Rejoice By Choice
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Pilippians 4:4 (New International Version, NIV)
Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. Philippians 3:1 (New Living Translation, NLT)
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Romans 12:12 (KJV)
For the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10 (KJV)
The Bible instructs us to rejoice, and Philippians 4:4-9 tells us how to do it.
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:4-9 (KJV)
Know the Lord is at hand.
Don’t be anxious.
Pray and be thankful.
Let God’s peace keep you.
Think right.
As we follow these, we will be able to keep our joy, or if we’ve lost our joy, it helps us to rejoice, or to call back our joy and be refilled (Ephesians 5:18-19).
Rejoice means to re-joy; to call back your joy, or to get refilled with joy. We rejoice by choice. We are joyful by an act of right thinking and an act of the will. We can be joyful even when we don’t feel like it, or when circumstances are bad. Joy is supernatural. It does not rely on the external, but it is based on the internal- Who’s in you- Jesus. We are to be joyful in the Lord, regardless of whether things are good or bad.
The formula for joy is simple:
Put Jesus first.
Put others second.
Put yourself third.
As we follow this formula, it will fill us with joy. We will be joyful again, thus we rejoice.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. Habakkuk 3:17-19 (KJV)
In this verse, the Hebrew word for rejoice is alaz, which means to jump for joy. The prophet said that even if natural things fail, he would rejoice in the Lord. The supernatural and the Lord Himself would be his strength- to put him above what was going on. He rejoiced by choice. As a result, he knew the Lord would lift him up to higher places, better places.
We are to rejoice no matter what. We are to be cheerful and be refilled with joy. We rejoice by choice. Rejoice in the Lord, for He’s in you. He is your joy, and the more you sing to God and find joy in Him, the more of Him you will experience. Thus your joy will be full and overflowing.
