Daily Bread - JAN/01/08

Philippians 4:4 - Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say Rejoice!

We must recognize exactly how imperative it is for us to rejoice. If there is no rejoicing then there is no giving thanks; there is no praise and no worship; for all of these actions are found in rejoicing. The very fact that joy and rejoicing are found more than 200 times in the Bible should seize our attention and cause us to recognize that it is key to discovering the things of God. When we add words like the giving of thanks and praise then the totals begin to go well above 600 verses of scripture devoted to this subject.

Paul placed a demand upon those at Philippi and told them, with an imperative that he repeated in the same verse, to rejoice! In this context he assures the Philippians that they will not need to worry about anything because God would surely supply everything that they had need of (4:6-7, 19). When we recognize that God rules over everything at this very moment then we should begin to rejoice (Psalms 97:1; Ephesians 1:21; Revelation 19:16). Even though Satan continues to create havoc in the world right now, God has given man power in His absolute reign to stop everything that Satan is doing (Luke 10:19; Mark 16:17; 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; Ephesians 6:10).

We must recognize that everything that God has ever wanted man to do is to trust Him (Jeremiah 17:7; Genesis 22:16:18; Hebrews 11:6). God is devoted to doing whatever it takes to teach us to trust Him. When we make God the sole object of our trust we find a joy unspeakable that is glorious! It is in this realm of praise and thanksgiving that God rises up on our behalf and subdues all of our enemies and produces supernatural faith by His Spirit that works in us (Psalms 60:12; 118:15-16; 2 Chronicles 20:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Happy New Year!

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org