Nehemiah said to the people, “The joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). It is not the LORD having joy upon the Israelites, it is the Israelites having joy on the LORD that is the source of their strength.
Indeed, the strength of the church today is still the joy of the LORD. We may be joyous over many other things. But our strength does not lie in them. How can we ever be strong if we are not joyous of the LORD?
May we find joy in the LORD our God.
Joshua 1:1-9 Moses died. The Israelites mourned for him for fourty days. Joshua was called to lead the people since the Israelites had not arrived at the promised land yet. They had to move on. It must have been a daunting task and a difficult thing to accept the call. The Israelites had been wandering…
The Apostle Paul put all emphasis on his course and ministry given to him. He said, “I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24)….
Neh. 13 When Nehemiah went to Jerusalem to build the wall, “Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab” (Neh. 2:19) created a lot of troubles. But, Nehemiah, knowing that they were just asking for trouble, continued his work and completed building it in just 52 days (Neh. 6:15). After they…
Eph. 4:22-24 In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote mostly about Christian living. This was because, the Jews and the Gentiles were in loggerheads with each other. In chapters 1-3, Paul talked about unity in Christ and compared the the church to the body, a house and a woman. In chapter 4, Paul elaborated…
Acts 20:7-12 As Paul was travelling, he spent seven days in Troas. The night before he was leaving, he held a discussion with the people of Troas and he continued to speak until midnight. A young man Eutychus was also there sitting by the window. As Paul continued to speak, he fell asleep and fell…
Jesus rose again. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went into the tomb. They were told by an angel, “Do not be afraid” (Matt. 28:5). They met Jesus who also told them, “Do not be afraid” (Matt. 28:10). Jesus came to the disciples and told them, “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20:19). Again, He said,…