Rejoice Always

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 stands out amongst the 187 times rejoice appears in the Bible: “𝑹𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔.”  Two words. That’s it! Two words that could potentially change your life. Two words that can cause hopelessness to flee and despair to dissipate. “𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚.”  Two more words with the ability to stand alone! “𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔.” This is God’s will for us: to rejoice, pray and give thanks. When? Always, continually, and in all circumstances!

When we begin to rejoice, pray, and give thanks, a snowball effect happens, and we find more and more to give thanks for. In fact, rejoicing will bubble up in your heart and begin to overflow! Trouble and mourning will flee! Everlasting joy will crown your head. Gladness and joy will literally overtake you!

The One we love the most, the One we long to be like, our Redeemer and King, rejoices too! Zephaniah 3:17 says, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝑶𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆; 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈!” 

The Lord, your God, rejoices over you! Over you! Digging into the treasure of the Hebrew words reveals something amazing: our Mighty God will exult over you; He will spin around with joy because of you!

I know that I want to be more like Jesus, and I know you do, too! Each day, let’s wake up and say, “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆; 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕!”

Rejoicing with you,