Rejoicing!

   “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” This is what Paul in Philippians 4:4 encourages and exhorts us to do. There are times in our life that rejoicing may not be our first response. The good news is we are not to rejoice “for” everything, but “in” everything. The other side of that is, when circumstance would have us to be angry, afraid, or sad; we are still to rejoice “in” that circumstance. Rejoicing needs to be a lifestyle which means it is going to have to be a mindset. I would like to encourage anyone reading this to make the Word of God a first priority in your life. Be in it daily, and spend some of that time just talking with our Father. Renew your mind to the Word of God. When you do that you will be well prepared for that circumstance and be able to rejoice in it. If you do not, you are at the behest of your flesh, the same flesh that kept you out of the Word in the first place. That never goes well for us. We can do as Paul says in Philippians 3:1, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” We have the tools to be that overcomer and rejoice in everything. As we are gearing up for Thanksgiving this next week, and the time of year we celebrate Jesus’ birth, I would ask you to seriously think about spending time with God and and in His Word! Clear a piece of time out of your calendar each day, grab your Bible, and spend some time just for you to be alone with God, and watch the blessing flow in your life, and be blessed by the joy you will have!

Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:4

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

John 15:7

 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Colossians 3:16