Rejoice in the Lord and Again

May 14, 2022 Post a Comment

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I volition say it again: Rejoice!" - Philippians 4:4

When y'all think of the word "rejoice," what do you typically think of? You might think of rejoicing as beingness in a state of constant happiness and jubilant every item of your life with unending exuberance.

What about when y'all run into the Scripture that says "rejoice in the Lord always"? Does that have the same sentiment as the mentioned land of happiness to a higher place?

Philippians 4:iv has the apostle Paul telling the church of Philippi, in a letter, to always rejoice in the Lord, ever celebrate the Lord. This carries the agreement that you exercise it whether you want to or not, whether you are happy with the Lord or not. When y'all gloat with the right thought in mind about how God works, it will be possible to find ways to rejoice in the Lord.

Let us examine the post-obit passages in Philippians four to run into why this advice from Paul is so profound and how nosotros can agree to this conventionalities of God'south greatness at all times, finding the joy inside building upwards equally we give Him thanks.

What Is the Context of Philippians four?

The book of Philippians is the apostle Paul's letter of the alphabet to the church building of Philippi to share with them wisdom and encouragement for living out their organized religion in Christ and standing strong when struggles and persecution might occur.

Think that when it came to suffering for your calling, Paul was definitely the expert. He endured severe persecution for his conventionalities in Christ and call to ministry, so advice from him on rejoicing during trials seems to be a proficient idea.

Philippians 4 centers mostly on Paul conveying to the believers what to focus on during times of dubiety. He wants them to besides know that as they become through challenges, they will be able to do more considering Christ is in them (Phil. 4:13).

The fourth chapter of Philippians likewise encourages people to non be anxious for annihilation, but to give their needs in prayer to God (Phil. 4:6) and gain God's peace in return (Phil. four:7).

Paul as well shared in Philippians four:11-12 how he has learned to exist content where he is considering he knows what information technology is like to be hungry and full, to suffer and to abound.

However, with Philippians 4:4, Paul but declares that we "rejoice in the Lord, always. Again I will say, rejoice!" What Paul is saying here is that nosotros should rejoice at all times, whether nosotros are pitiful, happy, angry, confused, or even tired: there shouldn't be a moment that goes by that we aren't giving thank you to the Lord for His love and provision.

joyful mom and daughter singing praise songs with headphones on

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Lordn

What Does It Hateful to "Rejoice in the Lord Always"?

Rejoice, co-ordinate to Merriam Webster Dictionary, is "to give you" or "to experience joy or smashing please," while to rejoice in means to "have or possess."

And so, the Scripture conveys that to rejoice in the Lord is to accept joy or delight in the Lord; to experience joy when y'all think of Him always.

How do you do that, you lot might ask? Well, think of God every bit you would someone you tin can see in front of you lot, whether a family unit fellow member, friend, co-worker, or someone from your church or community. When you lot spend time with someone that brings you lot joy and happiness, you rejoice or please in being with him or her. You celebrate it.

Although you can't see God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, y'all come up to know that they are in that location with you, as shut equally anyone tin be to you lot. You feel their presence when you experience calm in the midst of chaos, happiness or positivity in the midst of sadness, and confidence in the midst of uncertainty. You lot are rejoicing in knowing that God is in that location with you, strengthening you lot when you are weak and encouraging you lot when y'all experience like giving upwardly.

What if You lot Don't Feel Like Rejoicing in the Lord?

Particularly in our present condition of life, it can be difficult to rejoice in the Lord when there is pain, struggle, and sadness all around us. Nonetheless, information technology is possible to love on the Lord, to rejoice always, even when you don't feel similar it or are grappling with too much hurting to call back of God.

Philippians four:4 is followed past the well-known verses shared in Philippians 4:6-7, where information technology talks near not being anxious and giving your requests to the Lord with thanksgiving in your heart. Poesy vii follows this with: "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

What these verses state is that when nosotros rejoice in the Lord, we begin to experience peace in our situations, peace in our hearts and minds, because we sympathize that God has our prayer requests well in manus and brings us peace until those requests are answered.

Even when you take been waiting a long time for a prayer asking to happen or a situation to change, you can rejoice and exist thankful for the Lord in the meantime because you know your prayer request has reached the ears of God and will be answered soon.

1 fashion to rejoice when you don't feel like it is to think back on the times that yous were waiting on other prayer requests or were in like situations of distress, and how God provided when it didn't look similar annihilation would modify. When y'all remember what occurred and how appreciative y'all were to God, this feeling should fill yous with joy and tell you that God can do this again and again. He is a God who loves and cares for you.

So, Philippians four:6-seven tells us not to be anxious, as the earth would have usa be, just hopeful, thankful, and at peace in knowing your prayer requests will be taken care of. The world may be anxious in its lack of command, merely you don't take to be because you know who is in control.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Nghia-Le

A Prayer to Rejoice in the Lord

Equally we close, let's follow what is expressed in Philippians 4 and rejoice in the Lord e'er, as we give Him our prayer requests and look His peace in render.

Lord God,

Thank y'all for loving united states and caring for our needs as You practise. For You lot know the programme alee for united states of america and know how to guide our steps to be in line with that plan. It's non always piece of cake to rejoice and remain hopeful in You when problems and circumstances arise, just we have to think dorsum on the times we have been in similar positions and remember how You blessed usa more than than nosotros thought possible. From big to piffling, we can count the blessings that You gave the states earlier and notice they are more numerous than we ever thought possible. That is considering You know our needs earlier nosotros ask them, You know our heartaches before we take them, and You lot know what will abound u.s.a. the about to be all we tin can be in Your eyes. And so, let us rejoice and be glad as we give You our prayers, knowing when we least expect information technology, You volition bring them into fruition. Nosotros give all of this to You in Jesus's name.

Amen.

God Volition Provide

Rejoicing in all situations, especially present, tin can be hard to do, if not impossible, at times. However, God has called us to rejoice in Him always, knowing that we are loved and cared for by an eternal God.

The apostle Paul knew well the suffering that we can endure in our twenty-four hour period, having experienced several bouts of information technology throughout his ministry building. But he reminds us in this chapter that we demand to e'er exist looking to God for promise and encouragement. God will provide for our needs when no one else tin.

Equally we bypass feelings of apprehension of rejoicing when nosotros are going through difficult situations, hopefully we will let those feelings be replaced by feelings of peace and confidence that the God who began a skilful piece of work in us will fulfill it in His children.

Blair Parke is a freelance author for BibleStudyTools.com, and previously worked for eight years with Xulon Press. A graduate of Stetson University with a Bachelor's in Communications, Blair previously worked as a writer/editor for several local magazines in the Fundamental Florida area, including Celebration Independent and Lake Magazine in Leesburg, Florida and currently freelances for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin.

This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the significant, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help yous better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in relation to your life today.