Rejoice Pt. 1…Thursday

5/8/14

Philippians 4:4-9 (Amplified Bible)

Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice!

    Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon].

    Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

    And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

    For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].

    Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled, undisturbed well-being) will be with you.

   

Philippians 4:4-9 (The Message)

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

 Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Rejoice in the Lord always (delight, gladden yourself in Him), again I say rejoice

This must be very important, it was not only said once but twice, it was emphasized.

I love how the Message puts it...  

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him.

Revel- to take great pleasure or delight to bask

Bask-indulge, wallow. 

When I hear those words or think about those words I can see a large soft fluffy blanket just enveloping me, wrapping itself around me and on the outside are the Lord's arms gently wrapping around me.  And I am swallowed up by his love for me, by how awesome and good he is.  I feel safe. 

Celebrate, rejoice just reminds me of singing praises to Him, to have a song in your heart about your King.  Giving thanks for what He has already done for you. 

When we start mediating and reminding our soul about what he has already done for us,  how can you not celebrate how can you not rejoice in the goodness of our Father God?

How awesome he truly is. 

"This isn't instructing us to be happy. Paul commands us to rejoice. Rejoice is a verb; it's something you do, whereas happiness is a state of being. We may not always be happy, but we can always rejoice. We can rejoice regardless of what's happening to us, or Paul wouldn't have commanded us to do it.  Paul commanded us to "rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS." That seems unreasonable and impossible to most people. They think, "You can't always be rejoicing even through bad times!" But the Lord would be unjust to command us to do something that is unobtainable. Rejoicing at all times is not only possible, it is preferable!  It's true that we can't rejoice at all times if we are waiting for our circumstances to be good. Even in the few times when everything seems to be just right, we will have some sorrow because of past tragedies or future fears. Our rejoicing has to be in the Lord."

—Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary

To be concluded next Thursday

Written by

Kathryn Hansen