Joy is the great note all throughout the Bible.
Joy is the serious business of heaven.
From Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
From Psalm 16:1-2: “Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.'”
Facing uncertainty
More questions than actions
Reaching out to Father
Love’s trusted interactions
Harboring inner doubts
Weakened by rising tides
Praying now to Father
Mercy brings answers to guide
Choosing to always trust
Assurance speaks to heart
Listening to Father
Grace nourishing faith’s fresh start
Tasting heavenly joy
Life’s outlook now renewed
Receiving from Father
Page turned, filled with gratitude
Rejoicing in hope’s light
Righteous path before thee
Conversing with Father
His peace calms as darkness flees
From Psalm 16:11: “You show me the path of life. In Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will.
From Psalm 37:5: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.”
Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) was a British-born Christian missionary. He spent 54 years in China.
Messiah
Speaking truth
Heavenly praises above
Leading believers to Eternity
Joy
Savior
Sharing grace
Light brightens tomorrow
Filling with love’s forgiveness
Hope
Jesus
Offering rest
Mercy shares peace
Bearing heaviest of burdens
Faith
For we love not God first, to compel Him to love again; but He loved us first, and gave His Son for us, that we might see love and love again.
From 1 John 4:9-10: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
William Tyndale (c. 1494 – c.1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist. He became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation, and his writings were influenced by the thoughts shared from fellow reformer Martin Luther.
From 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5: “But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
Embracing Gospel’s light
Strengthened through trust in our Lord
Faith’s destiny secure
Longing for Heaven’s reward
Proclaiming Scripture’s truth
Encouraged to follow Christ
Faith’s lasting breath fulfilled
Paying with blood sacrificed
Kneeling now in prayer
Dispirited no longer
Presence of light in Christ
Enduring faith grows stronger
Witnessing faithfulness
Redeemed through Good Shepherd’s love
Forgiveness rises up
Transforming saints from above
Setting sun blest with peace
Heartened faith savors Lord’s grace
Confidence fills with joy
Trusting hope’s redeeming place
From Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer.”
Every vision will be made real if we have patience. Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry.
From Isaiah 35:6b-7a: “For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water.”
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was a Scottish evangelist and Christian teacher. Following his death from an illness while in Egypt during World War I, his wife took on the task of transcribing the detailed notes she had written from his lectures and sermons. Gertrude Hobbs Chambers’ efforts resulted in the publication in 1924 of MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST. I frequently read from this devotional, and it has greatly deepened my faith and understanding of God’s Word.
From Ephesians 4:31-32: “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”
Life’s battered bucket sometimes overflows
Facing daily challenges, too immense
One challenge standing apart from the rest
Using forgiveness seems much too intense
Our righteous Father teaches forgiveness
Extending His mercy through earnest hearts
Breathe every truth in its entirety
Receiving His grace with humble hearts
Take in God’s Word, His Holy Commandments
Burying bitterness, it lifts the heart
Always best to forgive, forget, move on
Beating with freedom’s light, opens the heart
As humans, reacting much too quickly
Expressing heated anger, fixing blame
Slow to forgive, even more to forget
Stepping now with humbleness, drowns the flames
No longer in the enemy’s darkness
Praying the sun does not set on one’s rage
With our Lord’s truth, filling with righteousness
Following God’s way, life writes a new page
From the words of American pastor and Christian author, Jim Cymbala: “Looking back over my life, all I can see is mercy and grace written in large letters everywhere. May God help me have the same kind of heart toward those who wound or offend me.”
Originally published July, 2020.
Ask God. Trust God. We are completely dependent on Him for eternal life, for forgiveness, for character, for security.
From Hebrews 6:19-20: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Charles Swindoll (born 1934) is an American pastor and Christian author.
Each sister, each brother
Walking with Christ, our Lord
Supporting one another
With grace, arriving on board
Faith immersed in Christ’s Word
Trusting always His light
Revealing peace to be heard
Enemy’s darkness takes flight
Christ, faith’s firm foundation
Transforming every stone
Building path to salvation
Filled with hope, never alone
Believers marching on
Following in Christ’s steps
Witnessing Heaven’s fate drawn
Mercy knocks at each doorstep
Each sister, each brother
Sharing Christ’s Living Bread
Accepting one another
Called to serve with truth now fed
Big Sky Buckeye 