Our Relationhip to the World

Before Christ came, God gave promises to Israel and as Gentiles, we were excluded. The following verse, referring to Christ's death and resurrection, ties it up for us as Paul, the Apostle, speaks in the book of Ephesians:

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2: 13 NKJV

These things have I spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. John 16: 1
NKJV

Jesus warns us that the world will not look kindly upon us because they don't know Him
and actually hate Him. Since we are followers of Jesus Christ, the world has the same way of
thinking about us. Before Jesus ascends into heaven to the Father, He gifts us with the Holy Spirit
to lead and guide us through life's journey, until one day we shall see Him face to face.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father has sent in my name, He will teach you all things and

bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14: 26

These things have I spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation;
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16: 13
The Lord encourages us to spend time in prayer and in reading His Word...

"I am the vine and my Father is the true vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit

He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit. He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15: 1, 2

"Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can

you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much

fruit: for without Me you can do nothing."
John 15: 4, 5

The Fruits of the Spirit are: kindness, gentleness, love, joy, longsuffering, faithfulness, self-control, peace and goodness.

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John 8: 38

"And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, The Holy Spirit, that He may abide with you forever-the Spirit of truth....
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." John 14: 16, 17, 18

The Lord encourages us to spend time in prayer and in reading His Word...
Today's Prayer:
Dear Father,
Thank You for loving us. Thank You for giving us your Holy Spirit in this world.
Help us to be more like You every day. Thank you for leading us into Your holiness by Your truth. Thank you for walking with us until the
day we walk with You on heaven's shores. Bless the readers of your word. In Jesus' name, Amen.

© 9 2016 Carol A. Castagna

The Patient

I walked into his room, said ‘Good morning,' and lifted the shade. As the sun shined brightly into his room, he sat straight up in his bed. Smiling a toothy grin, my patient almost gasped and reached out to touch my hand with both his hands. He kissed my hand, looked right into my eyes and said, heartily, “Thank you! Thank you!”
That day, I could not shake that picture of him out of my mind. I thought to myself, when was the last time someone said good morning to him in a cheerful voice and raised the shade for him so that the sun would come into his otherwise, gloomy room? When was the last time someone spoke to him as though he counted? Or touched his hand?
He was an old man, probably close to 95 years old, one of the forgotten souls in a nursing home…the kind of person I’ve seen caretakers come to and walk away from after they have performed their perfunctory duties, without a word, as if working with a mannequin. I've admonished those same people  that the elderly often have a vivid sense of kindness versus neglect. My patient was old –but he was alive –and lucid. He knew when someone came in and acknowledged him as a human being; he also knew when he was ignored..
Till today, and this happened 35 years ago, I remember vividly, the man and his response to my cheerful ‘good morning’ and to sunshine brightening his room.

How simple and humane it is to bring a smile to the face of  another human being!

We love Him because He First Loved Us

"We love Him because He first loved us."

When Jesus left earth to return to heaven, He did not want us to stumble. He gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us on our journey. He promised never to leave us alone. In fact, long ago, in the very beginning, God decided He would adopt us. He wanted us to have a sure direction and a confidence about ourselves. He also wanted us to be included, even though the Israelites are the chosen people of God: He wanted to share His many promises with us (Gentiles), as well. Imagine how the Lord loves us! His provision lifts us to be nurtured by Himself and to spend Eternity with Him.

The Glory of God
How blessed is God! And what a blessing He is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in Him. Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ.  He wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by the hand of His beloved Son. Ephesians 1: 3-6 The Message

Ephesians 1:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son.

Adoption as Sons and Therefore, Heirs of God.

When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts (the Holy Spirit,) crying out, "Abba, Father." Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galations 4: 4-7 NKJV

Before Christ came, God gave promises to Israel and as Gentiles, we were excluded. The following verse, referring to Christ's death and resurrection, ties it up for us as Paul, the Apostle, speaks in the book of Ephesians:

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2: 13 NKJV

Photography of snow-covered rose,  Anonymous

My Hope Is In the Lord: About Carol Ann Castagna

  Good day to you...I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself:

 I am a Christian author, a pianist, an artist and an R.N. Clinician. Married for 10 beautiful years to my husband,    Vincent, together we have four children, ten grandchildren and three great grand-children.

