Good Morning Friends! Shalom shalom! I gotta fly workers on the way here and I'm off to pick up the weis stuff. Take some time to be still with our loving God. Worship as you engage with our devos below. Be still and know. prepare and go live and love like Jesus ! he loves you and is calling you by name to come join Him beside the still waters and to walk with Him through whatever brings. he is love. He is peace. He is our joy and salvation. Ask God who to share that with and know His joy come to life through you as you do. He has great plans for you ! Ask Him to lead you to and walk through them with you. You are made and gifted for such a time as this! GO! Shalom shalom.
ODB
Joy in Jesus
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12
Do you ever long for something you see glimpses of but can’t quite grasp? C. S. Lewis longed for joy. He wrote, “Our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is . . . the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be . . . the healing of that old ache. . . . The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy.”
Lewis writes of the joy we’ll experience in full when we see Jesus face-to-face. As believers in Jesus, we have the joy of Christ through our relationship with Him and the work of His Spirit inside us. But sadly our joy is hampered by sin and death, the forces of evil, and the world’s brokenness. Paul writes, “Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In verse 10, Paul talks of the coming “completeness.” This is when we’ll know and experience joy fully because we’re with Jesus.
Although we wait expectantly for that day, He gives us a small foretaste now of the overflowing, unhindered joy of heaven!
By Alyson Kieda
REFLECT & PRAY
What do you think it will be like to see Jesus? What do you most look forward to in heaven?
Heavenly Father, thank You for the moments of joy I experience here on earth. I’m anticipating the day when I can know it in full.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
As 1 Corinthians 13:12 reminds us, one day we’ll see clearly when we see Jesus “face to face.” Grand and glorious realities await us at death and with the return of Christ, but even now some of those good things are ours to experience. Through the encouragement of Scripture, the life we share with believers in Jesus, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we get “sneak previews” and a “foretaste” of things to come. Such things are particularly meaningful to those undergoing trials. The apostle Peter’s words included the following encouragement: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). , we can look for glimpses of joy around us as a reminder of the fullness of joy that’s yet to come.
Arthur Jackson
UR: God's Trail Map
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. - Joshua 1:8 (NIV)
I set out to hike North Dome in Yosemite National Park in the early morning, following a steep trail. After passing the Dome, I turned and followed dirt trails and stacked rocks, often used as trail markers, which soon led me steeply downward. I questioned, Is this the trail? When I didn’t see any more markers, I realized that I was offtrack. I finally pulled out my map and could see where I had left the trail. I had failed to consult my map earlier, reasoning that I was a veteran hiker. In fact, what I had been following wasn’t the trail itself but markers another hiker had placed as they ventured off the path to explore.
This reminded me of my early college experience when I had become distant from God, and my attempts to read the Bible were frustrating. After being challenged to try a Bible-study program, I began to read the Bible regularly, and it became a satisfying experience. I had been without a trail map for my life for too long.
Often I still attempt to rely on my own wisdom to straighten out life’s paths — with frustrating results. Life is full of trails that crisscross in confusion, but keeping God’s word close at hand helps me to stay on the right path.
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's Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for the guidance we find in scripture, helping us to navigate life’s twists and turns. Amen.
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