rejoice in the Lord

Rejoice! Rejoice!

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Philippians 4:4 KJV

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” and then he adds, “again I say rejoice.” Whenever the Bible repeats something it is because God knows that it is easy for us to forget. Notice that Paul is not just telling us to, ” Don’t worry. Be happy.” That is impossible! Some days, terrible, things happen. There are times in our lives when it seems that evil has gotten the upper hand. Paul certainly knew this, because he was writing these words from his prison cell in Rome. What he is telling us is that no matter what is going on around us, in Christ, we can find a joy greater than our problems and pains. Paul was able to face unimaginable hardships, because he had learned to remind himself of this again and again. Just as it was for Paul, the same is true for us: the joy of praise is the oxygen of our Christian faith. With every step we take, no matter how difficult the way, we must remember to breathe in God’s grace and then breathe out His praise! I hope you are blessed with this song from Evan Craft, Redimi2 & Danny Gokey, which is the official English version from “Todo va a estar bien”. This praise song reminds me of the way we worshiped in our Brazilian church and reflects the heart of worship in a very special way.

Thanksgiving

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
  Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Amp

My sister keeps a jar on her shelf filled with little slips of paper on which are written things for which she is grateful, then on Thanksgiving, she pours them out and reads them, as a reminder of the things that she can be thankful for. In today’s verse, the Apostle Paul, has a similar idea, but he goes one radical step beyond gratitude for blessings. Instead, Paul tells us that in every situation, no matter the circumstances, we are to rejoice, delight in our faith and give thanks. To be honest, I have not learned how can how to do that all the time, but I have picked up a few clues along the pathway as I have followed Jesus. God has shown me that the rejoicing, thankfulness and prayer Paul talks about isn’t about me: it is about Jesus. He reminds me that when Jesus suffered terribly on the cross for us, He endured it all, because pleasing His Father was His greatest joy. The joy that Jesus had, certainly had nothing to do with his situation. He was nailed to rough wooden beams, between two others, who were likewise dying in agony, just a few feet away. He heard the soldiers mocking him and saw them gambling for his last bits of clothing. Yet Jesus had the strength to forgive His enemies, see to the care of His mother and to give the promise of paradise to a thief. Jesus had joy, in spite of His situation, because He loved those around Him, till the very end. This Thanksgiving, whether we sit at a table, surrounded by our family, are alone at home, or even confined to a hospital bed, there is always someone we can love. There is always at least one person, who we can forgive, one who we can encourage or one who we can pray for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May God watch over you, keep you close to His heart and draw you closer to Himself this year in the precious Holy name of Jesus I ask His blessing. Amen!

Faith goes up the stairway that love has built and looks out the window that hope has opened. Charles Spurgeon