Rejoice In The Lord Thinking?
Perhaps the most profound verse about thought in scripture is the well-known verse, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” It is so familiar to most that few people actually do it. Many do not realize how important it is in God’s plans. It’s easy to get into “But thinking” without realizing it… “I’d rejoice, but….” This stops more blessings and miracles than we can imagine.
Victory Through Praise
One of God’s greatest goals is to help us understand Him more and have more confidence in Him. It’s crucial in this to deal with the “But thinking.” Praise reframes our thinking in the right directions and this opens many God-ordained daily ideas, miracles and opportunities.
Paul and Silas were tossed into the local jail in Philippi for their testimony of Christ. Acts 16:25 tells us the well-known event that took place: “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.”
Is it any big deal to sing songs to God? No. But maybe this rejoicing was more important than we realize.
Next came the unforgettable earthquake and the remarkable salvation of the jailer and his household. Scripture says nothing about it, but I bet there were also some pretty wonderful things happening to many of the prisoners who heard and watched it all take place. To top it all off, Paul and Silas became the honored guests of a very excited jailer and his very sweet family. And God met them all.
Why?
Why did all this happen? This is a big, big question.
What transpired behind the scenes is that Paul and Silas made a hidden decision. They looked at their soured situation and decided to rejoice. My hunch is that they knew their God still was almighty, still knew everything and still could and would absolutely do whatever pleased Him. And you can be sure that they were aware, too, that God still loved them. Because of conclusions like these, they made an effort to rejoice.
As they rejoiced, it’s fascinating to me that God didn’t let things continue on their course that night in Phillipi. He jumped into the real details of Paul’s and Silas’ lives and did some very beautiful things that amazed and blessed them–and many others.
How Important Was Their Praise?
A very important question is: How important was Paul and Silas’ praise? This gets really interesting to me.
Scripture doesn’t say, but my guess is that God’s power could have been released because there was praise. It’s possible, and I think very probable, that this power wouldn’t have been released if there wasn’t praise. If this is true, then it is hugely important to look at what Scripture tells us about praise. If miracles hang on our praises, I, for one, don’t want to miss out on any. If other people’s salvation is resting on my praise, I want to try harder to rejoice in who God is always.
Remember Paul and the snake bite on Malta after his shipwreck in Acts 27? I don’t think he was complaining under his breath or even in his thoughts. I don’t think there were thoughts like this roaming around in his brain, “What next?! What a disaster! Why did God let this happen. I am tired of this!” . I think he was either audibly praising God or was in his hidden thought life.
Why do I say this? Because, for one, I’m sure he was grateful to God for all coming ashore safely; they all had a narrow escape from being put to death by the Roman soldiers. But, also, remember what he was doing when he got the snake bite? He was making a fire for everyone else. Usually godly people who are outside of themselves thinking about others in a tough situation have a hotline to God and are being heart-strengthened by Him as they are communing with Him and praising Him.
I wonder if the miraculous healing when Paul was bitten by the snake happened because Paul was focused in on God and praising Him and rejoicing in who He is.
I’m sure Paul was like you and me. I’m sure He struggled to rejoice in who God is all the time. But I believe he had a fierce resolve to fight the good fight in succeeding as much as he could in doing it.
I have a hunch that the daily working of little and large interventions of God is somehow linked to our efforts to rejoice in Him. I think it’s like keeping the plug I the wall so your nightstand light can keep light in a darkened room. Rejoicing in who God is brings His light into our hearts and brings meetings with Him in our externals.
A Mountain Encounter
Renita and I were in a local mountain town, grabbing some groceries for the night at a tiny market. We watched ahead of us as a tattooed rough-looking gal shoved people’s groceries past the scanner. When our time came, we asked her a couple easy going questions. Within 30 seconds, JD began to pour out her heart about things that concerned her. No one was behind us and she went on for several minutes. We talked with her and left her a Christian book and are eager to look her up the next time we are up the mountain.
The day was long, and we were tired, but we were making the effort to rejoice. Then God opened a little door to share with someone who is now precious to us.
Doesn’t this kind of thing happen often when our hearts are filled with rejoicing? Doesn’t it not happen when we are grumbling or moving about inconveniences and all the rest of less than the best? I think praise is more important than we realize.
I know by years of personal experience, and by years of experience of friends, that when we are filled with rejoicing and thanksgiving all kinds of good things break out–and sometimes things that transform all the rest of life. But let’s look more deeply at things the Bible itself shows us about this.
Paul and Prison Time
Paul rejoiced in who God is in other prisons and God didn’t release him from these prisons right away like He did from the one in Phillipi. Even more than that, it’s true that Paul probably eventually died in one of his prison sentences. This is true. But, if we look more deeply, other things happened, too; very significant things that might give us insight into the possible power that God can unleash when we abide more in rejoicing.
