Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
This is the way of peace and the way of joy in Christ Jesus. THIS is His will for ME! Now I have to confess here that this morning, I wondered why the Holy Spirit chose to put the command to rejoice always, first. That is hard for me early in the morning. My prayers upon awakening usually run toward Lord, have mercy on me for I am weak and then I thank Him because I can start my day with coffee and His word. Once I have my coffee, the rejoicing part comes easier. Pretty shallow...I know. But here is the thing...rejoice always comes first because my joy in Him is the background melody of my life... Before I pray...in order to pray, I must "REMEMBER" my God. For me to even go to prayer or thanksgiving when I awake, I must remember Him and rejoice because He is my hope and my source of joy as a believer...THIS world is not my home. My circumstances change constantly but my Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever...He is ALWAYS with me and nothing can separate me from His love...so yeah...rejoice always....even at 6 am before coffee.
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.—Isaiah 26:3-4
