JOY - Day 11

However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." –Luke 10:20

                              

JOY - Day 10

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ –Matthew 25:21

                                 

JOY - Day 9

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  

--Philippians 4:4

                     

JOY - Day 8

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 

–Matthew 2:9-10

                               

JOY - Day 7

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  

–James 1:2-4

                 

JOY - Day 6

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

–Romans 14:17

                

JOY - Day 5

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  

–John 15:10-11    

              

JOY - Day 4

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. 

–Proverbs 15:13

                              

JOY - Day 3

Clap your hands, all peoples!  Shout to God with loud songs of joy! 

-Psalm 47:1

                                  

JOY - Day 2

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. 

–Psalm 30:5

                               

JOY - Day 1

…..for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 

-Nehemiah 8:10b

                   

LOVE - Day 14

And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. 

-1John 4:21

                                 

LOVE - Day 13

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.  

-1John 4:18

                      

LOVE - Day 12

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  

–Ephesians 5:1, 2

                

Food for the Poor is one of many organizations that help the poor.  If you would like to find a charity with which to partner, the Charity Navigator can help you find one you can trust.  

LOVE - Day 11

Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. 

-Romans 5:5

                       

LOVE - Day 10

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude.  Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.   

-1 Corinthians 13:4-7

LOVE - Day 9

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

-1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Noisy Gong

LOVE - Day 8

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

-John 15:12

                  

Of course, in real life all these little incidents of helping each other don't come so quickly one after the other....or do they?  Perhaps we just don't notice when someone does something nice for us after we've done something nice for someone else.  That doesn't mean we stop doing nice things for others and we certainly shouldn't be keeping score if we are doing it for the right reason.  I think this little video helps to emphasize that when we love one another the love multiplies.  We may not receive something back from the person we helped/loved, but God will reward us in ways we may not notice if we're looking for payback from the one we showed love to. 

LOVE - Day 7

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 

-John 15:9-10

                   

LOVE - Day 6

He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 

-John 14:21

                        

God manifests Himself through people, through the natural world, through circumstances. . . .we just need to believe and we shall see Him in all His glory.  

LOVE - Day 5

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”  He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”  He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 

-John 21:15

                     

LOVE - Day 4

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 

-Matthew 5:44-45

I enlarged this on my computer screen and watched it for the entire 15 minutes while I meditated on the fact that the same sun that rises each day for me rises for my enemies. . . .then I prayed for them as my heart joined with the birds praising their Creator. . . . 

                   

LOVE - Day 3

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”   And he said to him “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 

-Matthew 22:36-37

                   

I chose this song because it holds special meaning for me.  As I was watching the video I thought about how powerful rushing water can be--just like the living water, Jesus Christ, is in us.  And then I saw the salmon fighting their way up stream.....a picture of how I feel sometimes.  But it's also a picture of God's strength in us to navigate life's challenges.  He's given me all that I need.  I just need to call on Him with my whole being.

LOVE - Day 2

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.  Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 

-Psalm 116:1-2

                                 

LOVE - Day 1

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

-John 3:16

                    

It Is Finished

John 17:1, 4

Hebrews 9:25-26

John 19:30

Jesus' last words, "It is finished," was referring to his purpose--to die for our sins.  But the "work" he'd done was by no means over.  It was merely the beginning of what the Holy Spirit, who came in his stead, would do in and through us.  Just like the caterpillar dies in order to become a beautiful butterfly, there is more to Jesus' purpose.

Jesus finished what he was sent for, but His Spirit is still working.  Still accomplishing.  But even the Spirit's work will one day be finished.  Will you be ready?

~~~~~~~~

This concludes the Three Little Words book I've been sharing on this web journal.....

So, what comes next?

To finish out the year I'm using the Fruit of the Spirit passage from Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;

When this passage first came to my attention years ago I saw it as a list of ways to be that I wanted to be.  Then one day I realized there was no "s" on the word "fruit."  The fruit of the Spirit was a package deal.  Thus began my journey to understand how does one become loving, joyful, peaceful, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled?  The answer is, YOU don't!  It is the SPIRIT in you who is all these things.  That is why it's a package deal.  When we accept Christ into our very being, it is He Who is now living in us.  It is only through our self-will that we either quench the Spirit or let Him reign. 

Each quality that the Spirit manifests through us will be highlighted for two weeks.  I'll use scripture and in whatever way the Spirit inspires me.  The other change is it will be posted each morning at 5:00 a.m. so that you can start your day meditating on these traits of the Spirit in you. 

I hope you will join me as I make new discoveries in God's word.

You Can't Hide

Jonah 1:3

Psalm 139:7-8

Jeremiah 23:23-24

When our granddaughter stayed with us for a few days my cat, Poetry, would hide in the basement and only come up when Olivia was in bed asleep.  As you can see Gabriel, our dog, was right there with Olivia looking through the cat door to the basement looking for Poetry.  We are like my cat.  We hide from God because we fear Him.  If you are a Christian, we fear Him because we're afraid He is displeased with us.  If we're not a Christian, we fear Him because we're afraid He IS real and we know in our heart that we need Him but our ego won't let us put down our defenses.  But the Good News little Olivia is a lot like God in that all she wants to do is hug Poetry, like she hugs Gabriel and tries to kiss him all the time. . . .

Do Not Oversleep

Proverbs 6:10-11

1 Thessalonians 5:6

Proverbs 20:13

I don't think our granddaughter will ever be guilty of oversleeping!  She is just too curious about everything and doesn't want to miss out.  Perhaps that is part of the problem that these scriptures describe.  When we disengage from the beauty in our lives and become complacent we will withdraw into a type of "oversleep" that is not only detrimental to our physical life but our spiritual life.  I hope I will remain curious and engaged with the life God has given me until it is over. 

The Anchor Holds

Hebrews 6:19-20

John 10:28-29

Psalm 16:8

The boat not tied up to the dock has thrown an anchor into the cove to keep it from drifting.  For Christians hope is our anchor.  As long as our soul is tied to that anchor, we are secure. 

Control Your Appetite

Proverbs 23:1-3

Philippians 3:17-19

2 Peter 1:5-7

We have many types of appetites.  Some are no good for us and some are only good in moderation.  Unless you count love for God.  A hearty appetite of love for God does not need to be controlled.  And God says if we love Him we'll show it by our care for one another.  I think humans remain helpless babies longer than the rest of the animal kingdom because adults who care for them need more time to learn selfless love.  Until I had a child to care for I didn't really understand the nature and purpose of love.