You show the way of life, you fill me with the joy of your presence. Acts 2:28 [Sunrise May 20 2013]

You show the way of life, you fill me with the joy of your presence. Acts 2:28 [Sunrise May 20 2013]

Day 50 Joy Is The Secret Sauce

32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. Acts 2:32-33

Who is Jesus?

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit released fresh revelation of exactly who Jesus was and helped make sense of what God was doing.

Peter’s spontaneous sermon was inspired by the Spirit filing Him and those around  at a greater level than they had ever comprehended before.

During his earthly ministry, the identity of Jesus as God was not obvious to all.  Even when Jesus was there in the flesh living and talking with them, they often didn’t get what He was talking about. And some rejected Jesus even when it was plain He had to be the promised Messiah.

This whole thing is mind blowing when you go there.

Joy

In this first gospel proclamation,  Peter quotes David from Psalm 16:11

You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ Acts 2: 28

Here, I believe, is what is intrinsically attractive about the gospel, about following Jesus Christ as Lord and master.

Jesus shows us the “way of life” and fills us with joy.

He fills the huge gap we all have in the human experience, namely, finding true true meaning and joy in this earthly existence.

“Religion”, understood as doing “the right things” just doesn’t cut it. Neither does “success” – attaining a degree of money, power, prestige. Nor does the pursuit of “pleasure” – doing whatever feels good when you feel like doing it.

These are the means people employ to experience joy, pursuing happiness by the logic of human nature. It is folly.

The followers of Jesus discovered something far superior, they were filled with joy in his presence.

My friends,  the joy of His presence is the secret sauce of a life in God.

Joy is the benefit of worshiping Father, Son and Holy Spirit in sprit and truth.

Transformation

This group in the Upper Room, these resurrection witnesses –  were not motivated by pressure, coercion, guilt trips or any other mechanism of man.

In the presence of Jesus they found love, joy, peace, hope. Their passion was real.

They had been transformed.

Inspired by and motivated by supernatural love, they shared their stories of how Jesus had changed their lives.  Nothing could stop them.

And that’s what proclaiming the gospel is – telling your God story, and  leading others to enjoy the wonderful truth of knowing Him personally.

May the joy of the Lord be your strength today, and always!

Let’s Pray:

I invite you to pray with me today.

“Jesus thank you for your life your death and your resurrection. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit. Fill me with your Spirit today. Fill me with a new anointing, a fresh outpouring. Thank you for the joy of your presence. Empower me to do Your work, Your way. For the glory of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

About This Devotional Series

According to the historical church calendar, the Easter season is the 50 day period from Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.  I’ll post a fresh devotional thought with my sunrise photo of that morning, everyday through Pentecost, commenting as the Spirit inspires. Check out the rest of the series here. Invite your friends. If this series is helpful to you,  please forward and share with your friends through e-mail, Twitter, Facebook – whatever, just click the share buttons on this page.  Join us on the journey from Easter to Pentecost!  Would you like more devotionals like this? 

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