Need Some Joy?

Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.  
 
We all need joy in our life in order for life to make sense, right? Otherwise, how miserable it would be to just exist and feel no joy at all. We have all met people from time to time that have been robbed of their joy due to life's circumstances. I think it is disheartening  when I meet people who rob themselves of their own joy. No matter how much you try to help them see the good in life they see the negative, always complaining and in a state of major self pity. Let's be honest, we are all guilty!
 
There are people who should not have any joy because of life's circumstances and yet they do have real joy.  That is amazing to me because they manage to enjoy God's blessings in the midst of it all. 
 
Joy comes from God and He gives it to anyone who wants to receive it and even when life happens and bangs us up, it will be where we least expect it. 
 
Joy has come to me in many forms....some times from a scripture, a child, a friend, a flower, a butterfly, the ocean, artwork, etc....and when I least expect it! 
 
In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag. - W.H. Auden

 This picture was taken on one of my walks on March 31, 2008.

Restoration

 Psalm 33:18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

written January 11, 2001:
My 20 year old daughter was sharing with a friend of hers, who was going through some struggles, the principle of restoration. She said that restoration should be like every time she returns to our church because everyone there always welcomes her back with open arms and no questions asked.

I thought it was a very powerful statement and says a lot for our church. No matter where she is spiritually, she always feels welcome when she comes to worship. That is what church is all about ~ Grace!

Grace, grace, God's grace... Grace that is greater than all our sin... 

 This picture was taken in my kitchen March 18, 2012. I picked these Amaryllis from my garden.

The Genealogy of Grace - Bible Study of Genesis Chapter 5

Genesis Chapter 5 traces the lineage from Adam to Noah, highlighting the faithful descendants and their remarkable longevity.

This period is called the antediluvian age which is the time before the flood.

Adam & Eve

Methuselah died at 969 years old

Noah whose family built an ark to prepare for a global flood

Genesis 5 is a genealogy that records the descendants of Adam and Eve through their son Seth.

Verses 1-32

Adam fathered Seth and died at the age of 930

Seth fathered Enoch and died at 912

Enoch fathered Kenyan and died at the age of 905

Kenan fathered Mahalalel and died at the age of 910

Mahalalel fathered Jared and died at age 895

Jared fathered Enoch and died at the age of 962

Enoch fathered Methuselah. Enoch didn’t die but instead God took him at the age of 365.

Methuselah fathered Lamech and died at the age of 969

Lamech fathered Noah and died at the age of 777

Noah fathered Shem, Ham and Japheth and that is where our next story begins with the life of Noah.

The reason that God includes these generations of families in the Bible is because of the promises made in the previous chapters to these families and their descendants. This list is not just records of generations but also evidence of God’s faithfulness to the promises made generations ago.