THE KING IS COMING... MEDITATION MONDAY...

Welcome to our new theme and a new year of transforming!  I have pondered and prayed about our new theme.  There are many things to consider when we are talking about eternal life for you, your family, and those who you come in contact with.  I'm planning on blogging in a similar, yet new fashion this year.  Join me in a year of J.O.Y.

I am a teacher at heart:  teacher for children, teacher for future teachers, teacher for women/moms... Maybe you remember singing this kids song in Bible class, Vacation Bible School, or church camp:  "

"J.O.Y.!  J.O.Y.! 

Happy as can be! 

Jesus first! 

Yourself last! 

And Others in between!"

This connects us to  "The Greatest Commandment".  I'd like to spend  this year exploring J.O.Y. in terms of the acrostic:

J is for Jesus
O is for Others
Y is for Yourself

You can see the "plan" for the year over on the right sidebar.

Let's begin with considering this timeline of verses from scripture:

Genesis 1:
²⁶ "Then GOD said, 'Let US make mankind in OUR image, in OUR likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'”

John 1:
¹ In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD was GOD.
² He was with GOD in the beginning.
³ Through HIM all things were made; without HIM nothing was made that has been made.
⁴ In HIM was LIFE, and that LIFE was the LIGHT of all mankind.
⁵ The LIGHT shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
⁶ There was a man sent from GOD whose name was John.
⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that LIGHT, so that through him all might believe.
⁸ He himself was not the LIGHT; he came only as a witness to the LIGHT.
⁹ The TRUE LIGHT that gives LIGHT to everyone was coming into the world.
¹⁰ HE was in the world, and though the world was made through HIM, the world did not recognize HIM.
¹¹ HE came to that which was HIS own, but HIS own did not receive HIM.
¹² Yet to all who did receive HIM, to those who believed in HIS name, HE gave the right to become children of GOD— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of GOD.
¹⁴ The WORD became flesh and made HIS dwelling among us. We have seen HIS glory, the glory of the one and only SON, who came from the FATHER, full of GRACE and TRUTH.


John 3:
 ¹⁶ "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS one and only SON, that whoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have ETERNAL LIFE."

 

1 John 3:

¹ See what great love the FATHER has lavished on us, that we should be called children of GOD! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know HIM.
² Dear friends, now we are children of GOD, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when CHRIST appears, we shall be like HIM, for we shall see HIM as HE is...

¹⁶ This is how we know what LOVE is: JESUS CHRIST laid down HIS life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the LOVE of GOD be in that person?
¹⁸ Dear children, let us not LOVE with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1 John 4:
⁷ Dear friends, let us LOVE one another, for LOVE comes from GOD. Everyone who LOVEs has been born of GOD and knows GOD.
⁸ Whoever does not LOVE does not know GOD, because GOD IS LOVE.
⁹ This is how GOD showed HIS LOVE among us: HE sent HIS one and only SON into the world that we might live through HIM.
¹⁰ This is LOVE: not that we loved GOD, but that HE LOVEd us and sent HIS SON as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
¹¹ Dear friends, since GOD so LOVEd us, we also ought to LOVE one another.
¹² No one has ever seen GOD; but if we LOVE one another, GOD lives in us and HIS LOVE is made complete in us.
¹³ This is how we know that we live in HIM and HE in us: HE has given us of HIS SPIRIT.
¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the FATHER has sent HIS SON to be the SAVIOR of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that JESUS is the SON OF GOD, GOD lives in them and they in GOD.
¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the LOVE GOD has for us. GOD is LOVE. Whoever lives in LOVE lives in GOD, and GOD in them.
¹⁷ This is how LOVE is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like JESUS.
¹⁸ There is no fear in LOVE. But perfect LOVE drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in LOVE.
¹⁹ We LOVE because HE first loved us.
²⁰ Whoever claims to LOVE GOD yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not LOVE their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot LOVE God, whom they have not seen.
²¹ And HE has given us this command: Anyone who LOVES GOD must also LOVE their brother and sister.

Revelation 22:
¹² “Look, I am coming soon! MY reward is with ME, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
¹³ I am the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the FIRST and the LAST, the BEGINNING and the END.
¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of LIFE and may go through the gates into the city.
¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
¹⁶ “I, JESUS, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the ROOT and the OFFSPRING OF DAVID, and the BRIGHT MORNING STAR.”

J is for Jesus!


Faith is Jesus!
I place my Faith in Jesus!


Hope is Jesus!
I place my Hope in Jesus!

Love is Jesus!
I choose to Love Jesus!

~OH, THE JOY!~