I am currently the pianist for our church in North Port, Fl and share a Christian Website, http://www.joypsalms.com which offers my devotionals, poetry, prayers and original music and lyrics.
My plan is to archive these since there are 2 years of weekly writings. I opened My Joy Is In the Lord, today on
google's blogspot.com!


My specialty in the field of nursing was psychiatry. As a Clinician, in the emergency rooms, in the community, and in the intensive outpatient settings, I evaluated patients and recommended treatment for them.  I loved every minute of my work. My last position was in the geriatric-psychiatry setting as a coordinator of patient care.I loved my work because I considered it my calling...and brought the compassion of Christ to those who were physically ill and emotionally unstable from addictions or other debilitating afflictions.

Today, I am quite content in my retirement, doing the things I had longed to do one day. I have just completed writing, A Kiss from God, a book of original poetry. This book is a compilation of poems that I have written through the years. Years ago, I was published in the Amhurst Anthology and the Library of Congress Anthology as well as several Nursing publications. Almost a dozen of my poems were honored in the Art for the Cure competition at the New Britain American Museum of Art in Connecticut, a juried- contest in the 1990s. Most recently my poems graced the pages of Penned from the Heart and the Poetry Pacific, an e-zine.

Jesus Gives Us His Holy Spirit

                                            "We love Him because He first loved us."

When Jesus left earth to return to heaven, He did not want us to stumble. He gave us His Holy Spirit to  guide us on our journey. He promised never to leave us alone. In fact, long ago, in the very beginning, God decided He would adopt us. He wanted us to have a sure direction and a confidence about ourselves. He also wanted us to be included, even though the Israelites are the chosen people of God: He wanted to share His many promises with us (Gentiles), also.  Imagine how the Lord loves us!  His provision lifts us to be nurtured by Himself!

The Glory of God

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.     Ephesians 1: 3-6  The Message

Ephesians 1:5-6New Living Translation (NLT)

5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son

Adoption as Sons and therefore, Heirs of God

When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts (the Holy Spirit,) crying out, "Abba, Father."  Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  Galations 4: 4-7 NKJV 

Before Christ came, God gave promises to Israel and as Gentiles, we were excluded. The following verse, referring to Christ's death and resurrection, ties it up for us as Paul, the Apostle, speaks in the book of Ephesians:

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2: 13  NKJV

These things have I spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble.   John 16: 1  
NKJV

Jesus warns us that the world will not look kindly upon us because they don't know Him

and actually hate Him.  Since we are followers of Jesus Christ, the world has the same way of

thinking about us.  Before Jesus ascends into heaven to the Father, He gifts us with the Holy Spirit

to lead and guide us through life's journey, until one day we shall see Him face to face.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father has sent in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  John 14: 26

These things have I spoken to you that in Me you may have peace.  In the world, you will have tribulation;

but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16: 13 
The Lord encourages us to spend time in prayer and in reading His Word...

Prayer:

Dear Father,

Thank you for leading us into Your holiness by Your truth.  Thank you for walking with us until the

day we walk with You on heaven's shores.   In Jesus' name, Amen.

"I am the vine and my Father is the true vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit.  He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15: 1, 2

"Abide in me and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the

vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit:  for without Me you can do nothing." 
John 15: 4, 5

The Fruits of the Spirit are:  kindness, gentleness, love, joy, longsuffering, faithfulness, self-control, peace and goodness.

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  John 8: 38

"And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, The Holy Spirit, that He may abide with you forever-the Spirit of truth....

I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." John 14: 16, 17, 18

Prayer:

Dear Father,

Thank You for loving us.  Thank You for giving us your Holy Spirit in this world.

Help us to be more like You every day.   Bless the readers of your word.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

copyright by carol castagna July, 2016