Rejoice! God loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to save us from sin and death.
Rejoice! Jesus came, died and rose again with the promise that He would return and take us to God's heavenly home.
Rejoice! As Jesus promised, those who believe in Him receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and enternal life..
Today's Devotional Scripture
"Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off ,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength."
(Habakkuk 3:17-19, New American Standard Bible)
We Should Be Rejoicing
God's efforts to save mankind are recorded over and over again in The Bible. We see it in the Old Testament, when Moses happily reports to his father-in-law Jethro what the Lord God has done to rescue the Israelites from the Egyptians. Exodus 18:9 records that "Jethro rejoiced over the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians."
The second part of verse 7 in Deuteronomy 12 says "rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you." We find the word "rejoice" 42 times before we get to Psalms. Psalms and Proverbs provide another 50 references to "rejoice". The grand total for the Old Testament is 139..
Rejoice More
We should rejoice even louder when we see God's plan to save humanity revealed in the New Testament.
Consider the news Zacharias received from an angel: "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God." (Luke 1:13-16)
The news only gets better as Mary is told by an angel that she will give birth to God's Son. "My soul exalts the Lord," declares Mary. "And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me )blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM." (Luke 1:46-50)
In Luke 15, Jesus shares the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and prodigal son. After the lost item or person is recovered in each parable, the Lord tells His listeners "rejoice." One of the messages of the Everyone A Chance to Hear (EACH) initiative is "God has lost something and wants it back." The "something" may be you, a member of your family, your neighbor or someone you'll encounter on or after Easter.
The Apostle Paul in two separate letters tells his readers to "rejoice always." He advises the Philippians in chapter 4 and verses 4-7 to "rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
"Rejoice always," advises Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. "Pray without ceasing; in everything ive thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
As we prepare for Easter, let us continually pray that we act within God's will and let His peace guard our hearts and minds in Jesus. And remember to rejoice!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I praise you for your sovereignty in all things. Regardless of what is happening all around me or inside me, you are still good, perfect, right and true. Help me fix my thoughts on you. Give me a thankful and worshipful heart to adore and praise nou at all times. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
The tag on Twitter for this article is #Rejoicing and it is logged by @denimartin. You can also comment on this article or send me an email at deni-martin@att.net.
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