Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Daily Lesson for December 18, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 39 through 45:

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

What a great gift a Joyful spirit is.

Joy is not jealous or envious. It delights in the Joy and graces of others.  Joy is the gift of God inside us that leaps for Joy at the gifts of God in others.

Joy is the grace we are given to rise up and call others blessed, especially when — like Mary — they are young and scared and feel judged by everyone else in the world.

‘Tis the season for Joy.  ‘Tis the season for delighting in the gifts and graces of others. And ‘tis the season for speaking words of blessing and encouragement to those who may need a little help finding and embracing their own Joy within.

Elizabeth did all these things in today’s Lesson. And the next verse says, “Mary sang.”

And I bet Elizabeth sang with her . . .

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