“…Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:10

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

“But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Luke 2:10

“You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.”

Acts 2:28

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.”

Philippians 1:4

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Philippians 4:4

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

The Worst Possible Thing

Posted on: May 13th, 2010 by Susan No Comments

How might you fill in the blank to this sentence:

The worst possible thing I could be is ______________.

single. married. overweight. underweight. short. tall. rich. poor. angry. passive. trusting. skeptical. etc. etc.

Beth Moore notes, “Unchecked desire can lead to desperation and desperation doesn’t make good decisions.”  The desperation that fuels our desire to change what’s in the blank can lead to some pretty intense situations of hurt, sadness, anger, etc.  Would it be fair to say that whatever it is that is the object of our desire that counters what we currently fill in the blank with often becomes what takes the place of what was in the blank?  [That makes complete sense in my head and I hope it does written out as well!]

The worst possible thing I could be is a lost soul with no hope of spending eternity with God.  The greatest need I have is salvation.  Thanks be to God for meeting me in this need even while I sometimes focus more on filling in the blank with my own interpretation.

I’m reminded today of the need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill in the blank with God’s grace and mercy.

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