40 Days to Joy Beyond Words: The Hidden Bible Verses You Must Unlock

By Eric Demaree

This is not the usual God-as-a-life-coach advice. Instead, it offers a deep analysis of the most transforming writings in the history of humankind—the Bible. IT IS THE ONLY BOOK: (1) that understands spiritual joy is the pathfinder for what we ought to do (2) that explains the "born again" experience (3) that reveals dozens of verses such as Luke 6:23 which says LEAP FOR JOY when people hate you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eric Demaree
• Release date: Jul 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005862428

Eric Demaree

I was born into a Methodist family. I joined them every Sunday in going to a small country church in Illinois until I left for college at age 18. That was in 1968. In college I enjoyed studying the Bible with other college-age Christians. Studying the Bible changed my understanding of Christianity. Unlike everyone I knew in my church, I wanted to find God and His Love.When I did find God and His joy in 1971, no one in my "dead church" wanted me to be different. There was no love there, so I left. However, I was so excited about my independent life in Christ, I traveled regularly to meet other Christians. I fellowshipped with every Christian group that I came across, especially in Illinois, Florida, Texas and Arizona. The early 70's was a blessed time in America.

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40 Days to Joy Beyond Words

The Hidden Bible Verses You Must Unlock

Eric Demaree

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the author.

All Biblical references are from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV). Some words have been modernized.

Copyright © 2016 by Eric Demaree

Published by

Fellowship Books

POB 252

Kingman AZ 86402

USA

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

DAY ONE—Understanding God’s Plan

DAY TWO—Overcoming Grief

DAY THREE—The Joy of Salvation

DAY FOUR—Spiritual Joy

DAY FIVE—The Oil of Gladness

DAY SIX—Thankfulness

DAY SEVEN—Forgiveness

DAY EIGHT—The Mystery

DAY NINE—God’s Righteousness

DAY TEN—The Prayer of Justification

DAY ELEVEN—The Joy of Reasonableness

DAY TWELVE—Resting in God

DAY THIRTEEN—The Greatest Commission

DAY FOURTEEN—God’s Will

DAY FIFTEEN—Prayer

DAY SIXTEEN—Fear

DAY SEVENTEEN—Be Smart, Be Beautiful

DAY EIGHTEEN—Overcoming Shyness

DAY NINETEEN—Being a Servant

DAY TWENTY—Spiritual Leadership

DAY TWENTY-ONE—Becoming Childlike

DAY TWENTY-TWO—Spiritual Warfare

DAY TWENTY-THREE—Riches

DAY TWENTY-FOUR—Pride and Humility

DAY TWENTY-FIVE—The Sower

DAY TWENTY-SIX—Working For God

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN—Sanctification

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT—The Joy of Giving

DAY TWENTY-NINE—Patience

DAY THIRTY—Healing the Sick

DAY THIRTY-ONE—Judgment

DAY THIRTY-TWO—Reprobates

DAY THIRTY-THREE—Suffering

DAY THIRTY-FOUR—Death

DAY THIRTY-FIVE—The Bible

DAY THIRTY-SIX—Does God Exist?

DAY THIRTY-SEVEN—Repentance

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT—Love

DAY THIRTY-NINE—Faith in God’s Word

DAY FORTY—Becoming Born Again

CONCLUSION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

In whom you rejoice with joy unspeakable. -I Peter 1:8b

This book does not contain the usual God-as-a-life-coach advice. It does NOT present the easiest path through life as the path of God’s joy. Instead, it offers a deep analysis of the most transformative writings in the history of humankind—the Biblical scriptures!

Most people are unaware of many of the guidance verses in the Bible that would allow them to put on the joy of Christ. These verses explain what it is that we ought to do, that is, what we need to do to obtain and remain in heavenly joy. Just as every person has joy as his or her highest value, the Bible also has your joy as its highest value! (Love is the Bible’s highest virtue; love is our work, joy is our reward.)

