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Divine Imperatives August 12 Devotional

by David Joynt on August 12, 2023


LUKE 17:21 | 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.

Jesus did so much more than call for repentance and announce the kingdom. He commanded and taught in the Sermon on the Mount to show the concrete ways we fall short of God’s intentions. He welcomed those who understood their need and accepted His royal authority, into His company. Everyone who did so entered the kingdom by acknowledging His rule. Where He reigns, the kingdom exists!

 

Once we repent and enter His kingdom, our earnest self-examination is not over. Repentance is a practice. As we progress in heart and soul, becoming more like Christ, we see more things that need to change and we open up more areas of our life to God’s gracious reformation.

 

Do you practice repentance?

 

 

Gracious God,

Help me see my life and heart clearly, trusting in Your grace and Your power to make me new.

Amen.

 

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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