DEC 13 ADVENT @ BC 2022!
This page contains one of the devotionals in our Advent 2022 mini-devo series, devotions created by members and partners of our church community. For more information on Advent @ BC 2022, CLICK HERE.
Tuesday, December 13th Advent Mini-Devo - By Marcella. Marcella is a leader of a Nazarene Church in Morungaba, Brazil. Recently, a team from our church visited the church and fell in love with the leaders there. The church has a ministry called Mirada de Amor, a school for kids and adults with speical needs. Marcella is a leader in the ministry.
Luke 1: 46-49 /Phillippians 4:4-5
Have you praised God today? Have you literally sung for joy to God?
When I look at Mary in Luke's text, it's impossible not to bring to my memory a moment when I was so happy that I wanted to run out and hug everyone, sing and show everyone what happened. This is the joy experienced by Mary, Elizabeth and many others who appear in the Bible, but how is their story different with our life?
When Paul in the book of Philippians exhorts us to always rejoice in the Lord, he is inviting us to live a life that demonstrates our faith in a concrete way. But what does it mean to be rejoice? Or why does Paul say they should rejoice? If we seek the meaning of the word rejoice, the first synonym that appears is STATE OF HAPPINESS. To be happy I need, for example, to forgive, not be anxious, smile, not be so demanding, live without stress, eat slowly and enjoy food, and be rejoicing!!!! To be rejoice or happy, we need to be grateful!
Spiritual joy is not just a feeling of pleasure or frequent excitement because of some happy moments of life. It is a permanently optimistic state of mind, associated with the love and action of Christ in favor of the sincere Christian, through the Holy Spirit. The Christian does not deny pain, weaknesses and suffering, but has his strength and motivation firm in the certainty of divine provision.
If you still haven't rejoiced in the Lord for what He has done in your life and with your family, take advantage of this time of Advent to ask Him to renew the joy of your heart and remind you of all that He has already done and is doing, and place the hope of what you will do. In this way we can show others that regardless of our contexts, we are happy, but not because of what we have or see, but because we have the joy of the Lord, which is our strength.
This page contains one of the devotionals in our Advent 2022 mini-devo series, devotions created by members and partners of our church community. For more information on Advent @ BC 2022, CLICK HERE.
Tuesday, December 13th Advent Mini-Devo - By Marcella. Marcella is a leader of a Nazarene Church in Morungaba, Brazil. Recently, a team from our church visited the church and fell in love with the leaders there. The church has a ministry called Mirada de Amor, a school for kids and adults with speical needs. Marcella is a leader in the ministry.
Luke 1: 46-49 /Phillippians 4:4-5
Have you praised God today? Have you literally sung for joy to God?
When I look at Mary in Luke's text, it's impossible not to bring to my memory a moment when I was so happy that I wanted to run out and hug everyone, sing and show everyone what happened. This is the joy experienced by Mary, Elizabeth and many others who appear in the Bible, but how is their story different with our life?
When Paul in the book of Philippians exhorts us to always rejoice in the Lord, he is inviting us to live a life that demonstrates our faith in a concrete way. But what does it mean to be rejoice? Or why does Paul say they should rejoice? If we seek the meaning of the word rejoice, the first synonym that appears is STATE OF HAPPINESS. To be happy I need, for example, to forgive, not be anxious, smile, not be so demanding, live without stress, eat slowly and enjoy food, and be rejoicing!!!! To be rejoice or happy, we need to be grateful!
Spiritual joy is not just a feeling of pleasure or frequent excitement because of some happy moments of life. It is a permanently optimistic state of mind, associated with the love and action of Christ in favor of the sincere Christian, through the Holy Spirit. The Christian does not deny pain, weaknesses and suffering, but has his strength and motivation firm in the certainty of divine provision.
If you still haven't rejoiced in the Lord for what He has done in your life and with your family, take advantage of this time of Advent to ask Him to renew the joy of your heart and remind you of all that He has already done and is doing, and place the hope of what you will do. In this way we can show others that regardless of our contexts, we are happy, but not because of what we have or see, but because we have the joy of the Lord, which is our strength.