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Day 40: Purpose

Have you tested Jesus’ teaching? Is your relationship with scripture theoretical or practical?

by David Joynt on May 19, 2016

Day 40: Purpose

JOHN 14:10

We did not witness, directly, Jesus’ deeds and teaching as Philip did. We depend on the witness of scripture, and it is in the pages of the New Testament alone that we can find the words and deeds of Christ which nourish our faith. This principle is Sola Scripture. Trusting scripture is not so much adherence to a doctrine of revelation—it is a matter of our willingness to live our lives in conformity to Jesus’ commands and example drawn from the gospels. It is about our practice as much as our orthodoxy. Do His promises shape our outlook? Does His character form our ambitions? The same Lord who encountered Philip invites us to exercise our faith, to trust His claims, and to base our lives around His presence and direction.

Have you tested Jesus’ teaching?

Is your relationship with scripture theoretical or practical?

Tags: devotional, encountering, purpose

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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