Wellspring of Joy
Galatians 3:26
In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
~ Apostle Paul
John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Pondering Point
John 1:12-13 tells us that Jesus came to give us the right to become children of God. This doesn’t happen by parental lineage or spousal connection or even our own efforts, but it comes by the will of God – AND it happens through faith in Jesus Christ. Even that faith, life-giving and life-sustaining, is a gift of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:1).
Prayer for the Day
Thank You Holy Spirit for giving me faith! Help me use it – and, as Peter says, add to that faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. In Jesus’ name. Amen (see 2 Peter 1:5-7).
Love, joy, and peace are the triumvirate at the heart of Jesus’ kingdom vision. All three are more than just emotions; they are overall conditions of the heart. They aren't just pleasant feelings; they are the kinds of people we become through our apprenticeship to Jesus, who embodies all three ad infinitum. And all three are incompatible with hurry...To restate: love, joy, and peace are at the heart of all Jesus is trying to grow in the soil of your life. And all three are incompatible with hurry... [hurry] also keeps us from God himself simply by stealing our attention. And with hurry we always lose more than we gain. Here for the win, Walter Adams, the spiritual director to CS Lewis: To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer and only impedes and spoils our work. It never advances it.
J.M. Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, p. 24, 25