Nehemiah 8:10

For Reading and Meditation:     Mark 6:45-51

Yesterday we said that we all want to be happy - and rightly so. This is a deep-rooted instinct which God has built into us. But happiness is not something you make but something you receive. You cannot make happiness any more than you can make love. You can express love but you cannot make love. So it is with happiness....

Nehemiah 8:1-18

The work of Nehemiah had been well done. In spite of opposition and all hindrance the walls had been rebuilt and the city had come into a measure of prosperity. Then under the divine direction Nehemiah gathered together the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that their genealogical records might be made up. After this there was called a great assembly to listen to the reading of the Holy Scriptures. The people came...

Sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob. Raise a song and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the lute. § He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. § The joy of the Lord is your strength. Paul … thanked God and took courage.Knowing the time, that now it is...

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. § I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. § [Be] strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. § The joy of the Lord is your strength.Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets.” § Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to...

Joy in the Holy Spirit. § Inexpressible and full of glory.Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing… Exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. § We also glory in tribulations.Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. § These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. § As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through...

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. §  I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. § The gospel of Christ . . . is the power of God to...

Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. § Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; “for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.” § The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. § My soul shall be joyful in my God; for...

The joy of the Lord is your strength. § The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. § Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.By Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving...