Rejoice
Merry Christmas everyone!
As we take a moment to celebrate the gift of salvation through the person of Jesus Christ this season, let us pause, reflect and ponder on the joy that is ours regardless of how this year might have gone.
We are told to “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice!” [Philippians 4:4, AMP], yet how do we reconcile this truth with the reality of what current human situations may be? People have lost loved ones this year, lost their jobs and battling with serious health issues as well as financial woes, relational struggles and academic or career distress. Yet we are commissioned to rejoice and be merry. The reason we can do this is that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It isn’t dependent on our situations. Whether in plenty or in drought, the joy of the Lord remains our strength. It is in the Lord alone that we are able to rejoice always, looking for joy outside of God is futile work.
God is Sovereign
Our joy doesn’t mean that we do not feel pain, hurt and disappointments rather it means we are able to leave it in the hands of a capable and Sovereign God who has a much bigger and better plan for our lives than we could ever imagine.
Learning this year that God’s sovereignty means that His will be done and His kingdom will come. Nothing we can do as mere humans can change that. It can be difficult and hard to accept especially when it doesn’t work in our favor on the surface level but we know that God always causes all things to work together for our good. Therefore if it isn’t looking good right now, trust that God is still working things out. That is the beauty of God’s sovereignty, in that He will always accomplish his plans for us, which by the way are ALWAYS good!
“Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.
Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish'”
ISAIAH 46: 9-10 (NLT)
While it may be difficult to celebrate as fully as we might like or it seems like everyone else has this joy that we don’t seem to have. Learn that God is the source of our Joy. His Holy Spirit living within us is the proof that joy resides and emanates from and through us. It’s not based on your social media posting or whether you’re always smiling 24hrs. Yes, for those that might have lost loved ones or are grieving in one way or another that joy might come in different forms. It could be that you take a moment of silence, looking outside, observing nature and just wondering at the amazement of God’s creation. For example, you can be on one side of the world and the ground is completely covered in snow yet hop on a plane and go to a different side of the world and it can be as hot as nobody’s business. Yet, we are still on the same planet Earth. I mean thinking about that alone, however simplistic it may be, should totally blow our minds.
Holy Spirit brings Joy
Apart from this, knowing that the job of the Holy Spirit within us brings out that joy of Christ from within us. We cannot fake the joy or try and replicate that which we see around us. Rather we surrender to the inner workings of the Holy Spirit and allow him to restore unto us the joy of our salvation.
This Christmas season more than ever is such a beautiful reminder that we have been given such a huge gift in the person of Jesus Christ. He was conceived and born for the sole purpose of saving our souls. For the redemption of mankind back into the presence of God. The salvation of our souls so that we can experience the true joy of being called sons and daughters of God. That is enough for us to Rejoice!
Rejoice and be Glad
It requires intentionality for us to consistently choose Joy. To think on joyous things and playback joyful memories in your mind.
The joy of the Lord will forever be our strength on this side of eternity and until the day we shall all behold our heavenly father face to face and be lost in his presence. Then we can fully experience the joy that doesn’t fade away or drift along with time. Our confidence is that things will work itself out in the end because Christ has already gone ahead of us. No matter what the present circumstance is right now, we win in the end. It might look bleak in our physical realm and like we are wasting away yet we know that we have spiritual victories in high places.
My prayer today for us all is that: “GOD, the source of hope, will fill us completely with joy and peace because we trust in Him. Then we will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” [Romans 15:13, NLT]
Someone once said to me in passing “do what you can, while you can”. For the simple fact that we are alive to see a new day, each day we must be grateful and Rejoice!
#SeekGod
Mo 🙂
A young woman on a mission to discovering purpose, to inspire growth and contribute to the Kingdom mandate. On the blog we are all about learning and growing and this is done through writing on topics from Faith, Education, Music, Food, Travel and so much more… (Romans 12:2)
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