SUNDAYS WITH JOYCE

 

HOPE

Be ready to explain your hope to others....... 1 Peter 3:15...... But sanctify the Lord the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear

Be strong and take courage....... Psalms 31:24..... Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord

Confident Assurance....... Hebrews 11:1..... Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen

God's plan involves hope....... Jeremiah 29:11..... For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end

Hope gives endurance....... 1 Thessalonians 1:3..... Remember without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father

Hope springs eternal.......1 Corinthians 13:13.....

But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

　

　

Grace Comes Unexpectedly

Grace comes unexpectedly
In barns on bitter nights,
Ultimately ordinary
Lest we claim our rights.
Invisible to those who see,
A veil to those who know,
No miracle or mystery
Descends to us below;
Just immanence immaculate
Awake within our sleep,
Salient as a centipede
Out strolling on a heap,
Not strange enough to keep.

 

　

 

Opening Our Hearts To Love

Let us open our hearts
the way we open a book we love,
not as a check-book,
wanting to know your balance.
Your balance of love is full.
There never can be a debit.
This is what you must know.
Your heart is full of love.

It doesn't matter how much
or how little other people love.
It matters how much you love.
Stir love in your own heart
and to open it up the way you would a door
to the beloved house you were born in.

This heart is not only where you have lived
and loved, this is where you live and love now.
There is no life but of the heart.
And your heart is not meant to be a secret passage.
There is no code to get in except the code of love,
and that is an open book where the pages turn automatically.

There is no use in stocking your love.
You must take it off the shelves.
Love hoarded is not love.
Only love given is love.

There are not meant to be closets for love to hang in.
Love is to be exposed to the elements.
Your love is to enter other hearts
so other hearts become aware
of the love that is already there.

If your heart needs reprogramming,
reprogram it now.
Set it back to its original fullness.
There are no empty hearts,
only deluded ones.
Give your heart a briefing.
If it has been stalled, set it afire now.
Rev it up. Get it into gear. Let it go.
Let it race to other hearts and get them going.
Let your heart revolve around love.

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Whoso loves, believes the impossible

Who has not found the heaven below
Will fail of it above.
God's residence is next to men,
His furniture is love

He is not a lover who does not love forever.

We need not think alike to love alike.

When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.

Love must be as much a light as it is a flame.