Inexpressible and Glorious Joy!
December 24, 2019Building True Relationships
December 26, 2019“We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2b
Whom, or what, have you come to worship on this day? Do you adore the praise of family members or other people? Then you have missed the mark. Do you behold the food that is before you? Then you will become like a refrigerator. Do you adore material possessions and money? Then you will be greedy and alone. But…do you behold and adore Christ? Then you will be FULFILLED. You will become like Christ at heart, serving and worshiping the Father. Just as the men in Matthew 2 saw His star in the east and traveled a distance to worship Him, we should look for His signs, seek to be near Him, and worship Him above all things. Psalm 34:5 tells us, “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” So come…let us worship Him!
The early Christians understood how wonderful the grace of God was that He allowed all who repented and turned toward Him, believing in Him as the one true God and Jesus as the Son of God, to become children of God – even the Gentiles. These Christians were so appropriately humbled that they met together daily to encourage one another. Do the same today – devote your heart to Christ and God, not the food, people, or things around you. Encourage one another. Enjoy your fellowship with glad and sincere hearts and radiant faces, filled with praise and true worship!
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved
Acts 2:42-27
Acts 2:42-27
(Excerpt from Exodus Devotional: Laying Down Your Idols, by Gwen Shamblin Lara)