Celebrate Joy

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11

What wise advice Paul used in closing this letter to the church at Corinth.

Be joyful. Let the Holy Spirit fill you with His joy—and spread that joy—that happiness to others. A happy face makes others happy. A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13.

Grow to maturity. What does it mean to “mature”? How about…become complete or to be perfect…or to be what one should be? That’s how I see it that God wants us to grow—to be like His Son, Jesus.

Jesus told a parable about seeds being sown. Those that fell into the thorns didn’t mature, whereas the seeds that fell into the good soil, matured and produced a good crop. The good soil is how our hearts need to be so that we can be useful to the Lord—productive.

The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. Luke 8:14-15.

Encourage each other. You want to be inspired, refreshed, revived or cheered—then do the same for others. Just like Jesus’ teaching of the Golden Rule: Do to others as you would like them to do to you. (He continues) If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! Luke 6:31-33.

Paul wrote that he wanted encouragement…and to encourage others. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. Romans 1:12.

The author of Hebrews also admonished his readers not to neglect getting together with other Christians. That’s important. How can we learn from each other or encourage each other if we don’t spend time together?

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25. Are you encouraged by others…and are you inspiring others?

Live in harmony and peace. There is so much strife in this world. Don’t listen to the news or watch it on TV if you don’t want to hear about violence. When was the last time you experienced peace?

I went out for a short kayak trip on the Columbia River late Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful. A truly peaceful time—I sang softly about the sweet, sweet spirit in that place. Sometimes we need to draw ourselves away from others for even just a few minutes to experience God’s peace—to find His harmony within our lives. Surrendering our agendas, our preconceived ideas about how our lives should be and yielding to His will and allow Him to guide and direct us. May our lives grow towards maturity, being filled with His joy, encouraging others, and living in harmony and peace with ourselves…and every one.

Prayer ~ Lord Jesus, please give me grace to follow Your path, to become like You as I spiritually mature, to encourage and be encouraged by those around me...and to live in harmony and peace.

Happy Birthday to our sweet Lisa.

Love and Blessings on you.

This is my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased!

© 2016 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

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