Prophet’s Reading Plan: Isaiah 22-25
And the fruit of the
Spirit is… joy…
2 Timothy 1:4 (NIV) As I remember your tears, I long to see you,
that I may be filled with joy.
There is great joy in being part of a body of believers.
Paul’s understanding of this is evident in all of his letters. He greets the
churches with a heartwarming salutation declaring his love for them and his
desire that they would experience the peace and joy of Christ.
If you have ever travelled overseas and run into a
Canadian, then you know the bonding feeling that comes with the meeting. This
person is suddenly family – maple syrup and snow are enough to bind you as
blood. When you meet a Christian, the
encounter is even more amazing! The person is a true brother or sister in
Christ, a part in the same worldwide body that you call home. Joy is a huge
benefit of Christian community.
Satan works avidly against this community. It is his
greatest desire to destroy the church, and though the universal church is
indivisible, many local churches have fallen prey to his schemes. Satan robs us
of the joy that is found in the body through age-old plots and thoughts of
envy, jealousy, corruption, bitterness, offense, hatred, judgement, etc. It is
no surprise that compassion for the unchurched comes quickly, while judgement reigns
in our hearts over those we see in church. Satan believes Jesus’ words that a
house divided against itself will fall, and so he strives to arouse division.
But if we would only stop to think
before we think – to think about the
judgements and envies and offenses that creep into our thinking – then we could
bring these things before the Lord in immediate repentance, asking Him to
forgive our pride and to help us to see others as He sees them. Look around
you: the people you see are people.
They are not threats. They are not competitors. They are people in need of the
love of God and He wants to use you
as a catalyst.
PRAYER AND
MEDITATION
1. Ask
the Holy Spirit to convict you of areas of divisiveness in your feelings
towards other Christians (envy, offense, judgement, etc.). Confess these things
to God.
2. Ask
God how He wants to increase your joy through the church body.
3. Thank God for the people in the church that you
struggle to love.
