Rejoice in the Lord

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

God will not command us to do what we cannot do.

            He promises us that He will see us through,

So how can we learn that we can rejoice?

            His command takes away our chance for choice.

We can rejoice for a little while if we try,

            We can let some problem go by,

But sooner or later the time will run out

            And we will give up and begin to pout.

If we try, with all of our might,

            We can somehow make it through a night,

But as sure as there arises the morning sun

            Our great rejoice is suddenly done.

To always rejoice, we must remain “in the Lord.”

            We need to focus on God’s Word.

Remember that “weeping may endure for a night”  (Psalm 30:5)

            But Joy comes with the morning light.

All of our “problems” will come and go

            So don’t let them hurt you so.

It may appear that they will last a while

            But like all the storms of life, just smile,

For they will pass like a summer shower.

            (Now it rarely rains for even one hour)

But when it is over you will see once more

            That our land is better than it was before.               

Move out from under life’s circumstances.

            While you may not feel like doing dances

You’ll find that the moments of each day

            Will help you to rejoice along life’s way.

And joy will be yours if you only do

            What this song bids you to

Put Jesus First for His will is best

            Put Others second then you’ll be blest

If you take care to put yourself last

            All of your problems will soon be past

And you will suddenly find that rejoicing is your desire

            And the Joy you find will be from heaven’s fire.

“So, fix your eyes on Jesus

            He’s coming back some day

Just look up and cheer up

            For that’s the only way!”              

Hebrews 12:2 ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Dr. Van served this summer as Campus Pastor and is a dear friend of the ministry of America’s Keswick.

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 16; Ezekiel 3-4; Hebrews 11:20-40

Dig This Quote: As every lord giveth a certain livery (uniform) to his servants, charity is the very livery of Christ. Our Saviour, who is the Lord above all lords, would have his servants known by their badge, which is love. Latimer

Determined Digging: Level 1: John 11:25-26; Level 2: Matthew 5:1-9

Determined Praying: For what is prayer in the last analysis? It is a conscious spreading out of my helplessness before God. – Al Martin