Day 2 - Week 59 - Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Have again been out of town for a few days...seems we have a spring full of short trips!  I always enjoy getting away, but it is always so good to come home.  Coming home always has a special feel to it, doesn't it?  And then I'm remembered that someday we will truly come home, and I believe everything we find "at home" will feel so perfectly right, so familiar, so comfortable...and yet so far beyond our wildest human imaginations.  I was reminded of all this by a post by a good friend of mine requoting Priscilla Shirer.  Priscilla's insightful statement was, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience for a few years." When we remember that we are on our way home, then we can view even our hard times here with the perspective of eternal joy.

Maybe that's it---maybe that's why Paul tells us we can rejoice always...maybe that's why James tells us to count it pure joy when we face trials...maybe that's why Jesus reminded us that in this world we will have troubles, but take heart...He has overcome the world!!

Robert J. Morgan says it this way,

We may not be able to rejoice in our load, but we can rejoice in our Lord.  We may find no joy in our situation, but we can rejoice in our Savior.  To rejoice in the Lord means we rejoice in our unassailable, unchanging relationship with the sovereign Lord and in His qualities, gifts, promises and attributes.

When we start allowing our minds to dwell on our undeserved and yet unfathomable relationship with Jesus, the Son of God, and all the promises that come with that relationship, how can we not be joyful.  I'll say it again, let's rejoice!! 

Day 1 - Week 59 - Joy, Joy, Joy!

Doesn't that lead-in make you want to sing the old VBS song, "I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart!"  We will add our second "joy" verse this week after getting Psalm 118: - what was that verse number? - oh yes, 24 (as in hours in a day) - Psalm 118:24 firmly in our hearts, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  I have a very hard time not putting an exclamation point at the end of that verse, but since the Holy Scripture doesn't, I just can't bring myself to modify it.  But don't you think the Psalmist really meant to?  Maybe they didn't even have an exclamation point in the Hebrew language....?

In listing our verses to review, this week we'll drop off the section of verses regarding the promises of God to make room for our verses of joy...

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."

This week's verse follows closely on the heels of last week's....I think it's the New Testament version...
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Robert J. Morgan states that "Philippians 4:4-9 is Paul's personal six-point strategy for mental peace.  Do you want some mental peace?  I don't know many people in 2012 that do not long, at some time or another, for true mental peace.  But rather then turning to the Bible for the therapeutic theology that it offers us, we more often turn to poor substitutes offered by the world.  Let's look this week at the first step, as Morgan sees it, to Biblical mental peace.  The first step is Philippians 4:4 - rejoicing in the Lord always...maybe we'll be singing, "I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart"...before the week is over!

Day 5 - Week 58 - Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

In closing out this week's verse, I just have to share some things that Robert J. Morgan included in his commentary on this verse.

First is an interesting way to remember the verse's reference...you'll have to remember Psalm 118, but the number of the actual verse should be an easy one to connect to its content.  Just as God composes each day of 24 hours, I'll bet you always remember that the verse that describes the day the Lord has made is Verse 24 of Psalm 118.

Then Mr. Morgan includes an old stanza scripted by Isaac Watts (born approximately 30 years after Isaac Newton who I always confuse him with --- easy to see why, they had the same hairdo!)  Isaac Watts wrote over 200 hymns!  Isn't that amazing?  And considering that these hymns were written around 1700 and that many of them are still prevalent in hymnals of today, I believe Mr. Watts deserves a moment of our attention.  If you don't know any other hymns by Isaac Watts, you most assuredly know "Joy to the World" which he wrote as a paraphrase of Psalm 98. 

The stanza that Mr. Morgan includes is Isaac Watts' reflection on Psalm 118:24,

This is the day the Lord has made;
He calls the hours His own;
Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad;
And praise surround the throne.

I hope you had a wonderful day today and I hope when you wake tomorrow you will remember that you have been given another day of life by God.  He has made another day in your life, a day with the capacity for joy because we can rest in the knowledge that He has placed it in the timeline of our earthly journey.  Don't take any day for granted...they all come directly from the hand of God.

Today is a gift...that's why it's called "the present."

Day 4 - Week 58 - Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

THIS is a day that we can truly rejoice in!  Happy Easter Sunday to all!!  For Christians, I can't think of another day that should bring us any more joy...He has risen!  He has risen indeed!

This is the day that makes all the difference.  For even with Bethlehem, and even with Calvary, if there hadn't been the empty tomb, we would not have any assurance of Christ's promises.  But with His resurrection, we have every assurance.  We have the assurance that He is who He said He was....we have the assurance that He took our sins, once and for all, and redeemed us...we have the assurance that through the power of God, He defeated death, and walked out of the tomb...we have the assurance that He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God....and we have the assurance that He is coming again to take His children home!  Blessed assurance!

