Tag Archives: spirituality

The 01/01/13 ‘Joy Jar’

1 Jan
Moi started her ‘Joy Jar’ in response to what some interpreted as ‘The Mayan Apocalypse ‘ which was supposed to occur on December 21, 2012. This is the deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ for January 1, 2013:
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (NLT)
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul”
G. K. Chesterton
Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!
This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!
I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!
– William Arthur Ward

New Year’s Day now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.
Mark Twain
Let’s begin the year hoping Mark Twain will not be proved right.

The 12/28/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec

Sometimes as you walk along the paths of life, there is a presence walking beside you. Sometimes it feels as if the presence is not there and you wonder where the presence has gone. But, you know the presence is always with you and has not left. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is faith.

 

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you you’d walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.” The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
Mary Stevenson
Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be… a prudent insurance policy.”
Elizabeth Gilbert
God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.”
Elbert Hubbard
Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.”
Max Lucado,
He Still Moves Stones
The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
Søren Kierkegaard
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
Corrie ten Boom

The 12/25/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
People should have a vision or goals to help guide them along their life journey. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ deals with vision:
Proverbs 29:18 “For lack of vision my people perish”
A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
Bruce Lee
The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.”
Helen Keller
Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!
Bob Marley
I’m most proud of the blessings that God has bestowed upon me, in my life. He’s given me the vision to truly see that you can fall down, but you can still get back up. Hopefully I’ll learn from my mistakes and have the opportunity to strengthen and improve the next thing I do.
Martin Lawrence

The 12/23/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
Optimism is the fuel that keeps your engine going. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar.. is optimism:
Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”
Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them

The 12/22/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is hope:
According to Rev. Trev:
All of us are one phone call away from slipping from our perch on the rope . It’s good to take time to be reminded how to hope.
1. Hope brings strength –

but those who hope in the LORD 
will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
they will run and not grow weary, 
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

2. Hope brings joy and peace –

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Romans 15:13

3. Hope brings unfailing love –

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, 
even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:22

4. Hope makes effective witnesses –

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 2 Corinthians 3:12

5. Hope brings rest –

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; 
 my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5

http://revtrev.com/hope/why-is-hope-so-important/

There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must of felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.
” Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, ‘Wait and Hope.”
― Alexandre Dumas
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson