September 20 Praise God!

Luke 24:50-52 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
 
JESUS’ work on earth is done. He has entered into God’s broken creation to begin a New Testament, a new promise, of love, grace, forgiveness and salvation. Out of the Law has come the Christ for all souls who confess him, “My Lord and my Savior”. The Living Word of God has brought flesh, blood, resurrection and ascension to God’s Word. He fulfilled prophecy as represented in these words from Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
    Because of Jesus’ ministry and the Spirit’s revelations, Jesus’ disciples through the ages know the meaning and power of Jesus’ teachings. Holding to our faith, all disciples can be as The Eleven were the day Jesus ascended. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.  
    Do you follow Jesus with great joy as the disciples felt and expressed that day? Amid life’s challenges, sorrows, disappointments and hardships, we can easily lose sight of God’s magnificent, eternal salvation. “Joy” becomes, too often, a transient emotion, not a core attitude of worship toward our Lord.
    Yet, Jesus even commands us to joy. What is joy? Do you have it? Do you want it? What difference does it make? Before we leave Luke, then, we will examine for the next several days the God of Joy, who calls you to a complete joy in him. We’ll even see how the cross is necessary for your joy.
    I invite to be faithful to the lessons, so you, as the disciples, will keep your eyes up, gazing upon the risen, ascended Savior.  
 
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for Luke’s orderly account of your will being done on earth. I pray I receive your Word to be a joyful eyewitness to a world who needs to see you. Amen.