December 12 J O Y

Sunday:  This is the third week of Advent. Emma and I celebrated with our advent wreath tonight. The focus this week is on JOY--the JOY that Christ brings to our lives. 

We lit our purple candle, representing HOPE; we lit another purple candle, representing PEACE; and then we lit our rose candle, which represents JOY.

Emma and I sat at my piano and sang a few verses of "Joy to the World." Beautiful. I even managed to play it without too many errors. I'm so thankful for my piano.

Once again, we read from The Jesus Storybook Bible. Tonight we read the story of Abraham and Sarah waiting for the promise of a child--and how God fulfilled that promise through Isaac. We were also instructed to think about the miraculous birth to Elizabeth and Zechariah of John, a half year prior to the birth of Jesus. How does it feel to wait such a long, long time for a promise? These people waited many long years--but God does not lie--not ever. He always comes through and delivers exactly what He says He will do.

Emma and I talked about God's promises for awhile. We talked about how difficult it is to believe, sometimes, when there is so much we can't see or understand. 

This morning (Monday) as I continued to memorize verses from Psalm 139, I was reviewing verse six: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!" The writer is referring to the first five verses of his song that speak of God searching us out and intimately knowing us, even our thoughts, desires, will, our words before we speak them, about Him laying His hand upon us and always being with us. I looked up the word "wonderful" and it simply means: singular in the sense of being extraordinary, exceptional, outstanding. David says to think about God knowing everything about him is just too much for him to grasp. My prayer is that the Lord will "override" my inability to grasp these amazing truths and to replace my disbelief with faith. I have experienced a wonderful JOY studying this Psalm the last few weeks. Thank you, Lord.