FAITHFUL TO REJOICE
Sunday, January 19, 2003
Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 AMP
God instructs us in His Word to always rejoice in Him and delight in Him. Not just occasionally or when all conditions are favorable, or only when we feel like it, but ALWAYS! We must be faithful to Him and faithful to rejoice in Him.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. Psalms 37:4 AMP
When you delight yourself in the Lord and rejoice in Him, He will give you even those things that are the secret petitions of your heart, the things that you have never even spoken of or asked for out loud.
For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you. Isaiah 62:5 NKJV
In His Word, the Lord uses the marriage relationship as a parallel of His relationship with us, the Church. God is completely and utterly faithful to us just like a very good husband, and all He asks in return is that we would be faithful to Him. He adores us and rejoices over us like a new groom rejoices over and delights in his new bride.
Let your fountain [of human life] be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth. Proverbs 5:18 AMP
When we obey God and do things His way, we will always be blessed. Fidelity and faithfulness bring their own rewards. The spiritual follows the natural—if we can be faithful in a marriage relationship, then we can be faithful to God. In both relationships, it is possible to develop a bad attitude and to become ungrateful and lose the blessing of the relationship. However, if we retain a good attitude, appreciate one another and make a decision to rejoice in each other, then we will have a good marriage that lasts a lifetime and a wonderful relationship with our Heavenly Father that lasts into eternity!
The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 AMP
God is the perfect husband—He is faithful, He rejoices and exults over you, praising you and telling you, and everyone else, what a wonderful wife you are and He never reminds you of your faults or your mistakes. Every woman would be so blessed to have a husband like that!
Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly) joy. 9[At the same time] you receive the result (outcome, consummation) of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 AMP
Even in the midst of severe trials and persecutions, you can walk in heavenly joy—joy unspeakable and full of glory—because you know what lies before you and the glory He has promised.
Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 2Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 AMP
But Christ (the Messiah) was faithful over His [own Father's] house as a Son [and Master of it]. And it is we who are [now members] of this house, if we hold fast and firm to the end our joyful and exultant confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ]. Hebrews 3:6 AMP
We are truly members of Christ's household if we continue to hold fast and firm, our joyful and exultant confidence in our hope in Christ. This rejoicing we do with a sense of TRIUMPH—anticipating the victory! We don't rejoice only when things go well, but we are faithful to rejoice always—in all things—confident in our God and confident of final victory because we know that He is completely and utterly faithful to us.
Recent:
Righteous Now
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP
“Therefore if any man be in Christ…” What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” You are baptized into Christ when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The moment
Defeating Strife
These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Faith Facts
Faith is persistent
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
John 16:24 AMP
Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Faith is single-minded
James 1:5-8 AMP
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the