JOY

 I was thinking back to March of 2020 at the moment when I first saw a person get out of their car in the parking lot of the grocery store and they were wearing a mask. Can you believe it? I will never wear a mask. This person was being so extreme. 

Little by little I saw people wearing masks not because they had to but because they wanted to. I resisted and yelped, no way not me.

Very quickly the mandates were made by the IL governor, the lockdowns started, we were in QUARANTINE!

No matter the opinion of the mask to where or not where it has been a whole year. Am I dreaming, can this be happening still?

Such confusing times we live in. The crazy saying, "History always repeats itself", rings true.

JOY-JESUS THE REBUILDER

 When I moved I was fighting against the grief of leaving the place I lived for over thirty years. When I thought of starting over it seemed to be exciting and maddening at the same time. 

Have you ever felt like reconstruction of your life was apparent?

Nehemiah had a considerable awareness when he found the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. 

When he heard these things, he sat down and wept. For some day he mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4.

His prayer was answered just as mine is being answered. Things began to fall in place. People, kings gave Nehemiah favor and the resources to rebuild quickly came and a plan fell in place. 

Upon the completion and the Israelites continually saw this provision and the journey of the rebuild they remained close to God and felt his presence. He told the people, "Do not grieve for the JOY of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

We need not grow weary because Jesus rebuilds and strengthens us with JOY.

Lord help me to rebuild with you. Amen.

JOY-SING! REJOICE! CELEBRATE! WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE.

The water dripping down the window formed a cross, so odd yes, but it caught my eye.

It's Holy Week and there it even looked as if there were two streaks next to the cross and to me represented the two thieves next Jesus. 
I grabbed my camera and took a picture of it. Here it is:

Fascinating. 

God reminding me, I AM HERE. Stay close to the cross daily and learn from the creator Jesus, who is gentle and humble at heart. He loves you!

The foundation of the temple had not been laid. The resources came and the Israelites went to work laying the floor. As they worked with praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

"He is good; His love to Israel endures forever."

"And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord and shouted for a JOY, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of JOY from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away!" Ezra 3:11-13😊😊

When I witness the sightings of God and I find myself rejoicing! I pray I just don't miss the sightings!

I am loving this JOY ride as I witness the Israelites having a right relationship with God and they rejoice. Shout for JOY! They are aware!

Friends, do you want to experience this. It is the practice of gratitude. It is simply put JOY! Grace is radically and JOYFULLY God-centered.

Prayer:

Father in heaven thank you for taking me on this JOY ride. I am enjoying the sightings I am seeing! Amen.

 

At the completion of the temple the people of Israel celebrated the dedication of the house of God with JOY! For seven days they celebrated with JOY the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with JOY by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house f God, the God of Israel.

JOY ALWAYS follows when you are in communion with God! A right relationship is always JOY!

Ezra continues, "For seven days they celebrated with joy." Ezra 6:22

"The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him." Ezra 7:6

JOY-GREAT JOY IN JERUSALEM

 King Hezekiah had much to rejoice about in his reign. So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. Hezekiah and the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for His people, because it was done so quickly.

I love that God did restored joy so quickly to the Israelites. There obedience and willingness to draw near to God brought peace among their nation. 

Hezekiah only asked that the people come back to the Lord the God of their fathers. A very loud crowd assembles in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Rejoicing they sang to the Lord every day, accompanied by the Lord's instruments of praise. They rejoiced so much so that they agreed to stay seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. 

The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, even others from different lands. There was GREAT JOY IN JERUSALEM. Since the days of Solomon (maybe the time they rejoiced over the temple building, I wrote about recently) there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 

The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them for their prayer reached heaven his holy dwelling place. 

How amazing that we can know because of this story that our prayers reach heaven God's holy dwelling place. 

Expect peace in your land when we faithfully follow Christ. Troubles come and go but the Lord is steady and reliable.

As we come to Easter. Let us remember events that happened surrounding the death of Jesus.

Before, during, after.

Each part of the story is valuable and relevant for our everyday life. As we look at the characters, what they were doing, what was going on in the culture, what Jesus accomplished with the disciples all play the part of the story. Jesus surrounded himself with women who evangelized and proclaimed the His coming. All worth noting for us today.

Let's pray:  Father in heaven may your kingdom come again. May we see the daily will for our life. May we walk faithfully with you. Amen.