following Jesus, they begin to experience at the same time greater joy and sorrow than ever before. This is because our eyes are opened more and more to what God sees in sin, and in redemption. Although we all have experiences of happiness at various times …

The constant bombardment of life’s demands makes it challenging sometimes to live with inner peace. There is a passage in Philippians 4 that helps with this: …whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of …

I’m leaving you well and whole. The message of Jesus as he was preparing for the last days of his time on earth was that of comfort: My parting gift to you is peace. “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send …

Reject not those who live contrary to yourself. If you reject anything, reject the practices in your own life that are contrary to your convictions. Today, I want to say no more than the statement above. Read it again. Reflect on how you are disrupting the peace between yourself and others. Allow the peace of …