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Women in Discipleship (sm)
Devotionals for 2005
Week 1
Warm greetings to each of you in the name of Jesus,
Whenever a new year arrives, I enjoy pondering what the Lord has in store for me. This year will hold many opportunities and challenges, I'm sure. For each of these, it is my prayer that I will take hold of the circumstance and listen to the voice of God teaching me through it. I also desire to exercise more faith, with the help of God, in applying 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Lately the word joy has been ringing in my heart, bringing me back to the place of true contentment in Jesus my Savior. This year we will look into some meaningful passages about joy. These verses will help me (and I hope you as well) to focus more intimately on the true meaning of joy. After all, most of the times the word joy is used in the New Testament, it refers to "chara" (Greek word), and it means "exuberant joy, rejoice, gladness of heart." We will see how wonderfully this word is used in both the Old and New Testaments. You may or may not be surprised that in the Greek, especially the New Testament, this word is used to define the Christian. Yes, the true meaning of the word joy has everything to do with salvation in Jesus Christ. It is a divine word, one used only of those who know and experience the peace of God through Jesus (God with Us/Emmanuel).
So, as we journey together in this exploration of joy, I pray that we each will model the joy of our salvation, because there is no true and lasting joy apart from Jesus Christ.
Scripture to ponder: Matthew 2:10-11 - "When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
I pray that we each will recognize the gift Jesus is to us, rejoice exceedingly with great joy, and worship Him in reverence and humility all the days of our lives. The magi recognized the true King; they rejoiced and worshiped Him
Let's remember to pray for one another.
Blessings to each of you in Jesus' name,
Sandra Davis for the team at Women in Discipleship
Our team locally is made up of Sandy, Candace, Pat, Lisa, Andy, Herb, Jon, Liz, Karen, Katy, Kim, Joanna, and many others who participate in our discipleship groups.
(Note: Scripture texts used for this series are from the New American Standard Bible.)
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