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The Pursuit of Happiness Daily Devotional -24

by David Joynt on January 26, 2021


PHILIPPIANS 1:23-24 | 23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 

To die is gain. One feature of contemporary Christian life is the alien feel of this sentiment. We have so many pleasurable pursuits, educational opportunities, economic possibilities, leisure options, and entertainment choices, and we live so comfortably here and now, that our sense of heaven has gone dim.

Even the joy of serving Christ and advancing His cause, for Paul, paled in comparison to full union with Him and experiencing heaven. Our future lives with Christ will be more intimate, more complete and more rewarding (as the New Testament indicates in John 14:1-6, Mark 10:29, and 1 Corinthians 13:8-12). Further, you and I will be transformed as our earthly bodies are exchanged for a body like Jesus’ resurrection body (see Philippians 3:21).

Can you distinguish heaven and earth?

What do you most look forward to about heaven?

 

Tags: heaven, earth

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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