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Christmas Playlist Devotional 13

by David Joynt on December 10, 2021


Luke 1:41-43 | 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

Notice the tone of Elizabeth’s comments. Mary is the junior relative and dependent on her hospitality, yet she graciously reverses the situation. She announces that entertaining Mary for months is an undeserved blessing and an honor.

One of the greatest keys to effectiveness for God is seeing the people entrusted to your care as undeserved blessings. Then toil and trouble is lightened and effort does not seem burdensome. Seeing people as blessings helps us experience them as blessings. 

Do you see people as blessings?

Tags: blessings, people

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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