Rejoice With Me!

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)







Praise the Lord on this day!

David made a proclamation unto God when he said:

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. (Psalms 5:3)

The command has gone out that we rejoice! We are to rejoice for all that God has done, for all that He is doing and all that He is going to do!  Recognizing that God is the center of our joy should spur us to do as Paul tells the church in Thessalonia:

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  I Thessalonians 5:18

When we rejoice, the atmosphere around us should be shifting and changing. Rejoicing doesn't necessarily mean a visible shout or dance, but our hearts should be merry. We shouldn't be walking around with downcast countenances, discouraged in our spirit – our hearts should be merry and jubilant. People should notice the happiness and joy emanating from us! They should feel the sense of expectancy; the excitement.

I’m reminded of the lame man that Peter and John healed in Acts 3:

And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked , and entered with them into the temple, walking , and leaping, and praising God. (Acts 3:2-8)

It started by the man asking them for money. By the time Peter explained that they had something far better to offer and helped him to his feet, the man was rejoicing in his healing. The account says he was leaping and praising God. That healing and resultant praise was a powerful testimony. The account goes on to say the religious leaders wanted to punish Peter and John but they couldn't because the man that was lame remained with them; visible for all to see his miraculous healing and it is recorded that the religious leaders could find nothing in how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done:

So when they had further threatened them , they let them go , finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done . (Acts 4:2)

They became a united force in their praise for God! And that is what we are to do now.

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. (Acts 4:32)

This is not the time to grow weak and weary. This is not the time to faint. This is not the time to become oppressed and depressed. It’s not the time to be discouraged and dejected. It’s time to rejoice in God and proclaim His goodness as the lame man did!

 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  Galatians 6:9

The bible has so much to say about rejoicing and today, in our prayers, we want to proclaim and declare what God says about rejoicing.

Prayer:

Dear heavenly Father, we thank You this day; we come before You with thanksgiving in our heart for allowing us one more day. We thank You Lord for one more opportunity to come before You. We thank You for Your sovereignty. Lord we thank You for Your mercy. You tell us in Your word:

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed , because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:23)

We thank You for that. We thank You Lord for the refreshing that You have sent to lift us. You said in Your word:

I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; (Psalms 31:7)

Lord we thank You for the peace we have in You! We thank You for strength to endure. You tell us in Your word that the race isn't give to the swift or to the strong, but to those that endure until the end! We endure by staying in Your word, by meditating on it, by our prayers to You, through our faith in You and through obedience to You. Because of You Lord, we have hope! Because we have hope, we rejoice in You! We praise Your name.

I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. (Psalms 9:2)

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:18)

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalms 118:24)

Lord You made this day and we will rejoice in it.

And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. (Isaiah 25:9)

We have so much to rejoice in and be glad about. We thank You Lord because there is none like You; we owe You our all! You said in Your word:

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth. (1 Chronicles 16:31)

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psalms 2:11)

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy , because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. (Psalms 5:11)

Lord we thank You for joy. It is Your joy that is our strength! We thank You Lord because You are our strong tower, You are our fortress.

Help us Lord to obey Your will, to be united in You and follow the course that You have set before us. Give us staying power to persevere in the down times. Help us to understand that You are in complete control. And that You are able.

Lord, we thank You for every single tear that we shed because of our struggles and our desire to serve You. When the enemy came up against us and the fight to remain faithful to You, those tears were not shed in vain and we know you saw them and you heard us, but we praise you Lord because you tell us in your word:

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)

We thank you Lord that You are faithful to Your word. It’s recorded that:

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (I Peter 1:10)

Lord You are our protector, our guide, our keeper, our way maker. Everything we need is already in You. There is no one like You and we thank You Lord.

And now Lord, we pray Lord that Your healing virtue flow to the sick and afflicted; that You touch the hearts of those that are lost and those that have gone astray and that You touch the mind of the unbelievers. Give comfort, peace and strength to those that are bereaved; in Your name Jesus. Strengthen our leaders to remain strong and steadfast in you.  Remember our frail and our elderly.

We thank You Lord for the ‘due’ season that You have put us in and we exalt Your name. Lord we worship You in the beauty of Holiness.

And Now unto Him that is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.  (Jude 1:24-25)

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Final Scriptures:

But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. (Psalms 68:3)

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

Blessings in the name of Jesus!

Elder C. L. Henry

09/28/15