nothing else will do

"The joy of the LORD is your strength." -Nehemiah 8:10b

For some reason, God gave me this verse this morning. I guess it was a good reminder that only that which I find in Him alone can carry me through each day, survive all of life's curveballs. I definitely needed some encouragement today, more accurately some strength, and little did I know He would give it to me long before I realized its necessity. Praise God for His love overflowing. I'm thankful that He pursues me even when I don't pursue Him.

I've been walking through Genesis for a week or two. I have to say its got to be one of my favorites. I love that from start to finish, you can see how God's worked His perfect plan out for good, even in the details. Better yet, His plans incorporate peoples' mistakes. THANK HEAVENS. It gives me hope for His plan in my own life.

One of my all time favorites is the story of Abraham and Isaac. It actually makes me want to name my son Isaac (fun fact). When God told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, Sarah laughed. Not like "oh yay haha!" more like "uh you've got to be kidding haha" but then BAM along comes the baby and Sarah realizes how stupid she was to laugh at God's plans, and he's named Isaac, which means "he laughs". Kind of cool, right? But not only that, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son, he was a man of confident yet humble faith. I also love the way the Jesus Storybook Bible describes this scenario. It details Isaac carrying wood on his trip up the mountain, the same wood that would be used to sacrificially kill him. Sounds like someone we know (Jesus cough). Its really awesome to see how all of the Old Testament was laying the groundwork for Christ. Good news: the best is yet to come!