Day 3 - Week 67 - 1 Thessalonians 5:16 - "Rejoice always."

I love typing out the "Title" this week because I have no qualms that I will be able to type the verse out without having to glance back one little bit!  Just those sweet two words, "Rejoice always."  But as we discussed, it's the "always" that makes this directive tougher than it sounds. 

I love this paragraph from "100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart" by Robert J. Morgan,

There's no excuse for not memorizing this verse.  It's the shortest in the Bible.  As a child, I was told that John 11:35 ("Jesus wept.") was the Bible's smallest verse.  That is the shortest verse in the English Bible.  But in the Greek New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 5:16 is even shorter.  In a sense we have two shortest verses in the Bible.  In the Greek, it is "Rejoice always," and in our English Bible, it's "Jesus wept."  Quite a contrast, isn't it---weeping and rejoicing?  But how appropriate!  Because Jesus wept, we can rejoice.  Because He bears our sorrows, we experience His joy.

Isn't that an amazing thing to note!  Two two-word verses that when you put them side-by-side have such a dramatic effect!  For it is only because of Jesus that we have cause for true joy.

Oh yes, people who have not come to know the gift of Jesus and have not experienced His presence in their lives have moments of happiness and what I would call "pseudo-joy" in this life.  Anyone who experiences the birth of a child, the view of a glorious sunset, the deep love of another person...these are moments of joy for any person (and I believe they are all gifts of God given to all that all may see His goodness).

But a joy that defies justification...a joy that is present even when circumstances are less than pleasant...a joy that, despite it all, keeps a person smiling and confident when everything is less than certain, I believe that kind of true, deep, abiding joy only comes when you have such a trust in a loving Heavenly Father, in the sacrificial gift of His obedient Son, and in the active and living presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, that you have no reason to do anything else in life but rejoice!

I'm thinking of just such an attitude displayed by a friend of mine, Misty Cooke.  When her daughter was in a tragic car accident two years ago (the 2nd anniversary was this week, June 14), it looked like Hayden did not have a chance.  Horrific head injury required a craniotomy, followed by weeks spent in a coma.  When I visited Misty at the ICU, she was not falling apart.  She was not in pieces.  She did not look like a wreck.  She was calm, composed and beautiful.  Was this because she was denying the seriousness of what was going on with her sweet 16 year old daughter?  No, it was because she was affirming her faith in God, her confidence that her daughter's life was in His hands. 

So, so gratefully, God restored Hayden to a full life.  She just graduated from high school and will start college in the fall to pursue a degree in nursing.  Both Misty and Hayden have shared wonderful words of testimony as to how God has blessed their lives.  I am so thankful that they knew God's joy in the middle of the storm!

Rejoice always!  Even when it's tough!

Day 2 - Week 67 - 1 Thessalonians 5:16 "Rejoice always."

Simple verse, isn't it?  It's just that second word that makes it difficult.  ALWAYS.  Paul leaves us no outs...he doesn't say, "Rejoice when things are going great", or "Rejoice when you have no problems", or "Rejoice when your financial picture looks better than it ever has"...nope, Paul leaves it at, "Rejoice always."

How good are you at this?  I think it all depends on how you view life.  IF life, in your eyes, boils down to what we now see, hear, feel---physically experience---then it is hard to rejoice when what we are seeing, hearing, feeling, experiencing is anything less than pleasant.  Our current circumstances will dictate whether we are joyful or not.  If the difficult experience of today has no promise of blessing for tomorrow, why rejoice?

But, IF you see the life that we now know as the beginning of something beautiful, extremely beautiful, and that everything we currently experience can be of some eternal worth, experiences that our Heavenly Father uses to mold us and shape us into people of Christ-like character, then, yes, each moment of this less than perfect life can bring us into a joyful state. 

As believers in Christ, who died for us to give us eternal life, we are to rejoice always.  We are to constantly look beyond what life is showing us with reborn eyes, where we can see the Kingdom of God, the home that Jesus has gone to prepare for us, and the home that, the older I get, becomes so much more real to me. 

Even in our darkest moments, when we have lost someone we dearly love, we can rejoice.  We can rejoice knowing that they have not reached their end, they have reached their eternal joy.  How absolutely true will these two words ring when we reach heaven's gates..."Rejoice always!"

Day 1 - Week 67 - The first of our last three verses of joy, joy, and joy!

I think it's very cool that one of the two largest group of verses that we will cover is this one...the group regarding joy, God's kind of happiness.  Sometimes we get so bogged down in our earthly lives that we forget that we are called to lives of true and absolute joy.  Not a joy that ignores the unpleasant things around us, but a joy that, despite the unpleasantness of circumstances, sees beyond the current and sees into the much deeper and eternal aspects of our lives.  A joy that can only come from God, the giver of all good and perfect gifts.

So, on to our tenth joyful verse...and, believe me, this is one you're going to love memorizing! 

But before we get to that treat, let's review...

Obedience (10)
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:11 Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer.
Romans 12:18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (NKJV)
Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle word turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath."

The Holy Spirit's Role in our Lives (6)
Ephesians 5:18 "And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit."
Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in to the Lord in your hearts."
Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ."
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
2 Timothy 1:14 "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you...guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us."

Joy: God's Kind of Happiness (12)
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:5 "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near."
Philippians 4:6 "Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
James 1:3-4 "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you will be mature and complete, lacking nothing."
John 15:11 "I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete."

And what is this week's verse that I just know you are going to welcome wholeheartedly?  Well it is a joyful verse, but it is also a very, very short verse.  The hardest thing to remember about this one will be the source...
1 Thessalonians 5:16  "Rejoice always!"

There you go...I think you'll have this one down quickly!  But as simple as it may be to memorize, it is certainly not that simple to live out.  Rejoice always...that means no matter what!  We already memorized Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again, 'Rejoice!'"...and now we get the condensed version...rejoice always!

This verse, coupled with the next two verses in 1 Thessalonians 5, will complete the dozen Scriptures that we will bank regarding the joy we are to have.  The next two are easy as well, but combined make a powerful combination of instruction for our lives.

Let's keep traveling down the trail of our 100 verses, and let's continue to do it with a joy that we have not previously known!