Welcome!
Today: The joy of fellowship with God and people
Passage: Eph 4
16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph 4, NIV)-emphasis added
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his[a]; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Ps 100, NIV 84)
The past few days, we were enjoying the fellowship of a few hundreds of people in a National Convention
It is a beautiful sight when God’s children come together from various places and worship God together. The body of Christ is so big, so vast
I was thinking about the joints in the human body, as I read the verses above
It is a mystery how the parts of the body are joined together by the ligaments
When we use our hands to lift weights of a few kilograms/pounds, we don’t always remember how God has joined one bone to another with the “ball and socket joint” and it moves freely in the socket without coming off!
Why did God want His people to be joined together? Why not each one of us be connected to God independently, as some “leaders” desire?
That is one of the unique natures of our God. Our God delights to see people coming together in His name – at the home, Church or anywhere else
Even if it is only two people, God rejoices in it
(Otherwise, we could stay home and have an “internet service” every Sunday!)
Satan knows that God delights in His people coming together
So satan tries to inject some kind of “trouble” into most families/Churches
One of the things that help create and maintain unity is the fact of the unity in the God-head, in the trinity. God Himself is our role-model
Jesus mentions about it in His high-priestly prayer in John 17
11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. (John 17: 11, 13- NIV 84)-emphasis added
Jesus mentions about the Joy divine in John 17, which we also see in Ps 100
Are we able to joyfully come to God and worship Him with gladness?
Sometimes, the abundance of things can take divine joy and peace away from us; but we can always restore it with prayer-even in the midst of trouble!
If we wait to rejoice after all the problems are over, we may need to wait till the end of our earthly life
Instead, we can rejoice in Christ, because He lives and He holds our “tomorrows”
Have a blessed day!
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me enjoy divine Joy and peace within myself, my family, Church and everywhere I am. You are bigger than all my problems and my needs. Thank you Jesus, for your presence and Lordship in my life; Amen