Rejoice...Rejoice!

Rejoice...Rejoice!

I am convinced that the Lord knew we would all tend to have a tough time rejoicing. That is why he had Paul repeat this exhortation in Philippians 4:4. "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice."
From Webster's online dictionary we know that, "to rejoice" is to "express great joy". Notice the word expressed in the definition is an action word. We must do rejoicing.
Let's take it a step further and define joy. From the same source we know that joy is "intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness; the expression or manifestation of such feeling." So once again we see active expression. Wow! Imagine yourself rejoicing in the Lord with such exultation!
On Easter Sunday, my pastor taught from the Word of God on the topic of "Experiencing the Resurrection." In a nutshell, there is no greater thing to rejoice in, than in the fact that, Christ Jesus died for your sins and mine. He suffered a horrible death, He rose again on the third day, so that you and I might be free from the penalty of our sin and experience new life.

So then...let us rejoice and then... let's rejoice again! He is alive! He is who He says He is!

We are born again and we have a living hope. It is in this hope that we rejoice and actively express our intense feeling of happiness!
"Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this rejoice...Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." I Peter 1:3-6a, 8-9

So dear ones - express yourself!! Like the lame man whom Peter healed, rise up and walk! Take the reality of the resurrection power of Christ that dwells in your bones and shout out, "Halleluiah!!" to the Lord our God!!

Stephanie