Daily Devotional Day &Night

HAPPY THURSDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone and you're enjoying this beautiful Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday eve. I'm doing well, filled with the Spirit of the Lord. As I was researching for today's devotional, I learned a lot, in so little time. Today we celebrate the last Supper, which is when Jesus gathered with His friends, for one last meal during Passover. At this celebration, He started started off by washing His followers feet, which is a great sign of respect. He than broke bread and drank wine with them, and He taught several life lessons. These stories can be found in the book of John chapters 13-17. Tomorrow we celebrate Good Friday, which is the day that Jesus was betrayed and killed. It's said that He was killed on the day, which was traditionally the day that the Lambs were to be slaughtered for the sacrifice, during Passover. Which is why Jesus is called the Lamb of God. The stories about His crucifixion can be found in chapters 18-19. Jesus went through a lot for us, and it's important to learn the history of it, to better understand our "Christian roots". The Internet is a precious tool, because you can “Google” just about anything, and find a vast array of wisdom. You may not hear from me again until Tuesday, so Happy Easter to you, and be blessed family!

Today's scriptures are about Joy. What a wonderful word, JOY! It makes me smile at the thought of it. The word Joy is defined: the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation. Who Jesus is, what He's accomplished, and how He loves, should bring great joy to all mankind. By definition, joy is an emotion, but it’s also a state of mind, because Jesus had a joyful state of mind. During all the turmoil He faced, throughout the last few days of His life, He was satisfied with the fact that He was following the will of God. He was pleased about offering Himself as a sacrifice, because He would bring peace to the entire human race. His passion brought Joy to His heart, as well as the Father’s. God revealed to Jesus, early in life, that He would suffer many things, which will lead to His death, and He still kept a joyful outlook. He didn’t constantly complain, nor did He give up on life, but He rejoiced in completing God’s will. However, He had His moments, because the flesh is weak. When it came closer to the time of His crucifixion, He went to the wilderness to pray, and took His disciples with Him. It's written: ...He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” (Matt 26:37-38) Jesus went off into the wilderness on His own, and fell on His face and prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” A second and third time He prayed, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matt 26:42) I loved my study of the Gospel of Christ, because it gave me something real, and tangible to hold on to. When we solely depend on other's to teach us, we're at the mercy of their knowledge or wisdom. However, we're attempting to build a "personal" relationship with God. We’re working to be “like Christ”, in order to truly experience the joy of life, so we must seek His wisdom for ourselves. Jesus taught using "real life" scenarios, because He understands our mindset. The fact that God allowed us to see Him in such a vulnerable state, allows us to understand that it's okay. However, God is so powerful, and loves us so much, that our hearts shouldn't be troubled with the facts of life. We should have great joy, because our rewards are greater than we could ever imagine. In the Old Testament, God lead Ezra to preach His Word to the people of Jerusalem. This was a group of people who were from all walks of life. They spoke different languages, and came from different cultures, yet they had one thing in common, pain and sorrow. They all sat and listened intently to Ezra, even though many of them didn't understand his language, but God gave them a way, and they helped each other understand. The word of God instilled hope in their hearts, and that hope turned into Joy. Ezra ended his sermon with these words, "Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) The Joy of the Lord got Jesus through His horrifying ordeal, and it’ll get us through anything we’ll face in life as well. We must learn to constantly count our blessings, because things could always be worst. Suffering for the Lord, means we'll experience tremendous joy with the Lord. Again, Joy is a mindset, and the fact that we have victory by the blood of the Lamb, has allowed it to have a permanent place in our heart. Remember, with God our joys will always outweigh our pains, but the beauty of a life with Christ is that we can still experience joy through them. If you don't know Jesus then you have yet to experience true joy. Get to know Him today, but start by inviting Him to be Lord and Savior of your life. He was crucified for you. My favorite verse today is: Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; ... for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. (Hebrews 12:2)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455288&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/site/pp.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943197
http://www.intouch.org/site/apps/nl/newsletter.asp?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943547

I love you!