Welcome to the true and real JOY; the Joy of the Lord, it is your strength. The Joy in the Holy Spirit, in service, in leading, in others, in patience, and in more. It’s your time to Leap, dance, shout, smile and laugh. Now is the time to jump out of stress, and start to meditate on the JOY found only in the Lord. When you begin to pray about JOY, and thank God for JOY, you will see yourself having JOY. So take your time and contemplate on the JOY of the Lord for 17 days through this devotional, and your life will never be the same again.
"Provides rich reflections on every Sunday gospel reading in the three-year Lectionary from Augustine, Bede, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, Aelred, John Scotus Erigena, Origen, Cyril of Alexandria, and many more"--P. [4] of cover.
The Nana and Me Series of books offers simple ways to teach children and to serve as a reminder for adults to live life with good Christian values such as: The Golden Rule, Honesty is the Best Policy, and Cleanliness is next to Godliness. This book, “You are CLEAN!”, is another wonderful collection from the Nana and Me Series which conveys that cleanliness is next to Godliness and that God smiles on us when we live clean lives in our hearts, minds and souls, as well as our homes and bodies.
Profound reflections on the cross that help you to meditate on and marvel at the sacrificial love of Jesus. This book can be used as a devotional, especially during Lent and Easter. These profound reflections on the cross from David Mathis, author of The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, will help you to meditate on and marvel at Jesus’ life, sacrificial death, and spectacular resurrection-enabling you to treasure anew who Jesus is and what he has done. Many of us are so familiar with the Easter story that it becomes easy to miss subtle details and difficult to really enjoy its meaning. This book will help you to pause and marvel at Jesus, whose now-glorified wounds are a sign of his unfailing love and the decisive victory that he has won: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) This book can be used as a devotional. The chapters on Holy Week make it especially helpful during the Lent season and at Easter.
“Psalms of Bliss” is a journey, a walk through the lives of the author’s ancestors before him. The Author, Edwin A. Hill believes that by looking back, there is often revelation for life today. He states that “....the lives and life experiences of our ancestors have shaped much of who we are and who we can be, if we choose to understand the roads they have trodden”. He is saddened for our youth today, who have little knowledge of the beliefs held by their ancestors as role models. The book draws us to the author’s ancestors that trace back for over 100 years. Love from God offers access to a life in heaven as key to the “Bliss”, the joy shared generation to generation. Psalms of Bliss affirms the blessings waiting for all of our lives as we receive God’s gift of new life in our hearts. “New life” that many of our ancestors embraced. In stories, psalms and poems, he invites us into his heart to choose to join him in praises to God. Hill’s chapters and psalms are full of compassion, joy, faith, fears and even “Bliss” resulting from God’s blessings upon this family. Psalms of Bliss encourages us to rejoice with family and others from gracious hearts standing strong in the favor of God.
A Playful Path, the new book by games guru and fun theorist Bernard De Koven, serves as a collection of ideas and tools to help us bring our playfulness back into the open. When we find ourselves forgetting the life of the game or the game of life, the joy of form or the content, the play of brain or mind, body or spirit, this book can help us return to that which our soul is heir.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Astonishing . . . one of those hard-to-put-down-until-four-in-the morning books . . . a story with characters who enter a reader’s life, take up residence, and illuminate the myriad decisions and stories that make up human history.”—Los Angeles Times In her most powerful novel yet, acclaimed author Lisa See returns to the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy. Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the Communist regime. Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives. BONUS: This edition contains a Dreams of Joy discussion guide. Praise for Dreams of Joy “[Lisa] See is a gifted historical novelist. . . . The real love story, the one that’s artfully shown, is between mother and daughter, and aunt and daughter, as both of the women who had a part in making Joy return to China come to her rescue. . . . [In Dreams of Joy,] there are no clear heroes or villains, just people who often take wrong turns to their own detriment but for the good of the story, leading to greater strength of character and more durable relationships.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A heartwarming story of heroic love between a mother and daughter . . . No writer has better captured the voice and heart of Chinese culture.”—Bookreporter “Once again, See’s research feels impeccable, and she has created an authentic, visually arresting world.”—The Washington Post
It's hard to find time for a spiritual recharge in the morning, but Linda Estes is here again to help with her mastery of the one-minute devotional. We like "our stuff," don't we? We hold tight to our material things, our dreams, and our plans for our lives. We have things all lined out in our heads and hearts. Things are going along just fine and then God interrupts our stuff. He asks us to let go of something, or someone, we love. When that happens, we have two choices. We can either go along with God's plan or hang on to our own. Sometimes God asks us to let go of things simply to help us grow in our faith-walk with Him. Other times He asks us to let go so that He can do what Scripture tells us in Ephesians 3:20. God wants to "do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think." Only when we are willing to let go of whatever God is asking of us, can He then bless our socks off. When we let God be God and surrender "our stuff" so He can carry out His plan for our lives, that's when we really start living ... God's way. Linda's prayer for you as you read these one-minute devotions is that they will help you find the freedom and blessings in letting go. These books are for everyone who wants to start their day right with God, and make delightful gifts.
Have you lost your joy? Do you feel like you have to prove yourself? Does your Christian life feel routine and performance oriented, driven by duty and obligation? The letter of Galatians was written to Christians who had lost their joy— confronted with false messages about rules and regulations they needed to follow. Similar false messages provoked the start of the Protestant Reformation, and have continued to threaten the joy of Christians ever since. Exploring how the sixteenth-century Reformation was a return to the gospel joy originally preached to first-century Galatia, this book was written to help today's Christians rediscover the path to true freedom and lasting joy in Jesus.
