What does the Lord require of me? TO ACT JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY AND WALK HUMBLY WITH MY GOD.

He also asks us to have joy in our faith. Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

On these drab winter days it is often hard for me to find that joy until I get "in the Word". Why do the strife's of life overcome our joy in the Lord?  In Him we live, breathe and have our being. Act 17:24-28 24. "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  25. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  26. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  27. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  28. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.  As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

Isaiah 35:10 tells us "they will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." What a promise the Lord holds for us.

An acquaintance passed away not long ago. On hearing her obituary I was surprise to find out her faith background. I started to wonder if anyone would be surprised at my faith when I passed on. Have I let the Joy of the Lord shine through my day to day life? Can people see my actions and know I am a God loving Christian?

There is a contemporary Christian song that starts and ends with a child's song "be careful little eye's what you see, be careful little ears what you hear, for the Father up above is sending down his love, so be careful little eye's what you see"

What example are we setting for those around us, especially our youth?  We are responsible for what those little eyes see and what those little ears hear. I pray daily for each of us to let our faith and love for the Lord show our youth what to see and hear.

May we have the Joy of Jesus in our face, that they hear the Love in God in our laughter and always hear the sweetness of faith in our words.

May the Peace of Jesus Christ lead us every day so there will be no doubt or surprise of our faith or leading.

In Christian Love,
Ann Ferguson, Elder