The Fullness of Joy
November 30th, 2009Monday’s Reflection
THANK YOU, GOD,
that even when I feel empty and dry,
I know that the springs of joy are there, buried deep within me.
I ask you to tap those springs now, release them,
and carry me away on their fullness.
Thank you, O God, for joy.
Joy that overcomes all else.
Joy that is more powerful than the darkest powers.
Joy that is more abundant than the waters in the seas.
Joy that is mine.
- Patricia F. Wilson
Quiet Spaces
From p. 44 of Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson. Copyright © 2002 by the author. All rights reserved. Used with permission of Upper Room Books. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Advent is here. Join Beth Richardson for daily reflection and conversation at unclutteredheart.org.
Today’s Question
Are you feeling “empty and dry” or overflowing with “springs of joy”? Join the conversation.
Today’s Scripture Reading
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.
- Philippians 1:3-4, NRSV
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November 30th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Yes, is very early here and I am truly worried abut today. As I go through this morning reflection I see that God already knows how I have been feeling and he wants me to know that his rivers of joy can satistfy any dry areas in my life. Thank you so much God for listening my soul even when I do not speak. Thanks sending me a message of hope and love this day of dryness may I feel full in blessings and grateful for everything you have givien me. In Christ I pray. AMEN
November 30th, 2009 at 4:36 am
Father – may I thirst only for Your joy. May I not equate joy from situations or people here – with Your Ultimate Joy. May my ultimate satisfaction be dependent on You. Father – I thank You for the good moments and relationships – and how they lift my heart…but may my expectancy be You. Help me with expectations of others.
Father – I lift to You – each person that will visit this board today – leaving a comment or not. Generously water their dry spots, Lord. Give them heavenly moisture – rain down. May they experience joy in You – deep, cleansing, eternal, JOY.
November 30th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Jill, thank you for that. Today, I’m feeling a little ‘empty and dry’. It seems that I always feel this way after a holiday…usually because I’m worn out. Lord, fill me with joy today and everyday. Help me to feel closer to You during this holiday season and always. Give my family peace, as this time of year is especially hard for us, due to losing both my mom and mother in law a little over a year ago.
Help everyone realize that You are the reason for the season and to celebrate accordingly. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
November 30th, 2009 at 8:47 am
I’ve been feeling separated from God and dry for some time now, but it’s better today. Last night I asked God to make me fearless and to take away the doubts and snares Satan had thrown on and around me. I let it go and asked God to take over again because I was tired of doing it my way. Today is the first day of actually trying again to please and honor God in ALL that I say and do.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Today I seek that joy of the Lord. I seek to live in the presence of the Holy Spirit in whom the Christ rejoiced. I need Thy spirit to complete the chasms left by the emptiness of life. Fill me O Lord with Thy joy that overcomes the world.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:00 am
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.
-Isaiah 58:11 (NRSV)
November 30th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Trusting in Him; following His way leads to a straight path, a smooth past – the path is prepared. Let us walk in the way of the Lord
Luke 3:4-5
3:4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
This holiday season I’ve been feeling empty. I can’t figure out why or what to do other than stay in prayer. I pray that GOD will se me thru whatever is going on within me!
November 30th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Lord, I have been through such a long winter season in my life with my children and my husband. I am so in need of spring in my life! New birth, renewed relationships, and family that is not divided. I hold strongly to the promise of your delivery from the deserts, the winters and valley’s in our lives. Provide for me Lord, today, the water I need to quench the thirst of my spirit.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I do feel a little empty and dry lately. I feel like there is an emptiness I can’t seem to fill. I try to fill that hole with bad things. Lord, I pray for springs of joy that may fill that hole within me and renew me each and every day. Amen.
December 1st, 2009 at 8:54 am
It is difficult to keep myself in the “Joy” zone with the unrest there is in my family at this time. Prayer is all that I can do about our family relationships. Just now I made a call and told my granddaughter I love her before she got to school. Maybe more contact with each of them would be a good ideal. I pray for God to show me the way to his wonderful joy everyday that I wake up. I need to quit dwelling on the sad things in my life and live for the joys that are there. Hadley said she fills the empty hole with bad things. We both pray for joy in that empty and dry place in our hearts before the bad takes over. Thank you God for being.