Christmas Devotion – Dec. 28: A promise of joy

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11

As I promised we are focusing on joy. It is my desire to understand more fully what the shepherds and the wise men felt when they saw the fulfillment of the promises they pursued. I don’t write these devotions with a claim that I fully understand or live it out. I write these devotions so that I might strive side-by-side with you in our own pursuit of joy. In this verse Jesus is promising us His joy. This is His promise to us, one we must pursue. He wants His joy to be in us so that we might be complete. Again, this is easier to say than to do. So where do we start?

I think the key is in the verses that precede the promise. Earlier in John 15 Jesus tells us that He is the Vine and that we are the branches. He tells us that we need to remain in Him. He tells us that if we remain in Him we will produce fruit. We know that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy. We need to work at being connected to Jesus. We need to be in His Word. We need to talk with Him in prayer. We need to actively and continuously connect ourselves to Jesus. As we do that we will be connected to His joy. More important, we will be connected to His love, which produces that joy. Could it be that simple?

In verse 9 Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.” As we work on our connection with the Vine we must remember that it is His love we need to focus on. Let’s drink deeply of the richness of His grace and bask in the bright rays of His love. Let’s set the world aside (continuously) so that we might focus on what really matters.

Join me in focusing on Jesus’ love and let’s let His joy fill us and make us complete.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church

Let the world see Jesus in you!

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