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Divine Imperatives September 28 Devotional

by David Joynt on September 28, 2023


MATTHEW 5:47 | 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same?

 

Love is not a limited commodity, like time or energy. We tend to protect ourselves by limiting the range of our regard. Though, we need to be strategic when we invest our limited time and energy, we also must be open. Closed circles of friendship or family or church group violates this verse. They become comfortable and safe but also restrictive. Reaching toward these we do not know, greeting the stranger, opens up new possibilities for relationship and impact. It also provides God a chance to fill us with His unlimited supply of agape.

 

How good are you at extending your circle?

 

 

Gracious God,

As we go deep in relationships, help us to also go broad. Give us the freedom to meet and greet beyond our circles.

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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