April 23

          Joy in Truth

Nehemiah 8:10

This is a sacred day before our Lord.  Don’t be dejected

and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!”  (NLT)

     When we know the Truth about our awesome God and what He did to save us from our sins, every day should be a sacred day lived in thanksgiving and joy.  We should weep with joy because our rebellion against God and the eternal consequences that are justly due have been nullified by the blood of Jesus.  And as I meditate on this passage from Scripture, I can recall the days when I lived apart from God, thinking that joy was just a word you heard at Christmas; a word I didn’t really understand and something that was rarely attained.  For most of my life the joy of Christmas was not joy at all, but rather depressing. It was just a brief moment in time to forget reality and mask the pain.  I had no real understanding about the incredible message of hope that the birth of our Savior brought into this fallen world.  But those days of no joy are gone forever, because I know the Truth and where I'm headed with this life is over.  Knowing the Truth, not only gives us the kind of joy that makes this difficult life worth living, but it also gives us the strength to be joyful in all our circumstances.

    Knowing and believing that our Creator walked upon this earth, fully man, yet fully God, to save our wicked lives and give us hope for a glorious future without end, is enough to bring any sad and hopeless soul into great joy and peace.  Jesus came to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life, because it is God’s nature to save that which is lost.  There is no better reason for rejoicing, my friend, than knowing our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Knowing the joy of the Lord brings hope to the hopeless, strength where there is none, and new life to the dead.  And this amazing joy is yours for the asking.

                               A Whisper of Hope

Joy is My gift to you, dear child...I came to forgive you, to save your eternal life and to comfort your weary soul with My peace.  Rejoice in Me, the Truth, because one day soon we will be rejoicing together in Heaven forever!

Psalm 126:5

Those who sow in tears shall

     reap in joy.  (NKJ)

            “For the Son of Man has come to seek

             and to save that which was lost.”

                           (Luke 19:10)