Paul wrote many of his epistles from prison. That’s a pretty amazing event that took place in prison. And, from places that were less than the best, He also wrote things like “What thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God” (1 Thessalonians 3:9)
Paul prayed for people when in all kinds of situations–good and bad– and it brought him joy and it also brought God’s power and presence to others. Those are pretty good results. This joy was tied into thanking God for others. No doubt there was thanksgiving to God and praise of God in the mix, too.
In the prison where Paul eventually died, what happened there? He went to be with Christ into what was incomparably better…forever. That’s a pretty good effect, also, I’d say.
There might be something very profound in rejoicing in who God is all the time.
A Very Unusual Verse
Look at the very unusual passage Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:14. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” This might be one of the most profound Christian experience verses in the entire Bible.
There are two things I want to point out here that might be incredibly significant for the rest of our lives. Let’s start with the second point of this passage, “God…reveals through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” What’s this really mean?
Remember how Paul was put on a horse and protected by 470 Romans on a quite cushy ride to a new place in Acts 23? A centurion, whom he’d obviously become quite beloved to, did this when he found out Paul was in danger from the kinda crazy forty fasting Jews who vowed not to eat or drink until they killed Paul. The fact that Paul was put on a horse is hugely indicative that the centurion cared about him.
Why did the centurion care about Paul? This is a very important question. Scripture doesn’t answer this directly, but if you study Paul’s interactions with people, it’s easy to assume that he loved the centurion. No doubt he talked with him kindly and prayed for him. Maybe he was already a believer. Paul had a lot of that going on because he was tuned into all kinds of different people and into God. Paul was also so God-filled and God-focused that no doubt he worshipped and loved God and rejoiced in Him often when in the place with the centurion. This brings a happiness of heart which attracts many people–especially when our affection is toward them as it was with Renita and I with JD at the market.
The Sweet Aroma of the Knowledge of Him
I believe that Paul’s thinking was according to the description in Philippians 4:8 of how we are to think about what is “excellent and worthy of praise”. You can camp on this part of the verse for a lifetime. Thinking on what this part of the verse says is very earthshaking. Excellent? How many things do we camp on that are miles from excellent. Worthy of praise to God. We can miss this one a thousand times a day and brood on a thousand other things rather than very real things we can praise God for. Our spouses, our children, our dear friends, sunsets, sunrises, trees, lakes, rivers, oceans, our bodies, the Word of God, what God is doing with us and others…and on and on. Yet a stain on our shirt or a broken car part or some indifference by a so-called friend can put our thoughts in a dark and sisal joyless place where God isn’t.
Thinking about what is excellent and worthy of praise to God sets us wildly free! It transports our hearts into the very presence of God, and then He works, and often it is through us because we are not living in the thought realm that Jesus lived in.
Paul lived his words; he was continually focused on praising God for who God was and in thanksgiving for others and what the Lord was doing.
But what about the “manifesting the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place?”.
When we rejoice in who God is, we enter God’s presence much more powerfully than when we succumb to anxiety, grumpiness, for it is me, “no one likes me moods,” and fear. Rejoicing in who God is causes us to, “manifest the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” This was probably part of what caused Paul to become beloved by the centurion.
God, through Paul reveals that He wants us to rejoice in who He is always. I believe the reason is because God always IS, and that He always loves us, He is always more powerful than anything we face and that He will help us when the time is right. And He will do wonderful things. These are things to rejoice about!
Look further. Psalms 100:4 says to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courtyards with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.”
Thanksgiving is thanking God for what He has done and is doing and for those He has given us to share our lives with. Praise is giving God adulation for the magnificence of all He is. Blessing Him is looking away from an outward bad situation like a cloudy day that you might not like and getting quite excited about the Lord.
All this does something. It makes us conduits of God to others. WE become a fragrance to others of the beauty of who God is– exactly as the second part of 2 Corinthians 2:14 says “we are a fragrance of Christ manifesting the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
Always in Triumph. Huh???
Let’s also look at the radical statement at the beginning of 2 Corinthians 2:14: “ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ.” Perhaps the most important question of this week is, “What in the world does this really mean?”
It says we are to THANK God. Why? It says it pretty clearly: KJV says it this way; “God…who always causes us to triumph in Christ.” I don’t think I’m wrong when I say the obvious: This is very profoundly saying that God causes us to always have the victory in every situation. That’s incredibly good news…if it is true.
Think of Paul in this one situation, being in prison. Was he always victorious? We know he was in Philippi when the earthquake came that one night. We know he was the night with the centurion when he was put on a horse and transported in style past the grumpy forty. We know He was when He was used by God to write scripture in prison.
We also know He was when the gospel was spread to those in prison as it says in Philippians 1:12, 13, “Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have actually served to advance the gospel, my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the praetorian guard and to everyone else.” God was making Himself known through Paul to the Imperial Guard of the palace in Rome. How wild is that? We read about Caesar in Rome in our school years. Paul was in his house! And bringing the guards there to th Living God! Unbelievable.
I’d say that qualifies for being led in victory in Christ.
Paul also was in another “prisoner situation” that illustrates something amazing.
