Day 187: Job 33-34; Acts 13:26-52

"And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52, CSB).
At Family Camp, Rev. Byron Hannon defined joy as 'having overwhelming gladness of heart because Christ is at the center of our lives.' When Jesus is the center of our joy, our circumstances do not hinder that joy. When Paul and Barnabas were expelled from the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch (that means to be condemned and removed as though you were never born), you can be certain that the disciples who embraced the grace of Jesus through their message were also expelled. They were totally ostracized from their former faith community and may have been kicked out of their extended families (at least those who were Jewish). Everything changed! It was a costly decision, yet, they were filled with joy. Jesus at the center. How do you and I live in that joy? The secret is the '...and the Holy Spirit.' He keeps Jesus at the center and empowers us to live growing into Christ-likeness. He also makes that joy a maturing (ripening fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23) reality that grows in our lives and flows out to bless our world. Live today filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.