Posts with the category “joy-in-scripture”

Have you ever been through a rough patch and needed some encouraging words? Have you ever felt depressed and desired the right words to bring you joy? Has there been a time that you felt hopeless and needed words to revive your spirit?You are not alone! The disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13–32 felt similar feelings after the death of Jesus. They had expected Jesus to redeem Israel. Ins...  Read More

Joy is often used as a synonym for happiness. These aren’t interchangeable. Happiness is dependent on circumstances. I’m happy when somebody brings me an iced coffee. Joy is a disposition of the heart. As I write this, I have a child struggling with medical needs. I can still have joy, even as this challenges my happiness.How do we find this joy of the heart?Scripture tells us, “Rejoice in the Lor...  Read More

For our last family vacation, before my older children were grown and moved away, we headed to Branson. Trying to navigate with three rowdy teens teasing each other mercilessly in the back seat caused us to miss our turn onto the Interstate.We ended up on a crooked, two-lane back road that meandered for miles and added hours to our trip.  It would take too long to get back to the highway, so we de...  Read More

I can recall God’s love as a child through his beautiful creation. I remember the joy of regrowth in the springtime. The feeling of a warm breeze after a cold winter. The popping of flowers, especially tulips in multiple colors. The birds sang as they made their nests. At six, I was excited when a robin made a nest on the window sill in an upstairs bedroom. What joy I experienced watching the momm...  Read More

If the name Marie Kondo sounds familiar, it should. She is a very famous lady who helps people declutter their lives. She suggests you take everything out of your closet and touch one article of clothing at a time. If it does not bring joy, give it to Goodwill or take it to the resale shop.While I think it is a great idea to declutter periodically, I don’t believe touching and sniffing an old piec...  Read More

Where does your Joy come from? I have always heard that happiness is from circumstances. Our circumstances can make us happy, sad, miserable, angry, etc.Life is hard! My life is like a roller coaster at times. I am not a fan of those! I am riding along in that “life car” on the roller coaster rail, and the next, I am falling toward one of the many low areas of my life! I often ask myself; How did ...  Read More

Have you ever been overwhelmed with joy about someone?When you have children, you invest much time teaching them many things. For example, when my husband coached little league baseball, he spent countless hours teaching them the skills needed to be great baseball players. As they grew and began to play for their school, watching them compete and succeed brought him great joy. He knew that his sol...  Read More

What joy when the words of the Bible jump off the page, fresh and alive! It makes writing fun, and words flow easily. But sometimes, reading the Bible isn’t my favorite activity. It can feel dry, boring, and even pointless.This month I had a writing dilemma; I needed to figure out what to say. I usually have a story or three, a verse or seven running through my mind as a starting point. This month...  Read More

Do you ever feel like your thoughts become scattered and consuming? Does it leave you worried or discouraged as you try to sort through them to find peace? God’s word can bring clarity and truth to our chaos. Scripture replaces the worries and hurts that consume us with the joy of His promises.For me, my mind is my most significant spiritual battlefield. A whisper of doubt from the enemy can insta...  Read More

I don’t know about you, but nothing on earth brings me as much joy as treasure hunting!I fondly remember tromping around in the sand hills behind our house with my father. He began taking me up there as a toddler. It was all so exciting! Like exploring some wild and possibly dangerous far-off land. I remember that at around age four, we first began discovering fossil shark teeth and sand dollars. ...  Read More

“I’ve lost my joy,” declared my friend. The look on her face said it all. Her demeanor screamed sadness and defeat, and her smile turned into a frown. A lack of joy indicated that things were not right in her world.It’s hard to hold onto something as elusive as joy. Dictated by circumstances, joy is fleeting, here one minute and gone the next. If all is right with the world, we feel happy and cont...  Read More