PORTRAIT OF JOY

They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.”  He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.  He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.  “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Mark 14:32-36 (NLT)

“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)

“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me."  Mark 14:36 (NLT)

This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.”  Jeremiah 25:15 (NLT)

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”  2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)

“I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Mark 14:36 (NLT)

“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy.  "  John 15:10-11 (NLT)

GOD CREATED YOU WITH AN UNLIMITED CAPACITY FOR JOY

“If you were to always act in your greatest self-interest, you would always obey God.”
Mark Batterson – In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day