Rejoice!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” Phil.4:4

If you've lived for any length of time, you know this little fact of life: It is often rare that anything turns out exactly like we plan it in life. 

However, regardless of this fact, if we're a Christian then we should be able to find the good in any situation and be able to rejoice. Yes, even in times of heartache, sorrow, persecution, and the daily struggles of life we should be able to rejoice, in the Lord. This does not mean we ignore the natural emotion that comes with the circumstances of life, much to the contrary. We rather learn to find the good no matter the situation and be able to praise our God, though we may not understand what's going on at the time. The world calls this foolish, but our Lord calls it hope. We have something the world doesn't understand but desires, hope in something better. We have the hope of heaven when this life is over...now isn't that something to rejoice about?! The verse says "Rejoice in the Lord"...are you able to do that?

Consider how we may react when things don't go our way. Do you ever find yourself complaining, getting frustrated (even angry), and/or throwing a massive pity-party? Yea, I've been there too. It's so easy to do isn't it?

But, think about this: What good does complaining do for you and your situation? What does it solve? If we're honest with ourselves we'll we see that all complaining/getting angry/throwing a pity-party does is add to our problem(s). Not only are we doing an injustice to ourselves and our own happiness, we are wrecking our ability to influence others for good. 

Complaining about every little thing that comes our way does not give people a reason to ask for the hope that is within us. No, let's be honest here - it doesn't give anyone a reason to suspect that we even have hope; rather, it repels them. 

The world complains as those who have no hope, whose faith is in the things of this life, and who have not the benefit of salvation from their sins; Christians are not this way (Matt.5:13-16). 

We know the Lord will never leave us, nor forsake us and with Him we can overcome this whole world if we will but submit our will to His and simply obey His every command; & humbly repent when we fall (2Pet.1:3; 1Thess.3:16-17; 2Tim.2:15; 1Cor.10:12-13; Phil.4:6-8; Rom.8:28,31).

Isn't this a reason to rejoice?! That is the true art to life isn't it, learning how to rejoice? Remember Christian, we can rejoice "in the Lord" no matter what goes on around us. Consider that God gives us hope, and hope allows us to be able to rejoice in the Lord no matter the situation. Recall that the book of Philippians was written by a man in prison, and it's such an uplifting book! 

What about you and I? Where is our hope? Answer that and see if it matches up with your ability to rejoice in the Lord. If you're having trouble rejoicing you might just need to check your spiritual pulse.

So now, if you are a Christian, rejoice in the Lord! Heaven, our home, awaits us!

"...Again, I will say, rejoice!" 


Thanks for dropping in.

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