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REJOICE ALWAYS!
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‘What, rejoice ALWAYS?! You’ve got to be joking! That’s impossible - you don’t know what I’ve got to put up with - you don’t know what my kids are like - what my neighbours are like!’
That could be a normal reaction if we allowed our flesh, our mind, and our emotions, to be in control! Praise God, we are beginning to find out what God has to say in how to deal with those situations and, although we may not always do things His Way ALL the time(!), our spirit man knows that God’s Way is always the way to VICTORY! So, here’s some more encouragement to REJOICE ALWAYS when it usually doesn’t make sense!
Habakkuk 3:17-19 says this, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; (that’s a pretty desperate plight - you could say they had nothing, and no means of getting anything, in the natural) Yet I WILL rejoice in the Lord, I WILL joy in the God of my salvation; The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” Notice, they didn’t have a ‘pity party’ - they made a decision to REJOICE IN THE LORD. They recognised that He was their STRENGTH (also see Psalm 27:1 & 28:7). They knew that when they rejoiced in the Lord, the things were going to turn around. Those ‘high places’ are places of VICTORY - ABOVE THE CIRCUMSTANCES - not under them!
Paul also knew this secret - look at Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAY: and AGAIN I SAY, REJOICE.” Do you think he was trying to get something over to us? Look at verses 6 & 7, “Be careful for nothing; (or ‘don’t worry about ANYTHING’!) but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Have you noticed, it is difficult to rejoice and worry at the same time?! You rejoice in the Lord, bringing all your prayers and petitions to Him, casting those cares on Him (see 1 Peter 5:7), with a complete trust in Him to bring to pass what you have prayed about, having believed you have already received the answer by faith (see Mark 11:24) and God’s Peace will guard your heart and mind from worry! REJOICE in the Lord ALWAYS and LIVE in HIS TRIUMPH!
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