Joy in the Journey

Joy in the Journey JoyNow

09/05/2026

Joseph and His Brothers

And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”
Genesis 45:4-5

Recommended Reading: Genesis 50:19-21
Families have the possibility of great conflict because of close quarters and constant interaction. But when conflicts are resolved and relationships repaired, family “reunions” can be sweet.

That is what happened with Joseph and his brothers. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, God’s providence caused Joseph to rise in stature in the royal Egyptian court. When a famine struck Joseph’s family in Canaan, his brothers journeyed to Egypt to buy food. There they encountered Joseph and were reunited with the brother they had sold into slavery. But Joseph saw God’s hand at work, sending him to Egypt to prepare a way for his family to stay alive.

If you have been separated from friends or family, trust that God has a purpose in your pain (Romans 8:28). Do everything you can to be reunited with those you love (Romans 12:18).

Christians ought at all times to be making contributions towards reunion, if it is only by their prayers.
C. S. Lewis

09/04/2026

Guard Your Influence

Then [the sailors] said to [Jonah], “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
Jonah 1:8

In 1624, the English poet John Donne penned a meditation whose title comes from the first line: “No Man Is an Island.” The theme of the short poem is the interconnectedness of human experience—what happens to one affects all.

Recommended Reading:
Matthew 16:11-12; Galatians 5:9

When the prophet Jonah was fleeing from the call of God on his life, the ship he was on encountered a bad storm. The sailors concluded that it was Jonah who was the cause of their dangerous misfortune. They demanded to know who he was and what he had done to put them in danger. Jonah’s situation illustrates the point in John Donne’s poem: We do not act alone in life; our behavior impacts those around us. It raises the rarely discussed dimension of stewardship called the stewardship of influence. We are responsible for the influence we have on the lives of others.

Ask God today for grace to be a godly influence on those with whom you come in contact—to be salt and light in their life (Matthew 5:13-16).

Your influence is negative or positive, never neutral.
Henrietta Mears

09/03/2026

Storms

There was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up…. Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
Jonah 1:4; Acts 27:20

Jonah encountered a storm in the Mediterranean Sea that nearly took his life. A similar thing happened to the apostle Paul in Acts 27 on the same sea and with the same raw terror. In Jonah’s case, the prophet’s sin precipitated the storm. In the case of Paul, the storm arose for other reasons. In both cases, God used the storms to develop the souls of his two servants.

Recommended Reading:
Acts 27:21-25

Not every storm happens because of sin, but every storm can be used by God to shape our faith and character and draw us closer to Him. How we wish we could avoid storms! Bereavement! Illness! Anxiety about our loved ones! Yet there has never been a storm beyond the reach of our Savior’s outstretched arm. We often learn more about Him in the storm than in the sunshine.

When you experience a difficult trial, look for how God is helping you to grow in your relationship with Him.

The Lord’s our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm.
Vernon Charlesworth

09/02/2026

An Attempt to Hide

“Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “do I not fill heaven and earth?”
Jeremiah 23:24

An online article featured hilarious photos of children trying to play hide-and-seek. One boy was betrayed by his shadow. Another thought hiding under a blanket in the middle of the kitchen was the perfect spot. A third crawled beneath a rug, unaware of the obvious hump she created. And a fourth removed the lampshade from a lamp, placed it over his head, and assumed he had disappeared completely.

Recommended Reading:
Jonah 1:1-6

The Lord must look with amusement at our attempts to hide from Him. We cannot run away; He fills heaven and earth. When Jonah ran from God, the Lord sent a storm after him. There was no place he could have gone where the Lord wouldn’t find him. Yet doesn’t that show us how much God loves us? When we move away from God’s presence, we can be assured He will find us.

If you’re hiding from God or if you are trying to hide something from Him, admit it. Ask the One who fills heaven and earth to fill you with His love and mercy.

When you feel like running away, claim your privilege as a child of God and approach the throne of grace.
Warren Wiersbe

09/01/2026

Behind the Door

Do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.
1 Samuel 12:21

In the 1940s, radio listeners tuned into a suspenseful new dramatic episode of Quiet Please entitled, “Nothing Behind the Door.” Three men climbed to the top of a mountain to break into a mysterious little house near an observatory. Inside they found a sealed door, which they forced open with great foreboding. As it turned out, it led to nowhere. Behind it was nothing but emptiness. It was a psychological image that shocked listeners with the emptiness of human existence.

Recommended Reading:
1 Samuel 12:20-25

The prophet Jonah once mistook an available ship for an open door. But open doors are not always God’s doors, especially when we force them open. Some opportunities lead nowhere spiritually. Behind them we find only disappointment, regret, and hollowness.

As we go through life, we will see many doors, but unless God is leading us to them and through them, they will lead nowhere. Let God open the right doors for you. Do not turn aside to other doors or opportunities, for we do not want to go after empty things which cannot profit and which are nothing.

When God allows one door to close, it may be because he is preparing to open a more effective door.
Henry Blackaby

08/31/2026

Love God With Your Mind

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2

When Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the greatest, He quoted from Deuteronomy 6: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (verse 5). But to heart, soul, and strength He added “mind”—encompassing the totality of the human being.

Recommended Reading:
Mark 12:28-31

How do we love God with our mind? When we are born again, our mind needs to be renewed, or transformed, from its focus on the kingdom of this world to the Kingdom of God. The New Living Translation of Romans 12:2 is helpful: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Renewing our mind means to think like God thinks about everything, thus showing our love for Him.

Meditating on and memorizing the Word of God is the best way to renew your mind daily.

The Bible redirects my will, cleanses my emotions, enlightens my mind, and quickens my total being.
E. Stanley Jones

08/29/2026

Five Smooth Stones

Then [David] took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had.
1 Samuel 17:40

Recommended Reading: 1 Samuel 17:40-47
The story of David—especially his epic face-off with Goliath—speaks to every generation. Even recently, a television series and a major animated feature film have brought the story of David to life for modern audiences. When we read the Bible story, we cannot help but notice the number five.

Why five stones? The Bible doesn’t say. Some suggest David anticipated more than one opponent since Goliath had relatives. Others point out that a skilled slinger would naturally carry several stones. Most simply, David was prepared. His faith in God didn’t eliminate wise action. Like an old Revolutionary War adage—“Trust in God, but keep your powder dry.” David trusted the Lord fully, but he was also well armed.

Here is an application for us. We face many giants in life. Some are problems that we must try to solve, and others are temptations that we must overcome. The Bible has more than 31,000 verses. So when a giant problem or temptation confronts you, gather into your mental pouch five smooth Bible verses. God’s Word is rock solid when it comes to our victory.

The Bible was given not to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.
D. L. Moody

08/28/2026

Clear Windshields

But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16

In the old movie Young at Heart, there’s a scene in which Barney Sloan (Frank Sinatra) is so discouraged he turns off his windshield wipers while driving in a snowstorm. He can no longer clearly see the road, and everything is blurred. It’s a frightening moment that illustrates how we often look at life. We can “turn off the wipers” in our own lives by neglecting truth and withdrawing from God’s Word.

Recommended Reading:
Romans 8:1-6

The only way to see clearly is by looking at things through the eyesight of Jesus. Paul twice spoke of “the mind of Christ.” He told the Philippians, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), and he said to the Corinthians, “But we have the mind of Christ.”

Having the mind of Christ means having the Savior’s point of view. We learn to think as He does, not as the world thinks. Here is a verse to say aloud today and to turn into a prayer for this hour: “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Romans 8:5, NIV).

Believers must regain the use of the mind for God’s glory.
Bill Muhlenberg

08/27/2026

Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

The digital age has brought us cars with built-in navigation systems and phones with maps powered by GPS satellites. We also have the option of riding in self-driving cars! Making the transition from depending on our own skills to trusting computerized devices can be challenging.

Recommended Reading:
Psalm 37:3-5

The same can be said when it comes to navigating through life. Before becoming a Christian, we trusted in our own skills, instincts, and decisions to make our way. But once we enter into a relationship with God, we find a different strategy is recommended—the strategy of trust. When we are driving and using a computerized map, we might question directions we are given based on traffic or construction delays. We might even ignore the directions and go our own way. But Solomon warned against such a strategy for life. Against our natural inclinations, we are told to “trust in the Lord with all [our] heart, and lean not on [our] own understanding; in all [our] ways acknowledge Him.”

If you need direction for your future, depend on God’s instructions instead of your own; let Him direct your path.

Doubt breeds distress but trust means joy in the long run.
Charles Spurgeon

08/26/2026

Be a Blessing

He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.
Proverbs 15:27

The apostle Paul had appointed his young protégé Timothy to oversee the growing church in Ephesus. As a large, sophisticated, commercial center, Ephesus no doubt had a sizable population of wealthy people. That fact prompted Paul to write Timothy a lengthy passage about the dangers of pursuing wealth as a source of contentment or godliness and instructions for what wealthy people should do with their money (1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19).

Recommended Reading:
1 Timothy 6:6-10; 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Solomon wrote that pursuing riches for the sake of gain alone would bring trouble into one’s life. And Paul wrote Timothy the same thing: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). Note that it is not money but the love of money that brings sorrow. What should wealthy people do instead? “Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share” (verse 18). Instead of being greedy, be generous.

To the degree God has blessed you, look for ways to be a blessing to others (2 Corinthians 8:11-12).

It is the best riches not to desire riches.
Thomas Brooks

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