Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the Monday that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it!
When I stepped outside this morning, I was surprised by the coolness and also the full moon which was shining through the thin cloud cover. Gorgeous!
I saw two gators sunning themselves on the bank of the canal both days of the weekend. Fat, lazy and black and shiny... guess I never will get over the excitement of seeing gators this close to my home. Just a kid at heart!!
But I have been chasing Muscovy ducks out of our big oak tree, because they like to roost there at night and make a big mess on the driveway. I enjoy nature, but not what some of the critters do.
Once again, I was admiring the jacarandas in our neighborhood. they are so beautiful every spring and then, just as they start to fade, the royal poincianas will bloom in all their fiery glory! God is good!
From the devotional book, Quiet Moments with God:
Nehemiah 8:10 "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
Most of us have a daily routine--a series of repetitious chores, errands, and tasks that demand our time and are required to maintain life at tis most basic level. "Routine," says Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel, "Makes us resistant to wonder." When we let our sense of wonder and awe drain away, we lose the sense of our preciousness to God.
Jesus recognized our preoccupation with these duties in His sermon on the Mount. He said, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" Matthew 6:25
But how do we apprehend the life that is "more important than food," when so much of our time and energy are spent providing and maintaining the essentials of food, clothing, and shelter? The "daily grind" can cause us to lose our sense of God's purpose and presence. We may feel like Job, who despaired, "When he passes me, I cannot see him, when he goes by, I cannot perceive him." Job 9:11
A fourteenth-century English mystic, had a perspective that can help restore joy to even the most lackluster days. She said, "Joy is to see God in everything." the psalmist wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God". Psalm 19:1 KJV, and the prophet Isaiah wrote, "The whole earth is full of his glory." Isiah 6:3 KJV. The glory of creation is that it points us to the greater glory of the Creator.
If life's routines are wearing down your enthusiasm and joy, take time to seek out His love, majesty, and goodness revealed in creation. Be renewed in your joy of who God is - and who you are to Him - and find his strength and purpose in even your most routine tasks.
PEOPLE NEED JOY QUITE AS MUCH AS CLOTHING. SOME OF THEM NEED IT FAR MORE.
Martha Collier Graham
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs, Amaryllis
