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Rejoice Always

       We let our minds be filled with things that have no value. We let the ideas of money, business, and grand adventures take over our idle thoughts. Why not strive to make our thoughts into a strong session of growth in Christ? We must let our mind think on godly things. For instance, one thing that needs to captivate our thoughts is rejoicing.


We need to be joyful over something good always. God is good and should always be rejoiced over.  What about the blessings He bestows on us? They should cause all of us to rejoice every moment of our lives. We have surrendered our lives over to God through Christ. We have lost ourselves in Christ where we should always rejoice. (Phil. 4:4)  When we did this our names were written in the book of life. (Lk. 10:20) We rejoice because of this. There is sufficient cause for us to always be rejoicing. We should never find ourselves without reason to rejoice in Christ.


We should rejoice in the truth. (1 Cor. 3:6) We should rejoice in what the truth brings us. We should rejoice in what the truth teaches us. We should rejoice in what the truth does for us.  We should rejoice when God’s children walk according to the truth and in the light. (2 John 4; 3 John 3-4) We are to rejoice under persecution. (Matt. 5:11-12) For when we are persecuted we know what we are doing what Christ did and commanded us to do. We should gather with others who are facing persecution and rejoice with them as well. (Rm. 12:15) We suffer for the cause of Christ. There is nothing wrong with that. Although I think many times Christians would rather not suffer. Or at least they find no need to endure it. We should rejoice in the suffering we have in Christ. Our persecution, suffering, ridicule, and rejection only comes when we are truly living the way God wants us too. When we are doing that God is proud of us therefore we should rejoice. (Col. 1:23-24) The church and each one of us individually benefit greatly from our own sufferings. We benefit in the salvation we are given. That is the ultimate cause for rejoicing. (Isa. 25:9)


Now there are many things we should not rejoice over. We cannot rejoice over evil. (Pro. 2:14) We should not rejoice when an enemy falls. (Pro. 24:17) I know that may not be easy at times. If you were to rejoice over such a thing, what would you be rejoicing about? Evil, sin, or some horrible accident? We would never wish such things on anyone nor want to rejoice over such a thing. We should never rejoice in the joy of the world or sin. That would make us stand against God. No one desires to stand against God. No one, knowing the truth behind sin, truly wants to rejoice over it anyway. (Hos. 9:1) Never rejoice in arrogance. Oh, the can of worms that can open for you. More importantly, what kind of person rejoices in arrogance anyway? Who would want to be like that? Be sure in your rejoicing you are joyful over something God deems good.


God makes it clear we should rejoice over our souls repenting and being saved. We should rejoice over any soul taking those steps. (Lk. 15:6,7,9,24) We should have the same crown of rejoicing as Paul did. Paul said his crown of rejoicing is us in the presence of Christ at His coming. (1 Thess. 2:19) God wants us to focus and think on the good things. Evil is all around us and presses in hard. Sometimes that pressure and overwhelming amount of evil can make the world seem void of good. If that were true it would cause anyone to give up. Praise God it is not. For God is good and because of His goodness we have faith. We have salvation. We have hope. That should always enable us to see the good. Are you rejoicing always?

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