God Intercepting a Ship Ride
One of Paul’s prison stays was the one we mentioned when he was being transported by the Romans across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome. It was here that they encountered the vicious storm that rocked them for 14 days. We know this. But consider this.
Paul wasn’t well listened to by the centurion before the storm, but after the storm, something happened.
The Centurion not only listened to Paul to spare the lives of the prisoners, how to abandon ship and what to eat when, but he also let Paul freely roam about the island of Malta healing people and enjoying the natives and their feasts. I’d don’t know about you but if all that happened to me, I’d be on cloud 9!
God gave a stunning victory at Malta and Paul was exceedingly blessed because of it and so were many others.
Paul was led into another “triumph in Christ.”
A Wild Conclusion
Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison and said, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” He obviously must have been rejoicing always while there. In the process, He gave us the book of Philippians. That’s time pretty well spent, I’d say. He also wrote that God always causes us to be victorious. THIS HAPPENED OVER AND OVER TO PAUL.
The island of Malta experience has a critical point mentioned. An angel appeared to Paul while he was on the boat, and Paul said of that experience–to the centurion and all else aboard– “For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’ “ Paul continued, “Take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me, and however, we must run aground on some island.”
I believe the centurion was really listening when Paul shared this… extremely so. And when all happened exactly as Paul said, I think the relationship changed to, “What would you like next Paul.” I believe that the angel’s visit was a critical component to God causing Paul to be a victor in that situation.
GOD gave the triumph in Christ to Paul by probably buoying his spirit, helping him with joy and love and God supernaturally met him.
Where do we go with all this?
I think it’s to rejoicing always…and to praise that unlocks God’s working on our behalf and us being led always in triumph in Christ all the rest of our lives.
Sounds good to me!
Time and Time Again Being Led In Victory
Paul experienced time and time again being led in victory.
In Romans 8:37-39, he straightforwardly says again that God ALWAYS makes us conquerors…not occasionally, but always.
All this kinda blows me away.
Not only does he say this, but by the inspiration of God, he also says the incredible statement that NOTHING can ever separate us from God’s love:
“In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.…”
All this is saying something very clearly. NOTHING can separate us from God’s love. Nobody, no situation. No thing. It also says that God will ALWAYS bring about a victory that is significant. Paul’s were off the charts. Joseph’s was completely life-changing. And, all this points back to praise and thanksgiving.
So what dark foreboding thoughts and discouragements are wandering around on in the back of your mind. Are you smiling but really you are troubled down inside behind the smiles and cheerfulness.
It’s time to get a reality check. Chuck the negatives that the enemy wants you to Debbie-downer yourself with. Rejoice in the beauty, love, intelligence, and power of the infinite God, and turn your thoughts to rejoicing in who your God is. One day, He will transform the whole universe of 100 billion stars. He can handle our little lives–every detail.
God Said, “Rejoice in Me Always.”
Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When the words were penned, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” it was God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, saying these words to us. When Paul wrote, “God ALWAYS causes us to triumph,” it is God who created all things to tell us this.
All this causes me to look at rejoicing in who the Lord is always much more attentively. I believe that it is vitally important to enter into rejoicing and thanksgiving. It connects us to the Lord…and boy is it sweet!
Even as I’m writing all this, I’m thinking about a few things that have been troubling me. I’m realizing that God wants me right now to think upon, “what is good, and lovely and of good repute and what is excellent and worthy of praise” and enter into thanksgiving to God and into praise and worship of Him. He wants me to truly trust Him that He has plans and to enter praise and thanksgiving.
I believe that God will cause wonderful things to happen as I continue in this attitude and as I continue on in following what He wants me to do from day-to-day…as He has countless times in my past.
How about you?
Realigning to God
A vital and very happy part of fighting the good fight is the daily task of realigning our thinking to the reality of power, beauty, love, and intelligence of the God who IS. We serve the God who created all things. Touch anything around you right now…a lamp, your book, your coffee…your nose. Every atom of it was created by God …and He probably made it from energy. That’s crazy wild. This is the God we are speaking of.
Rejoicing always is critical. It feeds our souls with God’s happiness and makes the journey to God’s next things a very wonderful path. And it makes the path one where situations and relationships are wrapped in God meeting us in His lovingkindness and in God using us to bring His presence and blessing and help to others.
It’s all part of always being led in triumph in Christ, and it doesn’t get better than this!
“Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” – Philippians 4:11
Part of having the God of love and peace be with us is rejoicing in who He is.
“From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised.” – Psalms 113:3
All the time…right now. Five minutes from now. At lunch. Every bit of today, we can rejoice in who God is. Do we have problems?
God will give us sweet victory in all of them either in them, around them or blow them to bits. Any way you throw it, we’re on the way to always being led in triumph in Christ and manifesting the sweet aroma of he knowledge of Him to many!
Yes!
BTW: The image below is from the Bible Story book put out by Focus on the Family. Your family might enjoy it!
