Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Rejoicing on the way...


We have been looking at the devotions at my week of camp. They allowed for a good time of reflection, so I wanted to share them with you. On day five, the theme was “Rejoicing on the Way.” For the devotion, we looked at the passage in Acts, where Peter and John healed a man who was lame from birth. Imagine not be able to walk ever. Seeing Peter and john coming, and expecting a few coins at best, yet being given the gift of your legs!

Would you be happy! That would be an understatement, wouldn’t it? You would be incredibly joyous! You would be beside yourself! You wouldn’t be able to stand still. It would be a time of rejoicing, a time when you just had to tell everyone about the joy you felt, about the experience you had.

When was the last time you felt that way? Have you ever felt that way? I remember times in my Spiritual Walk when I felt that way over a glimpse of understanding in Scripture. I remember finding things in the Old Testament that explain thing that I never really understood before in the New Testament. I accepted them, but didn’t understand why they were important. But then I would find a small little, almost meaningless (so I thought) passage that, when I understand that was what the Israelites clung to, made the New Testament come alive. Now I know why that was important to them! I felt a joy down deep, and I wanted to share what I found!

That doesn’t compare to gaining the use of your legs after being crippled since birth, but it’s something I could relate to. It’s something that most of the campers could relate to, and I hope that it is something that you might be able to relate to.

It is important to rejoice along the way. Remember those times that God touched you. Maybe it was in a quite time alone with your Bible. Maybe it was a comment in a Sunday School Class, or a line in a Sermon Message. And something just clicked, and you understood something new.

Maybe it was a miraculous healing, or a job struggle, or a family crisis, and you just knew that the hand of God brought the result. Rejoice. Thank God for the miracle.

God is still in the miracle business everyday. He still reaching through our struggles to give us a leading hand through them. He still gives us a nudge now and then to help us avoid them. He still heals. Rejoice!

Rejoicing is an important part of our spiritual walk. Don’t forget to rejoice in God.

No comments:

What is the Church?

The Apostle Paul would whole-heartedly answer that question as the Body of Christ.   And I think that all of us would agree with him But ...