Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, garment of praise for spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, planting of Lord, that he might be glorified.

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor voice of crying.

Hear word of Lord, ye that tremble at his word; your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her. Then shall virgin rejoice in dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all nations of earth, which shall hear all good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all goodness and for all prosperity that I procure unto it.

The voice of joy, and voice of gladness, voice of bridegroom, and voice of bride, voice of them that shall say, Praise Lord of hosts: for Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring sacrifice of praise into house of Lord. For I will cause to return captivity of land, as at first, saith Lord.

Thus saith Lord of hosts; The fast of fourth month, and fast of fifth, and fast of seventh, and fast of tenth, shall be to house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love truth and peace.

Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven. For kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in Holy Ghost.

Now God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through power of Holy Ghost.

Looking unto Jesus author and finisher of our faith; who for joy that was set before him endured cross, despising shame, and is set down at right hand of throne of God. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Glimpses of God © by Joyce C. Lock http://our.homewithgod.com/heavenlyinspirations/ This writing may be used in its entirety, with credits in tact, for non-profit ministering purposes.

All considerations were in love and I was ready to live, die, or whatever God decided. Maybe that was a good thing, that I had opened my heart to love again.

Though, once I had finished talking with God, I began to make a scene. Nurses had said that, if mother became under stress, doctors would then act. So, I behaved very badly (on purpose) and they couldn't get me into surgery fast enough.

It was then that peace came. It would be alright, now, whatever that meant.

Anesthetics kept me asleep for most of first 24 hours. Though, between each spurt of alertness, I watched people, carefully, trying to determine if they were telling me truth. Finally, I pinned a nurse down and asked, straight forward, "Why won't you bring my baby to me?"

The nurse promised that, as soon as I could stay awake (so as to not accidentally injury baby), they would bring her to my room. Except for being in an incubator first days, precautionary being that she was so small, all appeared to be well; with no heart problems either.

Only, a hard year followed. Baby and I took turns at being ill. A year later and my strength was, still, at stage of crawling to get up stairs.

Finally, I determined that Satan was never going to allow us health to go to church, again, and I knew just thing for that. If neither of us were running a temperature, we were going ~ no matter how bad we looked or felt.

It was then that things started improving. Within six months, baby and I were able to attend church regularly and I joined our church choir.

My piano teacher had, once, taught me how to feel music when I'd play and I had used those same tools to spiritually go there, to imagine and feel whatever I was singing.

Then, one day, while participating in choir, in middle of a song, God said, "You know how to feel it. Now, I want you to see it."

I thought, "Ok. But, I have no clue how to do that."

God said, "Find a spot on wall and focus. Envision seeing Jesus."

"But, all we have are pictures. I don't know what he looks like."

"Whatever you envision him to look like will be fine. Do you see it?"

.............................................. "Yes, I see it."

"What is he doing?"

"He's suppose to be doing something? I don't know."

"Well, look."

I looked up, at that picture of Jesus, and studied it for a few seconds, to see whatever I might see. Honestly, I had no idea what I was suppose to be looking for. But, God had said to look.

Keep in mind, we were still standing in choir ~ singing. Then, suddenly, I noticed Jesus changed from a portrait to a full body image, making him appear farther away. He was holding something. But, I couldn't make out what it was. So, I watched closely.

Now, keep in mind, I was on live television, in that choir. I have no idea if I kept singing or not. But, image gradually came closer and closer.

I thought, maybe Jesus was carrying a lamb. Yes ... it's ... it's a lamb. Ok. But, wait. The image is a little fuzzy. Something is happening. It's transforming. What is it? I studied carefully ... until ... Oh, no! Oh, NO! It was my baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not know if or how I maintained composer. I must have done ok, being that I didn't get scolded for messing up televised program. But, my knees felt so weak that I don't know how I even remained standing.

Jesus had my baby in his arms and he was giving her back to me. Tears rolled and flowed, and must have turned into an avalanche. Jesus, JESUS, ... JESUS had become My Lamb and I will never be same again! ~+~ ~+~ ~+~ ~+~ ~+~ ~+~ ~+~ ~+~ ~+~ ~+~

My God is not a God of Hell, Fire, and Brimstone. He is a God of Love. Love is who He is.

He has saved us. He continues to save us. And, He will save us. And, now, I have memory of a true salvation experience. I pray God grants me mental capacity to always remember Joy of My Salvation!

And, now that I 'know' God's love, I love God enough to live for Him and, through hard times and all, I can be a bridge that won't fall ~ because, joy of Lord is my strength.

Yet, each Christmas, all else aside, one of my favorite places is to return to Bethlehem, to envision caring for God's baby.

God gave an even greater love than Himself. He gave His Son. It's least we can do, to love him, too.

© by Joyce C. Lock http://my.homewithgod.com/blessingsandlessons/ This writing may be used in its entirety, with credits in tact, for non-profit ministering purposes.