Joy

The Joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:12

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are
pleasures forevermore!
Psalm 16:11

Today I am focusing on the Joy of my Lord! He has blessed me beyond measure. He is my strength and He gives me courage. In all honesty I've been discouraged at the sin and shame all around me and in my own life, but thanks be to the One who gives us grace to live trusting Him to give us victory and even using us as a tool to impart courage to others along the way. A young gal posted the following quote on her facebook this morning and it spoke to me. Wow! I have a real and true help by my side. There's no need to be disheartened...

The Savior is by the side of His tempted and tried ones,
with Him there can be no such thing as
failure, loss, impossibility, or defeat.
Desire of Ages 490

Even our trials are to be a source of joy. "How's that?" You ask..."Seems it really wouldn't be a trial if it were considered joy".

That's probably what the Lord had in mind. If rather than groaning under the weight of the trial and considering caving to the temptation we turned our thoughts to thankfulness and looked to Jesus, life wouldn't seem half so hard.

My brothers and sisters,
count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
James 1:2 -3

Ah, patience. I've prayed for patience. Do you suppose the trials I have been sent were in answer to my prayer for patience?

Probably so. All the more reason to count my trials as joy. Later the chapter talks about the qualities needed in trials; swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath... It's a tall order. I'm working on being slow to speak. Good thing the Lord promised to help!

***

The Lord has already given me opportunity to share His joy. One young someone, very closely related to me, was not very joyful this morning at finding out she had done the wrong chores this morning and was being held accountable for the chores she was suppose to do (icky job nobody wants). We talked about the Joy of the Lord in trial and we prayed together. She chose to have joy and to ask for it. May she continue to ask for it.... for as you and I know, this is a moment by moment decision to choose the Lord's side.

Blessings on your day. May the joy of the Lord be your strength.
Acceptance with Joy