Rejoicing Leads to Peace and Strength

UV 524/10,000 Philipians 4 v 4 Rejoice in the Lord “ Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice.” To rejoice means to be exceedingly glad, so much so it is expressed overtly. Some people rejoice by singing and dancing. But, the believer rejoices in the Lord, meaning that we rejoice in praising and blessing the Lord at all times. When we praise the Lord at all times, our attitudes will remain positive. We will have the peace that transcends understanding or human reasoning. The transcendental peace is not obtained by meditation but by continual praise, prayer with thanksgiving. When we do so, our inner being gets transformed and strengthened to do all things. The first transcendental reason to rejoice is the very Person and Being of God. It is a great privilege that we ordinary mortals can bless the Name and Being of the Lord. We can continually cultivate an attitude of praise and worship in our souls or our deepest being by saying within us, “ Bless His holy Name.” To bless implies to be thankful for, to appreciate, to do good to. When we following the example of the Psalmist command all that is within us to praise His holy name, we are acknowledging with all our intellect, emotions, inner strength and wills that the Lord alone is praiseworthy. We are obeying the commandment that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and strength. We are thanking and appreciating the Creator for creating us in His image, for creating all our organs fearfully and wonderfully. The second reason to rejoice are the practical blessings and benefits that the Lord in His generousity and grace has granted us. The third reason arises out of an anticipation in faith of the miraculous powers, provision and supernatural deliverance that the Lord is going to release in our lives in answer to our prayers or our need. The fourth reason to rejoice is the victory the Lord is giving us over the powers of darkness, over threats from our spiritual and mortal adversaries and foes. Prateep V Philip