Starting "The Quest" Bible

Three years, six months, and two weeks seems like a very long journey to begin with, but I know it will be amazing how soon that journey will end.  So today, August 13th, I take that first step in my quest to accomplish this feat. 

If you are unfamiliar with the Quest Bible, it is written with questions and answers of the many passages on the edge of the Bible pages.  It has many additional features of helps.

So here we go.

Course 1-Day 1

Luke 1

Well, I thought it very interesting that three times in this passage the word JOY came up, since that is the title of my blog.  And having had God give me that word JOY a couple of months before Christmas, I think it is amazing that the Joy in Luke 1 is surrounded around two babies, Jesus and John the Baptist.  At Christmas, I found out that Judah and Glorybel were expecting a baby, and in our Christmas pictures, the JOY ornament that Mahala and Keith gave me, was right above the head of Glorybel, who was carrying our 4th grandchild.

I was fascinated by the facts presented in "The Quest" about priests serving only twice a year for a week at a time and them preparing the sacrifice only once in their priesthood.  God definitely had it worked out that Zechariah would be on duty to prepare the sacrifice when He told him the good news that after all those years of having a barren wife, he was going to be a father.  I don't think Zechariah's response to the news is probably much different than a lot of ours, and I don't understand how that Mary's response was much different as she asked "How can this be" since she was a virgin.  But their questions were different somewhat as Zechariah asked, "How can I be sure of this? " and Mary asked, "How can this be?"  Mary didn't ask for a sign after the angel Gabriel explained to her how she was going to conceive the Son of God, she just humbled herself to be God's vessel to bring His Word to pass.

The JOY I see is that we too can be blessed.  In Luke 11:27-28, As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."  "He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey  it."

I was intriqued by the notation from the Quest that said that Zechariah apparently had become mute because of his lack of faith.  However, they went on to say that by God making Zechariah mute, it increased his faith.  By the time John the Baptist was born, despite his family's objection to the name Elizabeth said his name was to be, Zechariah's faith in the Word of the Lord was sealed, and he adamantly wrote on the writing tablet, "His name is John."

I think after we are disciplined by the Lord, we have a greater faith in His Word!

Hebrews 12:5-6..."My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Thank God for His discipline in my life, otherwise, I would not be where I am today in my walk with my Heavenly Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Joy in the Journey is walking in His presence, moment by moment, day by day.