These things have I spoken unto you so that my joy will remain in you and that your joy will be full. –John 15:11

These radically fresh, hidden verses demand meditation because they utterly contradict everything the world programs into people’s minds. Many of the verses here have been completely overlooked by traditional Christianity, which emphasizes theological verses. John 3:16, for example, is a tremendous verse about what God does, however it says nothing about the more important subject of what we ought to do. You now have the opportunity to meditate on these hidden verses and greatly increase your heavenly joy now and forever!

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall PROSPER. -Psalm 1:2, 3

I divided this book into forty days of day and night meditations to make it easier for you to focus on a single idea and feast on the fullness of that idea. We need to meditate on scriptures because our daily activities often drown out the voice of Jesus. Showers of joy await those who meditate on the Word of God!

For readability and because I think it would be better for everyone to read the Bible for themselves, I did not write out all the scripture references. Without reading the Bible for yourself, you will have a difficult time understanding who is deceiving you. I expect you to read the Bible to check my accuracy.

These [the Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. –Acts 17:11

Unfortunately, most religious people throughout history have demanded the easiest life possible—that of giving lip-service to God and their heart to the world. They have been passionate to justify their joy of money. Many traditional Christian preachers cater to this demand by saying, If we can all just get along with everyone else, we can all make lots of money. Most of these preachers do not understand that heavenly joy is given to us only when we obey the voice of Jesus (John 10:27) and taken away from us when we obey some other voice. Furthermore, they conveniently forget that Jesus and His disciples were persecuted and killed for speaking out against evil.

The joy of the hypocrite shall perish. –Job 20:5

While writing this book many at the God-in-me Ministry of Las Vegas were supportive and helpful in giving me feedback on my work. I would like to thank them for helping me prepare this book for publication. Most of all, I thank God for giving me tremendous joy while writing this book, which is the greatest reward. Thanks to Him for that!

DAY ONE—UNDERSTANDING GOD’S PLAN

Understanding God’s Plan brings great comfort and peace. When we understand God’s plan we will rejoice in everything He does, knowing that His Plan, EVERYTHING that comes to pass, is for our greatest eternal joy!

Knowing what God is doing happens when we add every relevant fact about the Biblical God and His heaven to our mind’s picture. It comes from seeing the big picture as God sees it. While everyone thinks they see the big picture, only those who visualize God’s heaven daily and know themselves see the big picture and understand His plan. When we visualize God’s heaven we can rejoice in each moment that we remember our name is written there. When we know ourselves we will rest in humility and rejoice in works of mercy.

Knowing ourselves includes knowing our Biblical purpose. Preachers in traditional Christianity will often tell us that our purpose is to feed a religious institution. God’s Plan, however, is for us to do the things that give us spiritual joy! God really does love us and desires, above all, for us to experience heavenly joy. However, we experience God’s joy only when we are doing exactly what He wants us to do.

Our purpose in God’s Plan is twofold. The first part is finding the joy of salvation for ourselves, as the prodigal son did. The second part of our Biblical purpose is helping others find the joy of salvation—feeding Jesus’ sheep! This means that we will always have something God wants us to do. And when we do that which God wants us to do He will reward us spiritual joy immediately as well as reward us in heaven later.

Jesus did not preach just to fill up four gospels! He spoke His every word for a reason—so that we could be filled with more of His joy every day and forever. And that joy is stronger than any persecution or tribulation!

TODAY’S DAY AND NIGHT MEDITATIONS

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. -John 15:11

Every word that Jesus spoke was for the purpose of helping me find more joy.

DAY TWO—OVERCOMING GRIEF

Being filled with grief is devastating. We cannot even think about being filled with joy when we are filled with grief. Therefore, learning how to overcome grief may be the most important spiritual lesson. Even if we have not experienced grief, it is still important to know how to help others overcome grief. Surprisingly, we only need sound moral reasoning to obtain the joy God intended us to have.

Originally, I wrote this essay for a mother grieving the loss of her son in an accident. She told me she needed answers. After reading my essay, she said that she had found the answers she needed. She was able to go out