Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:4-5 NKJV
To rejoice can mean a few different things. Strong's dictionary says it can mean "a cause for celebration", or "to exalt" or "to cheer or to gladden", "to make merry", and "to boast in God's glory". I think I prefer the last definition. To me rejoicing is all about what God has done, who God is and how God loves us. Paul is encouraging the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." The Paul goes on to say "Let your gentleness be known to all men." Gentleness in today's world is not a character trait you find must these days. But what a wonderful character trait it is. Jesus was gentle and humble. You never find Jesus forces himself on anyone in the bible. No. He was gentle. He didn't push his way on anyone. He gave everyone equal opportunity to know the truth. He was gentle. How about you? Are gentle in your dealings with others? Our gentleness comes from Christ Himself, dwelling in us. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." God is near, so near He's in us. We can never find a place where God's love doesn't reach. The Lord is at hand that is cause for celebration.
1 comment:
This is something I've learned well over the last 10 months or so. I found myself emeshed in a situation where no matter what I did lots of people were going to be hurt and yet, there was not one aspect of it that was in my control. I had to give the whole thing over to God and ask for His strength and wisdom. I will never ever forget what He said to me, "You can weep and wail over the circumstances you are in all you want, but it's just like saying to Me that I don't know what I'M doing." I knew then that God was in complete control, that not one single thing was going to happen that He did not allow. There are no words in our language or in any language on this earth that even come close to describing the peace that settled over me from that moment on. We are still embroiled in the situation but I can see God at work and I know with every breath I take that He will work the whole thing out in a truly miraculous way.
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