Rejoice!

Hello everyone,

How are you doing on this day? I hope well and bubbling in the Lord.

Primary Text

“Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” 1 Corinthians 4v16-17 (NIV)

Here, we see how Paul sent Timothy to the Corinthians to remind them of the way he followed Christ. While Paul’s various letters showed his thoughts on various issues as inspired by the Holy Spirit, let’s consider one thing he writes about a general attitude we should have in life – “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” Philippians 4v4 (KJV). Beloved, rejoice in the Lord always, all the time, regardless of what is happening. Let your joy be in Him. Delight, and gladden yourself in Him. He is faithful. Remember how David encouraged himself in the Lord when Ziklag where he stayed was invaded by the Amalekites, and burnt with fire, and they had taken the women captive. At this time David and his men were away. Obviously when the men returned, they were distressed and spoke of stoning David. But David encouraged himself in the Lord. As we see as well, “… David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And He answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.” (1 Samuel 30v8, KJV). And they did recover all (v18-19). Now, the Bible records that the Amalekites “… had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way” (1 Samuel 30v2). This verse points to the fact that “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isaiah 43v2, KJV). The Amalekites could have killed a few, some, or all of the women. But they didn’t. And David was able to recover all. Isn’t God faithful? In Job’s case, “the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before … the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42v10, 12). Whatever you are going through, remember, God is with you through the waters, the rivers shall not overflow you, the fire shall not burn you, and the flames shall not kindle upon you in Jesus name, amen. Rejoice!

Supplementary Text

“But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them: let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee. For Thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” Psalm 5v11-12 (KJV).

Prayer

Thank You, thank You, thank You LORD.