A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
During 2026, Peachtree Church is inviting everyone into Cultivate, a churchwide discipleship plan centered on the fruit of the Spirit and the kind of life God longs to grow in us. Throughout the year, we’ll explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control take shape in everyday life through the Spirit’s work. Cultivate brings together worship, Scripture, group guides, and meaningful practices designed to meet you where you are and support growth in ways that fit your season. These twice-weekly devotionals are one way to stay connected, offering reflection and grounding for daily life with God. Whether you engage in many ways or just one, you’re invited to be part of this shared journey of becoming more rooted in who God has created and called you to be.
Devotional
This past Sunday, we celebrated Palm Sunday.
It is one of the most joy-filled moments in the life of the church. The streets of Jerusalem were alive with praise as people waved palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna!” They laid their cloaks on the road, welcoming Jesus with expectation and with joy that could not stay quiet.
There is something striking about that kind of joy.
It is not reserved. It rises up and overflows.
And yet, Palm Sunday holds a deeper, more layered joy. The crowd celebrates, but Jesus knows where the road is leading. He enters Jerusalem to the sound of praise, even as he moves steadily toward the cross.
Which means this joy is not shallow. It is not dependent on circumstances going well. It is a joy grounded in who he is and in what he has come to accomplish. Even here, we see the steady faithfulness of God unfolding, not in reaction to the moment, but according to his covenant promises.
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Palm Sunday reminds us that joy is not something we manufacture. It is something we receive. It meets us right where we are. It restores what feels worn down. It brings life back into places that have grown tired.
The people on that road did not fully understand the story unfolding before them, but their joy was still real. They were responding to the presence of Jesus. And there is something deeply healing about that, turning our attention toward him, lifting our voices, allowing our hearts to be drawn into praise.
We often carry more than we realize. Responsibilities, concerns, quiet burdens that do not always have words. Over time, it can leave the spirit feeling worn down.
And then Palm Sunday meets us.
It invites us to join the crowd, to lift our eyes, and to remember that Jesus has come near. Not because we have reached for him first, but because he has come to us. He is present. He is faithful. He is worthy of our praise even in the middle of a week that will hold both sorrow and hope.
This is the kind of joy that heals. Not because everything is easy, but because Christ remains steady. His purposes are sure. His love does not waver.
As we move through Holy Week, we do not leave that joy behind. We carry it with us. It steadies us as we walk through the weight of Good Friday, and it prepares us for the fullness of Resurrection Sunday.
For Reflection
- Where have you felt a “crushed spirit” lately?
- Where has joy met you when you least expected it to show up?
- How is God inviting you to receive the kind of joy that restores?
Prayer
Gracious Lord,
You are worthy of our praise.
You come to us in faithfulness, even when our hearts feel weary.
Where our spirits feel worn down, bring your restoring joy.
Lift our eyes to you this week and help us to walk with you through both the weight and the hope of this story.
Steady us in your promises and shape our hearts by your presence.
In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
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Devotionals