Pastor Joynt's Devotionals

Your church, God's World - Day 29

JOHN 10:11| I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

JOHN10:14-16 | I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Jesus never travelled more than 30 miles from his home in Bethlehem. He grew up in a local area, where few people had any sense of reality wider than their immediate region. No one had a global perspective. There was no mass communication, no rapid methods of travel, and the age of exploration by ship was 1500 years away.

Our Lord spent his time in a remote corner of the Roman empire, almost entirely among his fellow Jews. Yet he had a vision for a world encompassing movement! Concentrating his teaching on those nearby, he was convinced that “other sheep” not of “this field” would come to know his voice.

What interest do you have in the wider world?

Which regions or countries or cultures interest you?

Your Church, God's World - Day 28

JOHN 1:40-42 | One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).  He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Andrew fetched his brother Peter and brought him to Jesus. Jesus immediately renamed him: “You are to be called Cephas, the Rock!” The name change, Simon to Rocky, was a hint at Peter’s destiny. New creatures in Christ are not simply people waiting to die and go to heaven—they are people with spiritual roles right now. As Rocky, Peter would have a key role in Jesus’ company of followers and in the beginning of the movement we call “the church.”

But becoming “the Rock” was a process, and one that involved some painful moments of doubt and failure, some times of undue confidence, some moments of shame and embarrassment. Soul growth is a daily matter, involving obedience and prayer, confession and repentance, correction and trust. But all of this serves the Kingdom purpose, the spiritual mission, the vital role, the new name, which God has for each of us.

Do you have a sense of spiritual destiny?

What nickname would God give you? What new name does he want you to live into?