Word of Encouragement #13 April 21, 2020

Praying and rejoicing are two very important parts of a Believer’s life, and they go hand in hand.  We talked about Prayer yesterday. Today’s Word of Encouragement is about rejoicing.

Rejoice
Rejoicing is really impossible to resist. You start praising God for one little thing and before you know it you’re practically flying up to Heaven with joy. Think of one thing you can praise Him for. Then stop. Wait, I said stop. No really. You can’t do it can you.  You can’t eat only one potato chip and you can’t praise God for only one thing.  I found the word “rejoice” 154 times in the Bible. The word “praise” I found 238 times. “Delight” was found 106 times, “exult” 43 times, “celebrate” 17 times and “joy” 203 times. That’s 761 times that concept is found and that’s only the synonyms I searched for.  You can find more by going to www.biblegateway.com and searching the words “rejoice”, “praise” and any other synonyms you can think of.
 
My very favorite is this:
Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice!”
 
Romans 5:3 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance”
 
Romans 5:11 “More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
 
2 Corinthians 13:11 “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
 
Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready”
 
And as I said, you just can’t stop once you start. Please Rejoice in this Psalm of David.

Psalm 150
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens!
Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!
Praise Him with tambourine and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe!
Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
 
During this time of isolation, we have even more opportunity to rejoice in His blessings. Today’s Word of Encouragement gives you a list of things you can rejoice in during this time. I sent out a survey by email earlier this week asking for your thoughts on what we can pray for and what we can rejoice in. Here is the list I compiled of your suggestions of things to rejoice in:
 
15 Things to Rejoice in During This Time of Challenge:

1. Rejoice because we know that our God is in Control and this too shall pass.
2. Rejoice that although we are not able to be together in person, we have technology that makes virtual worship possible.
3. Realize how blessed we are to be able to freely worship together every week, and how blessed we are to have that connection even though we can’t physically be together.
4. Rejoice that we’ve been able to remain a church outside of the church.
5. Rejoice that people who once rejected Jesus are willing to stand and hear more about my Jesus.  This was experienced by one of our church family when talking with coworkers about the virus and about Jesus, only to hear shouts of “Amen” coming from another cubicle.
6. Find joy and pleasure in the slowing down and not rushing from one place to another.
7. Rejoice for continued employment for those who are able.
8. Rejoice in the beauty of Spring.
9. Rejoice in the renewing of the land, the sea and the air that this break in our activity gives our world.
10. Rejoice that God is moving among us, using this situation for good in many lives.
11. Rejoice for new relationships being built with Him.
12. Rejoice that we are forced to use the gifts and talents He’s given us that may have lain fallow.
13. Rejoice that we are forced to depend on Him when human ways fail us.
14. Rejoice in His provisions, which come through in unforeseen ways.
15. Above all, rejoice that in all things we know God will be glorified.