Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video and lyrics from David Archuleta singing that old Christmas favorite … Joy To The World … to which we give honor to coming of the source of all JOY in this world … our Lord, and Savior, King Jesus!
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Highlight Verse[s]: Psalms 28:7 [NLT] … 7 The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
… David remembered or realized that our God is the source of any and all joy.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Psalms 28:6-9 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… David, honors our rock in times of trouble and the source of all joy.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Psalm 119:111 [NLT] … 111 Your Laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight.
… The Psalmist found his joy in knowing and living by God’s word; … and we can too find joy in the same way.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon’s truth about trusting God and how we will always be there to lead the faithful. Pursuing the Lord is always the path to joy.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Proverbs 10:28 [NLT] … 28 The hopes of the godly result in happiness [or joy], but the expectations of the wicked come to nothing.
… The reality of choosing to pursue God’s way … and that is joy.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Dave Branon, uses a famous painting to illustrate how we can only find/know joy when we’re affixed to our relationship with Christ. The ODB author wrote: After my wife and I had the privilege of visiting the Louvre in Paris, I called our eleven-year-old granddaughter Addie on the phone. When I mentioned seeing da Vinci’s famous painting Mona Lisa, Addie asked, “Is she smiling?” Isn’t that the big question surrounding this painting?
More than 600 years after Leonardo captured this subject in oil, we still don’t know if the lady was smiling or not. Though enraptured by the painting’s beauty, we are unsure about Mona Lisa’s demeanor.
It is true that sometimes we see a smile on someone’s face; and it’s a mask hiding anything but joy. But it is also true that when we know and live by God’s word, we seeking to live by a deeper relationship with the source of all joy; and that, of course, is Jesus.
I love the old Christmas Carol (see linked song), Joy To The World, which we’ll soon be singing during the Advent Season. It expresses the joy which came into the world in the reality of a babe in a manger. And it tells of the joy anyone can have by pursuing a deep and abiding relationship with that One Who grew from that Babe to take away all the sins of the world. And that, most certainly, is a reason to sing praises and experience “joy, joy, joy!!”
But I like what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119, who, in verse 111, expresses where he found his joy, … but pursuing, knowing, and living by God’s word. And that’s why you find me here every morning, starting my day by finding my joy in the truth of God’s word. And what a great way to start each day it is.
And if you could see me right now, you’d see a big smile on my face; … maybe not as lovely as Mona Lisa’s … but my smile is the REAL DEAL!!!
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … You are my Joy, Lord!! … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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