Rejoice in the Lord always!!!


How does one do this when everything seems to be going wrong?

What does it mean to "rejoice"?
Does it mean to be happy when things go wrong?
Or is it looking at the situation from a broader perspective?
In a lot of ways I think it means to "praise" God, even when we don't feel like it.

Think of the Israelites in the wilderness.
What did they do when their food ran out, or when the water wasn't flowing?
Did they focus heavily on the problem, complaining, and despondent?
Or did they praise God for how He had led them so miraculously in the past, and from this gathered courage and trust that God would take of them? Thus finding peace and a certain joy?

Last night at our Prayer Meeting over Zoom, a lady, who's husband was expected to pass away from covid and pneumonia within that night or the next day, was nevertheless still praising the Lord.

The older we get the more we experience loved ones and friends dying around us. We celebrate a persons 100th birthday not really realizing all the grief they endured as everyone they once knew one by one entered the grave till only they are left of the generations they once knew. The older one gets the more precious God?s plan of salvation becomes. God is to be praised for what He has done in making eternal life available While death is the lot of every human born, yet God in His mercy has opened the door to eternal life. so we need not mourn as those who know not our God. when the last trump sounds the dead in Christ will rise incorruptible We will see them again and live eternally together with Christ. It is this assurance that allows and compelled us to praise God even when our hearts are breaking. He will make all things right. All trials will seem small when we see Him!!!

Excellent post dedication. I've thought this. We spend about 1/3 of our life meeting or other contact with people who for one reason or another form a special part in our hearts. Then the middle third we loose some of these but meet a few more, and the last third basically saying "Good-Bye" to these special people.

I like what Hank Williams in his character "Luke the Drifter" said in his version of "Beyond the Sunset" "Memory is one gift of God that death cannot take away."

Our loved ones live on in our hearts and memories, and even more importantly in God's heart and memory. In a sense, living in God's heart and memory is being more alive than our conscience existence. But we miss them as they sleep and wait for the one who is the resurrection and the life to come.

The Christmas season is very important for family. While many miss this point as the chapter division is in the wrong place, we have a story that starts in John 10: 22 and goes to John 11: 54.

In John Jesus had 7 "I AM" statements. Although each story does not follow a particular order of events, they all have points that will appear in one order or another in these stories. They all have a temple feast, Jesus says something in private or public which is an application of an aspect of the feast, there is a crisis that is related to that aspect of the feast, Jesus says the "I AM" dealing with all this information, and Jesus does a sign that resolves the issue.
We have 3 stories at Passover, occurring in 3 different places far from each other, and clearly over 3 different years. We have 3 stories for the feast of Tabernacles, they were all in Jerusalem and written together where it sounds like Jesus did all three in the same year, which well could have happened, but it may have been events over 2 or 3 years telescoped together. Then we have 1 story for an unexpected temple feast; Hanukkah. Thus making Hanukkah the only temple feast that did not become a Biblical feast until the New Testament.

While the original "feasts of the land" were indeed feasts of the land, dealing with the major agricultural points of the year (even the Canaanites kept these feasts; but in a very horrible way). Thus since we are not living in the land and do not have the agricultural concerns connected to them, no matter how much people try to argue that we need to keep all these feasts, they just don't have the same message for us and thus we can't really keep them outside of the land. Now we can think about them, especially when they occur, and we can pray for the people living in the land, but they are only lessons for us. (during the exile people left in the land worked out a series of places for smoke signals to let those in Egypt, Assyria, and especially Babylon .when the feast arrived in the land; However, the Sabbath was universal and did not need smoke signals from the land. but they greeted the Sabbath when the sun set at their location.

Now, the feast of Tabernacles has not met it's ultimate antitype yet, so a good one to keep in our memory. And Hanukkah was not a feast of the land, and did not become a Biblical feast until Jesus made it one. There are many lessons that is good for us to remember; as we are heading to persecution. But the big issue is that Jesus tied Hanukkah to the resurrection of those who worship God. We have the story of one of his friends who worshiped the true God that got sick and died. He came and said "Yahweh the Resurrection and the Life" "I AM the Resurrection and the Life" and he raises his friend Lazarus.

It is as if Jesus saw how important family would be to us at that time of the year. People who have lost loved ones have the pain anew as there are the empty seats around the holiday table. As characteristic of Jesus, he gives a special message for those crying Christmas tears; who has the empty seat at the holiday table. The empty seats grow each year. It is a shame that we overlook that Jesus gave us a special message set in that very special season. The Christmas season has room for things like remembering the birth of Jesus; the angels, Shepherds (who were probably 60% to 80% women), the wise men, family, winter wonderlands, Christmas presents, Santa, Frosty, Rudolf, Scrooge, even grandma getting run over by a reindeer, Can we not include in our thoughts for this season the message that Jesus gave us for this time of the year? I don't know if we have any pastors here, or even lay preachers; but if you find yourself preaching during that season, the Hanukkah/Christmas season; take some time to share with your listeners the sermon, the message that Jesus gave us for this time of the year?

Remembering and celebrating Christ's incarnation and first advent is a great way of entering into a "PRAISE" experience with our God.

But most of the world worships santa, the counterfeit that has led the world into praising commercialism, debauchery and greed, and has actually fought against God and His marvelous gift, Christ our Lord and Savior, and sought to crowd out any connection with Christ.
So much in life diverts the mind from God's awesome truths and plunges the human race into counterfeits till Christ is considered an insult to people's feelings and needs to be hidden and the counterfeits fill every shelf and decoration.

How do we resist the deluge of counterfeits and dark shadows satan has cast upon the world?

Our lesson for Thursday gives a great answer!!!

PRAISE
Don't go down into the valley of darkness covering the world, instead SING praises to God!
When the evil armies gathered to smoother truth, God's people stood on high ground above and sang praises to God and the enemy destroyed itself and was gone.

So this world is also destroying itself with its descent into darkness and counterfeits, our only hope is turning to God in awesome praise, commitment, and obedience. He is our Lord and Savior, our refuge, our help, our Savior, our Redemption and hope and life!

This weeks lesson speaks of meekness. What is meekness? biblical meekness? According to the lesson meekness is enduring injury with patience without resentment as well as having a meekness of spirit What meekness is NOT is being a push over or simply a ?yes whatever you say? person. Meekness is being able to stand when others misrepresent and hurt you without lashing back or getting all mad. How do others describe meekness Moses was noted as the meekest man yet he was also a powerful leader standing solidly for God.