Rejoice Always
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Rejoice Always
Just from human nature, it is not natural to be always rejoicing. If we have a flat tire, we grumble. Computer problems bring groans. Being sick brings moans. There’s just a lot of stuff that happens that leads us to complaining instead of rejoicing.
Nevertheless, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 instructs us,
Rejoice always;
pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
When all sorts of problems are surrounding us, why should we rejoice? We should rejoice partly because getting depressed and grumbling does not help the situation. And, we should rejoice because God has proven His love for us in Christ Jesus, and He has promised to carry us through our trials and temptations.
We are not rejoicing because we are some sort of Pollyanna blithely skipping through the fields of flowers, totally ignoring the reality of life around us. We rejoice because God’s love is faithful in forgiving us all our sins, and He desires for us to turn to Him in prayer, while learning to trust Him for all our needs.
Our inner rejoicing in our suffering is a putting of our faith where it really belongs — in our Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice because we can pray for our heavenly Father’s help. We rejoice because God hears our prayers and helps us in ways that strengthen our faith, hope, and love. No one else can help us and strengthen us the way the Lord can. His way of helping in every situation is a way that also leads us to eternal salvation because it builds up our trust. God can help because He knows our every thought, feeling, and fiber in our body. He knows our problem even before we are aware of it. That alone is good reason to trust in the Almighty.
Our giving of thanks is also a sign of our faith and trust in God’s proven love. We are simply admitting that God has set forth all the evidence we need that shows He is, indeed, the Almighty, and that He does, indeed, love us in Jesus Christ. God does not love us because of anything “good” that we might have done. God loves us because with faith we have humbly laid all our sins at the foot of the cross.
We have good reason to “Rejoice always” and to “give thanks”. In our every trouble, let us remember who God is and how He has loved us in Jesus Christ. There is no greater love. There is no greater faithfulness.
As we face our troubles, we say, “Hallelujah! My Lord, blessed is Your love for me in Jesus Christ, for You have loved me with an everlasting love. Thank You for being my confidence in living rightly for You.”
Love,
Margaret
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A Christian devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and God of gods
This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 18:30
Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Psalm 33:1
How blessed are those who dwell in Thy house!
They are ever praising Thee.
Psalm 84:4
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:13
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1
Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105:3
Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that
I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12
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