Hello Dear friends!
I trust your Christmas Holiday was beautiful, surrounded by your loved one's
and the New Year has found you with peace in your heart
as you look to God with each new day for His unfailing love towards you
because of the hope we have through the promises
of God found in the Scriptures.
My husband and I were blessed by bringing in the New Year
with our three oldest grandsons.
We had a most wonderful time!
Lots of sledding and snow playing days where forts and snow tunnels
were created using their "boy" imaginations. 😉
We had two daughters and mostly girls in both of our family's,
so we are learning how very different the two are from one another.
God's perfect and lovely design as He created male and female
in His image amazes me time after time.
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I have been pondering and praying on the word "JOY" for some time now
and though joy has been a word I love to use and apply in my life,
I have chosen the word "JOY" because of the qualities of this word.
"Rejoicing" keeps coming to mind with my word
and that is the desire of my heart ~ to rejoice outwardly with joy
showing pleasure, delight, faithfulness and gratitude
to God, my Savior, for His fullness of joy in my life.
In the Scriptures, God has much to show us in the way of Joy.
Verse upon verse can be found and applied to our lives
as we faithfully walk the path of life God has called us to walk.
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"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope."
(Psalm 16:9)
" 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)
God is present in all the experiences of life, our every day happenings
and we can take joy and be blessed and be satisfied ~ content ~
with whatever may come across our paths
showing pleasure, delight and rejoicing with JOY overflowing
so that others will want the joy of the Lord that fills our hearts.
~ ~ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ~ ~
"The JOY of the Lord is our strength" ~ Nehemiah 8:10
" JOY cometh in the morning" ~ Psalm 30:5
"Restore unto me the JOY of my salvation" ~ Psalm 51:12
"Thy word was unto me the JOY" ~ Jeremiah 15:16
"Will turn their mourning into JOY" ~ Jeremiah 31:13
"That our JOY may be full" ~ 2 John 1:12
Year's ago I challenged myself to start a notebook by collecting
Scripture verses about "My God" and then categorizing them so that when I wanted
to look up a verse that would pertain to a particular topic
it would be right there and handy, plus,
this is an excellent way of writing out and memorizing the Scriptures.
Maybe this New Year you too would find it a challenge
as well as rewarding by starting your very own notebook on Scripture verses God brings to your mind or directs you to write down, memorize
and apply to your individual life?
Once I have the topic I then look up Scripture verses that pertain to that topic.
Here are just a few of my particular topics ~
My God will hear me
My God is my shield
My God and my tongue
My God will be my guide
My God's mercy and grace
My God wants me to have joy
My God wants me to trust Him
My God is the Righteous Judge
God wants me to love His Word
My God is my help and strength
My God wants solitude prayer time
My My God wants me to love my enemies
My God wants me to be a virtuous women
My list goes on, but you get the idea.Once I have the topic I then look up Scripture verses that pertain to that topic.
Take JOY my friends and be blessed!
"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness:
come before His presence with singing"
~ Psalm 100:1&2 ~
Joy!
Debbie
♡
27 comments:
This was definitely a JOYful way to start my day! Thank you for bringing JOY into the morning. I know you will find many ways to experience JOY in the Lord throughout the year. Everything about our Lord speaks JOY to me and I find myself reJOICing so often as I gaze upon the beauties He places before me. Thank you for sharing this with us. We will be able to feel the JOY overflowing to us as you share what the Lord is teaching you throughout the year. My word is Abundance...and that would include an abundance of JOY! Have a blessed and JOYful day today!!
Awe....love your WORD! God is so good at how He brings to us exactly what we need isn't He? You are a JOY my friend to know. I so wish we lived closer to enjoy one another. One thing I do know.....IF I never meet you on this side of heaven I shall meet you in heaven. What a JOY that will be. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Happy New Year, dearest Debbie! Joy is a wonderful choice for your word. Can you imagine living life without it? Unfortunately, so many do and I feel truly sorry for those who don't know how to find the TRUE joy. I am in awe of your notebook and this wonderful way to keep these scripture close at hand and to your heart. Your Christmas sounded so fun and in response to your telling us about having girls vs. boys, well, it was just the opposite for me. We had 2 sons and 3 grandsons before our Olivia came along...I hardly knew what to do with a little girl! But, we figure it out...LOL! I hope your new year is off to a great start, my friend! Much love and hugs!
There is not a finer word to describe your countenance, my dearest friend! You always spread JOY to others. Praying God's abundant JOY in your life this year.
I have been remiss in answering emails but I hope to get to it soon.
{{hugs}}
I think often of the Scripture, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." It isn't always easy to find the joy in the midst of life's sorrows and heartaches, but if we can focus on the fact that HE is our joy, it is amazing how it does strengthen us! I also think of the verse to "count it all joy when we fall into trials", and oh, my, that can be so difficult to do when our bodies are exhausted and spent from the long fight with afflictions, our nerves are frayed from such long pounding of the enemy, and our spirit is absolutely weary from well-doing. It surely takes a concentrated effort to "count it all joy" when we are so depleted in every way. These verses help us focus and keep our eyes on Jesus, don't they? And, in Him we find our peace. May the Lord bless you in this new year, sweet friend, and may your heart always be filled with His joy!
Dearest Debbie, As I read the above comments, I couldn't agree more with a perfect word for you and one that describes you so well. I have been between two words this last week-one is Trust, because in so many areas of uncertainty in my life I simply have to trust Him. The second word is Hope-because that is what I must do! Thank you dear one for spreading Joy here.
