The heavens declare the glory of God.
Psalm 19:1
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Latest update: 3-
‘Joy...in the Morning’
#1: “A Door Shuts; A Window Opens”
#2: “The Resurrection Story”
Joy #1:
‘Joy…in the Morning’ – March 2006
A Door Shuts; A Window Opens
by Dotty Moore
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5, NKJV).
The hand of God can be just as evident on the closed door as it is on the open
one, but we don’t always see it this way – not at first. I know I didn’t. In mid-
The weekly inspirational column had run in the secular press for nearly 21 years. During all that time loyal readers emphasized again and again how specific “Joy” columns spoke to them or met a need:
A military man stationed in Panama once called to say that a particular column, clipped and mailed by his mother, played a part in his personal decision to accept Christ as his Savior. Several families adopted orphans from China because a column or two put readers in touch with information about the plight of abandoned children there. Readers of all ages repeatedly expressed appreciation of the weekly messages of encouragement helping them face personal struggles and heartaches.
It had been a privilege to be a part of readers’ lives each Saturday morning on the religion pages of the newspaper. Abruptly, however, after all these years, in a matter of two days, the column was done because of a contract that I simply could not sign. The newspaper viewed the contract one way and I saw it another. There would be no opportunity granted for a farewell column. Thousands of faithful readers were left in the dark.
Stunned, without so much as a flicker of understanding, I tried to process what had transpired. Backing away from disbelief, I leaned into the comforting support of faith and a growing sense of peace that God was at work. Gradually turning toward a glimmer of hope, I became aware the closed door was no longer in front of me; it was behind me. Placing my hand in God’s, I was going forward – with or without “Joy…in the Morning.”
Even so, the whole next month was intense; the grief was deep. Surely God was in all of this. I knew He had a plan, but what was it? Would I be ready when it came?
The morning of Saturday, January 14, 2006, on the phone with one of the readers
of the newspaper who wondered why the column had been absent for weeks, I shared
the story. Taking it all in, the reader made a suggestion, one so well defined it
was clearly more than an idea. She believed the column should indeed continue, only
this time “Joy…in the Morning” should be available to anyone, anywhere. Her proposal?
Offer the column “to the world” on a ministry-
Without hesitation she and I both instantly sensed: This is it! God’s hand is lifting the latch of a new door.
“Joy…in the Morning” awakened to the dawn of new life.
Two months and plenty of long hours later, here we are at www.joyinthemorningetc.org, launching not only a new home for “Joy…in the Morning,” but along with it a whole lot more! What was once a weekly newspaper column is now an online magazine.
An old Irish proverb aptly paints a picture of all I’ve just described: “When God closes a door, He opens a window.”
Visibly ‘Joy…in the Morning’ etc. is an Internet window that might never have opened if a door hadn’t first closed. People involved behind the scenes in this new direction are asking God to send a shaft of light, through this very window, into a dark corner of someone’s life – precisely when and where is in God’s hands.
Dear Lord, none of us knows what life has in store, whether it’s the next tick of the clock or a decade from now. But You know, and honestly, that’s all we need to know. Our life and times are in Your hands. Please hold us steady and guide us step by step as we follow Your lead. You can be trusted to open and close the right doors, at the right time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Dotty Moore lives in rural northeastern Pennsylvania with Jim, her husband of nearly
41 years. As a Christian wife, mother and grandmother Dotty writes of spiritual matters
from a down-
Copyright © 2006 Dotty Moore. All rights reserved.
Joy #2:
‘Joy…in the Morning’ – April 2006
The Resurrection Story
by Dotty Moore
“The stone was rolled away from the door [of the tomb], not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable the disciples to go in.” – Peter Marshall
A sealed tomb spells death. Short of an earthquake or other cataclysmic natural disaster, no one is going in or coming out. If anyone does come out, well, that’s impossible since a sealed grave is final, or is it? (Crime Scene Investigators, among other entities, create exceptions to this rule.)
Enter Jesus Christ the Son of God and we’re looking at a completely different story. We call it The Easter Story but it is more accurately spelled The Resurrection of Christ.
Not everyone believes in Jesus Christ or His resurrection. One such woman died a number of years ago and was buried in Hanover, Germany. She left specific instructions in her will that her grave was to be made so secure that not even a resurrection – if, indeed, one occurred – could open her burial site. She wanted to make sure that she would be undisturbed, entombed forever.
The woman’s wishes dictated unusual measures. After her body was buried, massive
slabs of granite, bound together with sturdy steel clamps, were placed on her grave.
Signaling a profound decree of leave-
Guess what? Neither the huge granite slabs nor the heavy steel clamps could withstand the strength unleashed when a tiny seed, sprouting under the edge of one of the slabs, grew into a tree. Years passed slowly, but eventually the trunk of the tree exerted enough force to shift the steel clamps, wrenching them from their sockets. The last will and testament of the woman buried there was overridden by a mightier power – one she failed to consider.
The parallel to this story is found in the opening of another tomb. Nothing on earth is strong enough to withstand the force, the might, the resurrection glory of the kingdom of God.
No grave, no heart, no soul – not now, not ever – can escape the inevitable awakening to the resurrection power of Christ. He arose from His own grave because no power on earth was strong enough to hold Him in the grip of death. The Scripture message confirms it:
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke
24:5b-
What a story His resurrection foretold!
It’s a story we are all welcome to behold, to celebrate, and to claim as our own destiny when we accept Christ as Our Lord and Savior for all eternity.
Dear Heavenly Father, we are thrilled to serve a risen Lord. Thank You so much for granting us a peek at His empty tomb through the pages of Your Word. Praise You that we are free to invite Him to enter our lives. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Material adapted from the book “Joy…in the Morning Favorites” by Dotty Moore, published by Wings of Joy Publishers, 2003; and from Our Daily Bread devotional booklet, published by Radio Bible Class Ministries, 2002, contributed to the writing of this column.
Copyright © 2006 Dotty Moore. All rights reserved.
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