Berry Patch Devotions in 2021 - Day 208
Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... </b> Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Twila Paris singing … The Joy of the Lord … Poignantly singing of how expressing the Joy we have in our Lord is our strength.
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Highlight Passage: Proverbs 15:13 [NIV] …
13 A glad heart makes a happy face; … a broken heart crushes the spirit.
… Solomon shows that a glad heart is shared with others with a happy face (i.e., a smile).
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Highlight Passage [Context]: … Proverbs 15:13-14, 30 [NIV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon teaches that choosing to share the joy we have in our relationship with joy brings joy to others.
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Reference Passage: … Psalm 16:11 [NLT] …
11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
… King David sings of the joy he finds in knowing of His God’s omnipresence.
Reference Passage: … Habakkuk 3:17-19 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK ...
… A struggling Prophet learns from going to God that he can choose joy no matter his fearful and confusing circumstances.
Reference Passage: … John 15:11 [NLT] …
11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
… Jesus shares truth with His disciples (and us) so that they (and we) can find joy in the midst of their confusion. fear and sorrow.
Reference Passage: … Galatians 5:22-23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… As Christians, with God’s fruitfulness in our hearts, we can choose to share God’s love, JOY, and peace … ALWAYS!!
My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Patricia Raybon, AT THIS LINK … shares how a friend had a “smile ministry,” share the joy she felt in her relationship with Christ thru smiling to others. But when the pandemic hit, wearing a facemark made it difficult. But her friend learned that when she smiled the muscles in her eyes changed to reveal the joy she felt; and so she kept smiling and sharing her joy with others.
As disciples of Christ, we need to realize that “JOY” is not a feeling; … it is a choice that comes from the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal 5:22), … given to all Christians. And that’s what the confused Prophet, Habakkuk, learned when he went to God with his “WHY God” fears, learning, from seeking God’s wisdom, that he (as can we) choose joy in the midst of dire circumstances <b>(see Hab. 3:17-19); … and he did! … And so can we!!
And that’s what I pray for all of us today; … that we share the joy of our relationship with Christ with others, … with our smiles and words of encouragement. … even tho we may still be doing so masked in these pandemic days and in this panicked world. My friends, as Twila Paris sings in the linked song, “The Joy of the Lord Is Our Strength.” So, let’s share that joy with others today.
My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for being the joy of my life in the midst of trials, troubles, and turmoil.
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to smile a lot today, … even if we don’t feel like it, … and share the joy of God’s love and grace with others … Amen
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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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