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Divine Imperatives September 23 Devotional

by David Joynt on September 23, 2023


MATTHEW 5:3 | 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

JOHN 3:3 | 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

This week reinforces that Jesus’ commands call for the impossible—unless we act with His power and help. When provoked we get angry, when manipulated, resentful, when exploited, aggrieved. These examples drive us back to the need beatitude—we are blessed when we recognize we cannot be like God without His help. The new people whom God wants occupy a new community, representing a new kingdom that exists within a fallen and selfish world. The grace we know in Jesus is the reality of this kingdom—we receive from Him what we don’t deserve. By showing and giving others what they don’t deserve we allow this kingdom grace to rule in us.

 

Give someone something today they do not deserve.

 

 

Gracious God,

I want to be a new person in Your new community. Grant me chances to share what I’ve been given: undeserved grace.

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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