Exodus 15:12 - The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
I’m sure this is not the first time I have used this title for a blog. I can’t think of any better way to put this.
Try this out: Rejoice (delight, glory, give joy to) in the Lord (one having power and authority over others, a man of rank or high position, king, lion, prince...God or Jesus) always (at all times, consistently, incessantly, night and day, perpetually, continually, unfailingly).
Get the message? How are we doing, we who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives? How are those doing who don’t know Jesus in this way? How many can say that in this day and age we can truly rejoice, even though we have no idea what our future holds, or the future of those children and grandchildren who have many more years that others to live in uncertainty?
We are to delight in Him in good times and bad. Words that have been hovering in my mind for weeks now are “I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, Beginning and the End.” When I read those words in a class one Sunday morning I absolutely broke down in tears. He’s our all in all. And we are to glory in this, be joyful in Him.
A lord is of high rank or position. That’s our Jesus. He is our Prince of Peace, the soon coming King and our Lion of the tribe of Judah. He holds all the authority over us, as much as man wants to believe that they control their own destinies. Revelation 1:18 - I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. There IS Someone who holds our life in His hands. And it is He in whom we should rejoice. We should rejoice over what He has done for us.
We all go through struggles in life. We are, according to God’s Word, to rejoice in our tribulation. We are to delight in them. Why? Because that brings glory to God. It shows our trust in Him; it shows where our strength lies. I can’t imagine having a life threatening disease and fearing the outcome. If we know that we know Jesus, we can know that even if we aren’t able to win the fight with the disease, we’ve won the battle knowing we will be in the arms of our Lord. That alone would be an encouragement. Those who don’t know the Lord don’t have that satisfaction. They fight in their own strength, which pretty much is futile...1Corinthians 1:25 - For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
We are to praise Him always. In good times and bad. We are told to continually (incessantly) be in worship of Him. How? By having our minds constantly on Him. If we have our five senses, there is no excuse to not recognize God in all things. The sounds of nature, the sights of nature, the smell of a beautiful flower...or the soft, warm paws of a cat... All reminders of the creativeness of God. Even in bad times, we can be thankful for the good we’ve had. I believe God/Jesus is in the back of my mind all day long, not always in the forefront, but lingering...like those words hovering in my mind.
This world is both a blessing and a curse today. We see tough times ahead. But if we know that God is our Alpha and Omega, we know He has control over it. If we know Jesus, we can be assured that He is by our side, even now.
This devotion came to me and I wanted to share. It is well worth the read.
“The magnitude of the disasters does not seem to sink in.” I tend to agree with this statement. It reminds me of the scoffers talked about in the last days. Yes, we must continue to live, but we must also not have our heads buried in the sand, believing that we will always come through the trials we face. Sometimes we don’t. That’s where the strength in Jesus and the joy of the Lord comes in. Don’t ask me how it works, it just does. It’s the peace that passes all understanding. Peace amidst the troubles. We can have hope, as Wilkerson alludes to in his last paragraph.
Rejoice in the Lord always!
2Corinthians 12:9 - “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
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