Nehemiah 8:10 (NLT) — 10b ... This is a sacred day before our Lord. 

Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

Nehemiah 8:10 (The Message) — 10b ... This day is holy to God. Don’t feel bad. 

The joy of God is your strength!”

Romans 15:13 (NRSV) — 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 

so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 (The Message) — 13 Oh! May the God of great hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, 

will brim over with hope!

Rejoice! The JOY of our Lord IS your strength! Live life to the fullest!

John 8:12 (NRSV) — 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12 (The Message) — 12 Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. 

No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”

Romans 6:4 (NRSV) — 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, 

so we too might walk in newness of life.

Rejoice that you walk in newness of life by the Grace of God!

May the richest of Easter blessings be yours now and forever. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (NLT) — 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, 

17 comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (The Message) — 16 May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, 17 put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.

Easter blessings! Be comforted in all you are and do. He is with you. Amen.

Hebrews 12:2 (NLT) — 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Hebrews 12:2 (The Message) — 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

The message of the Cross is timeless and true for all who will listen and receive. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) — 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (The Message) — 17 Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. 

The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!

Ephesians 4:24 (NLT) — 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—

truly righteous and holy.

You ARE a new creation - live it out and enjoy!

Matthew 5:8 (NLT) — 8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

Matthew 5:8 (The Message) — 8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

John 14:27 (NLT) — 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NLT) — 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Guard your heart at all times - it is precious to God, to youself and to others.