Blessings,
Noreen
Somehow, the word 'joy' seems to suit you. I have not known you for very long, but you come across as a person filled with joy and tenderness. May God bless you as you got in Him this year. I have begun a year long devotional called, Becoming a Woman at Peace.
What a JOY you are, dear Debbie! Thank you for sharing your word, which I love, and your way of journaling in your notebook and adding scripture verses according to topics. You are a blessing, my friend, and a most Hsppy New Year to you!
Take joy!
Amen.
:-)
You are off to a great start filling your life with JOY! I think most of us struggle with that . . . at least it seems that way. We live in a world where we have so many good things and yet, so many lack joy because they are seeking it in the wrong place. Thanks for sharing you tips and ideas for keeping the Word active and alive in our lives. Happy New Year my friend!
Oh I love it! My word for this year is rest. I get myself all worked up and stressed out way too much. I really believe the Lord wants me to rest in Him and not be anxious.
Hello, sweet Debbie. I'm so glad I found you again. I lost my blog and all my followers and it's taken me months to add everyone back. It's been a year of change for me. My word for last year was trust. I knew when God spoke it into my spirit that it was going to be a challenging year because if he knew I needed to know that I could trust Him, I knew there would be some difficult times. When we truly trust, we know His peace and I experienced that to be true. He is faithful. I followed you. Hope you'll follow my new blog. I'm back to White Lace and Promises. We'll catch up soon.
Wish you a blessed New Year dear Debbie.
Joy is a beautiful word for many purposes.
May you have a blessed and joyous New Year, Debbie!
Ah Debbie I so love your word Joy. My sister-in-law last year chose that as her word for the year. She has now shared a devotional with me that she read during the year to remind her to find joy everywhere.
I keep a daily prayer journal and often write down scriptures as reminders of how much God loves us and wants to talk with us. Thank you for this lovely post. Wishing you much joy friend. Hugs!
Debbie, your posts always shine with the joy within you. It's a very apt word for your year.
Sounds like your new year is off to a great start, Debbie, and you have chosen a wonderful word to reflect upon.
The Scripture notebook is also a super idea. I will start one today. Thank you!
Hello Debbie...I hope my computer holds out so that I can enjoy blogging once again. So happy you left your comment at lakehouse, because it brought me back here. I missed so much while being off for six months. JOY is perfect for your word choice, Debbie. Psalm 16:11 is a favorite of mine. Have a wonderful week!
Debbie
xo
When I think of the word Joy, you always come to mind Debbie, I truly feel this word personifies your walk with the Lord beautifully! I look forward to seeing what the Lord does this year with this special word that fits you so powerfully! How wonderful to enjoy such a special time with your grandsons, it is true that boys and girls are so different from each other! So much fun to enjoy with the boys, all the snow tunnels, forts, and outdoor fun sounds like the perfect way to have a blessed time with them! I just ADORE your beautiful journal, and what a beautiful thing it is to have right at hand all the scriptures that have ministered to your heart about the character of the Lord! I just love journaling, and I'm going to make some new journals this year, and this will definitely be one of them, just a beautiful idea, and a great way to further store the Word in our hearts! Appreciate your love for the Lord, and the joy that overflows from your heart into blogland... blessings, hugs and much joy to you sweet friend!
Perfect word! And it is wonderful how you spread the joy wherever you go!!
Many blessings and a Joy-filled year, living and rejoicing in the LORD !! Actually, seems a perfect word for every day and week and always!!!! ♡
I like the idea of a Scriptures notebook, what a good idea. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Hmmm...how did I know your word was going to be "JOY" for this new year {{smiles}} Whenever I hear the word, see the word, or use the word "Joy" I always think of you. To put it simply, JOY is so YOU! If I had to name one person who lived joyfully and spread that joy to others, it would be you. I think you have chosen a perfect word. We can learn so much from being joyful. By giving thanks to the Lord we are doing so with a joyful spirit, when we are weak our stength does indeed come from the joy of the Lord, and oh, what joy there is in our salvation.
A beautiful post and a wonderful word to live by. Thanks for sharing. Love and hugs to you!
You are a JOY to all who visit here Debbie! Thank you for sharing~
I wish you Gods Very Best in this year to come~ Love & hugs, karen o
I love your word- JOY---I have decided to seek JOY in every avenue this year, too, Debbie. I think your blog must have fallen off my side bar somewhere along the line. Your posts are not popping up. I am going to remedy that right now.
Have a blessed day- xo Diana
Hi Debbie,
Thank you for visiting my blog.
I had to chuckle at the fun of boys. ;-) I am the mom of two boys. My family before us having two boys was all girls. My mom had three sisters, all of her family had girls, she had two more girls to add to the mix. Then along comes me and my hubby and we bring in the first of the boys.
"boy" imaginations .. yes. My oldest son is 18 and is at Basic Training with the Army. My other is 16.
I enjoyed your post.
Carla
Isn't it comforting and strengthening just to read those words - that list of all the things that GOD IS, to us? Having joy, choosing JOY, is not always easy, but it will be a good thing to do this year, and will make you a blessing to others.
J O Y is my 2019 word! So much sadness and hatefulness in our world. I choose JOY! I am just loving catching up with you. Must remind myself to stop by and say hello to Stephanie too. HUGS and LOVE
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