Rose Cross Horton

This article was written for Restored Ministries. I give them credit for the inspiration to write it. Chanukah Joy… If you remember what I wrote last week, you will know that the LOVE candle is lit every night. This candle lights the other candles. On the first night of Chanukah, you light the “servant candle” and then use it to light the JOY candle. JOY! So many verses about JOY. Where does a person start? Ecclesiastes 9:7 So go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine

Matthew 10:28-30 28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gei-Hinnom (hell). 29 Aren’t sparrows sold for next to nothing, two for an assarion? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s consent. 30 As for you, every hair on your head has been counted. 31 So do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows. Comforting words... YOU are worth more than many spa

I have been holding out on using this verse. It is so special. It has so many promises. Today when it showed up on Bible Gateway as the Verse of the Day I knew I had to use it… Zephaniah 3:17 Adonai your God is right there with you, as a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you and be glad, he will be silent in his love, he will shout over you with joy.” (CJB) Why do I think this verse is so special? Clearly it says that Adonai is “right there with you.” He is a "mighty savior

Hope… Sometimes we just don’t know what it is or how to get it. Romans 15:13 May God, the source of hope, fill you completely with joy and shalom as you continue trusting, so that by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh you may overflow with hope. (CJB) My husband and I were talking with a friend the other day and he said, “I have faith that something good will happen in this situation, but I do not have hope.” That statement made me realize that there is kind of a difference. I h

Since we finished the book of Colossians, our family decided to read through Philippians. As we read chapter 2 today a verse that I heard often as a child, and have found myself repeating to my children, was in the middle of it. Because we read it from the Complete Jewish Bible they had an interesting word - a Yiddish one - used. Philippians 2:14 Do everything without kvetching or arguing, (CJB) As my daughter read the chapter she used the word “grumbling.” This is how I reme

The verse this morning on my YouVersion Bible App was one most of us grew up hearing. It is about having joy in trials and temptations. James 1:2-3 Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. (CJB) This says to regard it as JOY when you face temptations. That is different than trials. To me, trials are when situations beyond our control come our way. Maybe it is an unexpecte