Live Free with Josh Howerton - Good News that Brings Great Joy // Luke 2:8-11

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

When you think about God, do you imagine a list of to-dos, or do you see Him as someone you get to enjoy? God never wants us to try and earn His love. He already loves us more than we can even know, and He wants to give us good gifts. Just as the angels proclaimed to the shepherds in Luke 2, God has good news for us about the most amazing gift that will bring us great joy.   For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.com. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Well, hey guys, welcome to our daily drive. If we haven't met, my name is Carlos, and I get to be a part of the pastoral team here at Lake Point, and we get to hang out this week for a few minutes every day as we dive together into the Word of God.

And let me start here to set us up for what we will be discussing this week. This is Luke chapter 2, verse 8 to 11. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shown. around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Verse 11 says, today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you.

He is the Messiah, the Lord. As we approach this Christmas season, I remember that when I was around maybe five, or 10 years old, my parents came to me to ask what I would like to receive for Christmas. Best thing ever. Best question ever. And at the time, there was this thing that every child, everywhere wanted. And this was like the ultimate gift, like the gift of all gifts. Like if your parents gave you this thing, this gift, you would be the happiest child in the world.

This was my case at the time. And the gift was for me as a five to 10 year. drum roll please the nintendo 64 now our younger listeners will ask what kind of ancient relic are we talking about here but if you know you know the nintendo 64 back in the day was honestly the coolest gaming console coolest games they came in these like neon see-through like boxes super cool weird controllers awesome fun games and being raised in my home country in al savador this This was a huge ask for my parents. I was aware.

Honestly, I remember when I asked for it, I knew it was a long shot, but I guess I was bold enough to ask for a gift that I wasn't sure my parents were able to give me or afford it. And so I did ask. Christmas came. It was time to open gifts. And my brother, who's older than me, came out with a gift from my parents that looked like a box. And everybody's smiling. I'm there. I cannot contain my emotions and excitement.

I can't wait. And my dad says, come on, go ahead, open it up. So I'm like tearing that thing left and right to open up this gift that I desired for so long as a young, again, five to 10 year old child. And when I opened it, it was not what I was expecting. Inside the box, I'm not kidding, were math textbooks. This was not a joke. Both my parents who happened to be math teachers, they had just gifted my younger self, an innocent, 10-year-old young man with hopes and dreams.

The gift was math textbooks. And at that moment, I immediately started thinking, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. But my hopes and dreams were honestly very crushed. So I probably shed some humble tears, maybe one or two. I said, thank you for the gift. And I walked away. But then my dad had said, actually, just kidding, come on back. And, you know, apparently my parents had pulled a prank on me as a 10-year-old.

And they said, here's your real gift. And they had another box. And they gifted me a PlayStation 1. Again, if you know, you know, this is back in the day. And here's why I start with this. Because sometimes when we think about God and what he wants for us, for many, it honestly feels a little bit more like receiving a quote unquote gift of math textbooks. It feels more like homework or something that you need to do.

It feels like a works-based thing or like an additional burden or thing that you add to your life or some sort of activity in your life that is just dull and dry and something that doesn't really sound like a gift. But when you read and understand who God is and how much. he loves. The Bible says, God loves so he gives. And in this passage in Luke 2, the angel is talking about Jesus and he says, I bring you good news of great joy. Jesus is God's gift for you. And when you and I meet him, when we walk with him, when we learn from him, when we become like him, the Bible promises that we will experience not a little joy, but great joy. Let me ask you this, when

you think about God, do you think primarily about some religious things you have to do for him? Or do you think primarily about someone you get to enjoy? Today I want to encourage you to meditate on this. God, how can I enjoy my relationship with you more to see you as the gift that you are? How can I see you as you truly are? not a something that I need to do, but a someone to love, to enjoy, to walk with, to get to know more of. This week we'll be exploring how Jesus invites us to walk with him and how this results in a life of joy, joy, and more joy. And we'll explore the heart of God and how his heart is one that is full of joy, how knowing God more intimately results in more joy and how you and I can experience joy.

what your season looks like. So let me wrap our devotional today for you to meditate on this all day. I want you to listen to this, as if God is saying to this to you right now, do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord.

Hey, don't miss this week. We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.church slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you,

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