Daily devotion – Joy
The Joy that is in Christ.
Too often I speak to people who have made a confession to be followers of Christ, yet joy seems to be a missing ingredient in their speech, their thoughts, or their living. Jesus spoke, you will remember, of there being basically four types of hearers and soils types of heart, as to how one hears and receives the Word of God.
One of them is as follows – Mat 13:22 “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”
We often talk about a person being a ‘glass half full or glass half empty’ type of person.
But as Christians, the Bible tells us that we are to be full of the Holy Spirit, in fact overflowing, and in turn Jesus said that He came to bring us joy – Jhn 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
If we allow our lives and our focus to shift away from Christ in any capacity, pretty soon, the ‘weeds’, the ‘cares of this world’ will begin to grow, and our joy will be strangled out of us.
We have a choice. To remain weed free by NOT allowing the cares of the world to dominate our thoughts and life and allow them to shift our focus away from Christ. Or to ensure, by choice, to keep our eyes on the Lord and place Him first.
Nothing profound but simple. This week, you are to make the choice of giving every care that rises up to the Lord just as Peter teaches us – 1Pe 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. – and begin to enjoy being a Christian who lives under the blessing and power of Jesus Christ – and your life will be one of joy!