Rejoice in this day---share your joy!  Share the joy of the life you have been given through the resurrected Savior!

John 14:3  "And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me, that where I am you also may be."

Day 3 - Week 58 - Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Note that the verse says "This is the day...be glad in it!"

A popular phrase is "live in the moment."  Abraham Lincoln said, "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."

I believe our verse is emphasizing living each day as it comes...being joyful in today.  We can't know what is coming tomorrow, but we know that today, this day, is here - God has given it to us, and we can rejoice. 

Whether you have the tendency to spend too much of your life dwelling on the days of the past...either thinking of the regrets that they may bring, or the joys that can no longer be relived; or if you are a person who is constantly thinking of the days to come...either with frantic worry or unrealistic expectations of happiness that you are sure is just around that elusive corner, God is telling you to start living today, right now, while today is here.

James 4:13-15 tells us that we are silly to make plans for our future that we feel are so certain...he tells us... Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

So the Psalmist is good to remind us that this is the day...today...right now...this day God has made for us, because we are here.  Let's rejoice in that!  Let's live this day so joyfully, and so mindful of God's provision for us and graciousness to us, that tomorrow we will be even more aware of our reasons to sing His praises - to exhibit God's kind of happiness...joy!

I'll leave you with another quote from an anonymous source that I just know is going to stick with you...."If you have one eye on yesterday, and one eye on tomorrow, you're going to be cockeyed today." 

Day 2 - Week 58 - Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

How was your day?  Did you consciously think through this day, "God made this day"? 

When we remember that God is the giver of each day of our life, that each day bears His mark on it, that He has determined that we will live this day, doesn't it change our perspective?  It should.

Acts 17:24-26, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

Rather than "getting through" the day, we look for God's hand in it.  We look for people that He is guiding us to, we see the adventure in each new day, knowing that when we remember that God has purposed us to live this day, we will be ready to join Him in His work. 

Ephesians 2:1  "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

How much more exciting can life get than to realize that we have been given the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the Creator of the universe in the accomplishment of His work.  Wow! 

Why would we not be joyful when we understand that God is sovereign in His rule, that He has a perfect plan in place that will come to fruition, that we have been redeemed and that we can live in confidence of our salvation and life eternal? 

1 Timothy 6:13-16    I charge you--as in the presence of God who gives life to all creatures, and of Christ Jesus who at the bar of Pontius Pilate made a noble profession of faith-- that you keep God's commandments stainlessly and without reproach till the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.   For, as its appointed time, this will be brought about by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, and whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be eternal honour and power! Amen.  

Ephesians 1:7-10  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.   And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,  to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

When we reflect on the truth of God, when we know that every day is in His hands and in His plan, there is no room for anything but joy in our hearts.

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Day 1 - Week 58 - Moving on!

I almost hate to leave our most recent section because I know I still have so much to learn regarding the Holy Spirit.  I know I loaded you down with all the reference Scriptures, but I just think it is so important to discover Scriptures that explain Scripture!  We must learn of the Holy Spirit through His inspired Word...let's keep learning more and more of Him and experiencing more and more of His power living within us.

But tonight it's time to move on.  We've lingered a little while at our present "campsite" and now it's time to load our backpack up and head on toward our goal!  Are you wondering where we are on the Appalachian Trail by now?  Well, let's see...we have traveled approximately 1,300 of the 2,160 miles of the trail.  We started in Georgia and we're headed to Maine.  Right now we should be entering the Sterling Forest in New York state.  Within an hour's drive of New York City...an unexpected area of natural beauty and hiking trails.  The pictures I've included below just made me realize how many people probably hike these trails every year...people of all types and people of all ages.  But the pictures below, I think, express something about these hikers...don't they look like they're having fun?  Don't they look joyful?

                          

Just like "life in the city" sometimes causes us to forget the joy that being surrounded by nature can bring to us, sometimes we also forget to express in our day-to-day lives the joy that being surrounded by God's Spirit brings.  We learned in our past section that joy is one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit...and joy is the subject of our next section of 12 verses...as Robert J. Morgan titles this section, "Joy: God's Kind of Happiness."

Let's review our previous sections...

Promises of God (10)

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Proverbs 3:-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon Him, because He cares for you.

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."

This day, wherever you are on the trail, rejoice!  God has given each of us this day.  It is a day to be joyful.  Look at the pictures of the people on the trail...they are joyful because of where they are.  But we can be joyful because no matter where we are, we know that God is with us, every day, every step of the way!

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In His Amazing Love - Janice Hodges