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New? February 18 Devotional

by David Joynt on February 18, 2025


1 PETER 4:14 | 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

 

Our suffering for Christ is temporary and it’s an eventual source of joy when we imagine the honor of sharing in our creator’s redemptive victory over all that diminishes life. But in a profound and mysterious way, suffering can also transfigure us. If we suffer for the name, out of loyalty to Jesus and his cause, “the spirit of glory rests on us.”

 

I’ve seen what Peter refers to in this haunting and lovely phrase. For instance, some disciples become transparent or translucent facing disease and death. They radiate God’s peace and presence
despite physical pain or the presence of the shadow of their physical demise.

 

Have you ever seen the transfiguring glory of Jesus in someone?

 

 

Gracious God,

Use suffering in my life to sanctify my soul and deepen my heart. I ask in Jesus’ name.

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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