Grief or Joy

Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. John 16:22 NASB

Morning Glory

Joy is such a wonderful thing. You can have it even in a time of grief. There can be a glimmer of hope deep in your soul that is a spark of joy—a comfort knowing that tomorrow…or even just a minute away…is a better day…a better moment. God cares about us and even when things…LIFE…aren’t going so well—God has not abandoned us. He feels our grief with us—and promised that no one will take our joy away.
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Prayer ~ Lord, we realize that You went through deep agony, grief, and horrific pain for our sins.
You tell us the truth, that we will weep and mourn over what happened to you, but the world will rejoice. We  grieve, but our grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. John 16:20. We gratefully rejoice in what You did for us…and in Your resurrection. Our mourning has turned to joy.
Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 37-39

Friday’s Feast at the King’s Table

What foods do you mourn over? If you are doing a low carb diet—or have found like me that sugar and refined carbs are like poison in your body—then you may be sad, craving and have a deep longing for some of those foods. Ahhh. For a nice cinnamon roll…or luscious deep chocolate brownie with extra chocolate chips and nuts mixed inside topped with a scoop of rich, smooth chocolate-chocolate ice cream. Dream on. Gone are the days of those sweets and hopefully soon…gone is the fat on my hips! With what can I replace those tempting foods?  In her book Made to Crave, Lysa TerKeurst gave some excellent suggestions. One of my favorites is that God gives me power over my food choices—the food does not have power over me. His grace is sufficient. 

Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Spinach and Strawberry Salad for Four

4 cups baby spinach leaves - washed

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

2 Tbsp chopped red onion

Toss together spinach, onion and strawberries. Combine ingredients for dressing below and pour over salad right before serving.

            ½ cup vegetable oil

            ¼ cup red wine vinegar

            ¼ cup honey (or ½ cup organic cane sugar)

            ¼ cup paprika

            2 Tbsp sesame seeds

            1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Garnish salad with crumbled feta or goat cheese and slivered raw almonds.

© 2017 Text and photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

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