Contagious Joy Blog

Week 24, Tuesday Diane Nix   So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 (nlt) My daddy could have been John Wayne’s twin. He was ruggedly handsome and strong—very strong!…

Week 23, Weekend Susan Lafferty   Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25 (hcsb) It…

Week 23, Friday Susan Lafferty   Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers…

Week 23, Thursday Susan Lafferty   Don’t worry about anything but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (hcsb) Fear. Its icy fingers clutched my…

Week 23, Wednesday Susan Lafferty “Take your son,” He said, “your only [son] Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Genesis 22:2 (hcsb) Rebecca was born a few weeks after we completed training, preparing…

Week 23, Tuesday Susan Lafferty   Summoning His disciples, He said to them, “I assure you: This poor widow has put in more than all those giving to the temple treasury. For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she possessed—all she had to live…

Week 23, Monday Susan Lafferty   And He said to them, “It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of thieves!” Matthew 21:13 (hcsb) God’s temple was a holy place—a house of prayer for the nations—and yet the people had allowed the marketplace to…

In the past few days the buzz in the “christian blogosphere” centers around the disasters created by the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma.  Human attempts at finding the heart of our Abba in the midst of much suffering and loss. I cannot wrap my finite mind around such tragedies.  I speak from a heart that knows…

Week 22, Weekend Kathy Jett   Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34 (nlt) “Father, forgive them.” Who is Jesus referring to in this statement from the cross? Some would say He is referring to the religious leaders who thought they were simply getting rid of a…

Week 22, Friday Kathy Jett   If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15 (nlt) Best friends and bargain shopping—could life get any better? The four of us had planned this bargain bonanza…