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The Originals, Week 1, Day 2

by David Joynt on January 08, 2018


 

JOHN 15:1-11

 

The key to effectiveness and joy in the Christian life is intimacy
with God. God is the source of truth and understanding, the best
guide and the only one who can lead us forward toward spiritual
growth on earth and eternal life in heaven. His purposes for us
are beyond any puny plans we can generate on our own. His
mercy and grace can overcome our debts and deficiencies.

 

John has preserved these truths for us in Chapter 15 of his Gospel,
as Jesus teaches us about intimacy. He is the vine and we are the
branches. As branches, luxuriant life and growth depend
exclusively on our connection with his sustenance and power.
Without him, our lives are unfruitful and disposable. But with
him, our lives become life giving for others. Every good idea
I've ever had and every loving act has begun with him.

 

 

Do you have an intimate relationship with Jesus?

 

 

What is stopping you from forming a greater connection?

 

Tags: grace, john, mercy

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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