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Tag: rejoice

  • Slightly Obsessed #113: Are You Feeling Weak?

    Slightly Obsessed #113: Are You Feeling Weak?

     

    The joy of the LORD is your strength.

    – Nehemiah 8:10

     

    Is life pressing in on you lately?

    Have you been feeling weak in your faith? Are you tired of the daily onslaughts on your family, your faith, and your work?

    You’re in good company. But how do believers find strength for a new day filled with old problems?

    God tells us we are renewed when we find joy in Him. There are over 200 references to the word “joy” in the Scriptures, depending on your version. Here are a few of those Scriptures:

    Rejoice always.

    -Thessalonians 5:16

    Keep on rejoicing.

    – 1 Peter 4:13

    Rejoice with those who rejoice.

    – Romans 12:15

    O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy.

    – Psalm 47:1

    Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

    – Philippians 4:4

     

    To rejoice is a choice.

    There’s one thing common to all these Scriptures. They’re all written in the imperative, meaning the “You” is understood, and they are commands.

    You rejoice. You consider it all joy. You shout to God with the voice of joy.

    The call to joy is a command. Our response requires a decision.

    Before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples, “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” (John 16:22)

    Jesus promised them a joy that could never be stolen from them. If we have a joyless life, then, it’s because we have chosen not to celebrate the gift He has given. We carry it around unopened in our hands day after day.

    We show it to people and tell them, “See, God has given me joy.”

    It becomes a burden, another duty to carry around to prove how Christian we are. Then we get too tired to even pretend, so we just set it on a shelf next to our Bibles, gathering dust.

    This gift was meant to be opened.

    Dived into. Rolled around in. Given a chance to percolate in our bones, strengthen the inner man, and infuse us with new life.

    Feeling weak today? Set your burdens down and open your gift.

     

  • Slightly Obsessed #053: Time Out

    Slightly Obsessed #053: Time Out

    Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

    – Colossians 3:15

    In a holiday season careening out of control, I long for the Deliverer whose arrival we celebrate.

    It happens every year.

    I begin the holidays with a fresh thrill of expectation as we haul out the Christmas decorations shortly after Thanksgiving. Every year I start a bit earlier, try harder, and still fall short of completing everything on my to-do list.

    The list hasn’t gotten longer. Other responsibilities in my life have grown.

    I start with good intentions. But as the month spins increasingly out of control, my energy begins to wane along with my Christmas spirit as I strain to capture all that glitters in the magical world dangling just out of reach.

    That world doesn’t exist, not in this life. At times it even taunts me and magnifies the year’s sorrows. Our lives pale beside the delusion. The contradiction cuts as I dash through the last bell-ringing days of a tired year.

    When I reach that moment of total frazzled-hair, wild-eyed insanity; when I don’t have time for a walk through the mall with my husband, for a run to Starbucks to meet friends for coffee, or to sit with the cat in my lap and enjoy the Christmas tree, I need a time-out.

    At that moment, it’s crucial to put the recipes away, close my eyes to the mud on the kitchen rugs, and sling out a net to gather in my mood swings.

    Because I love Christmas. I love celebrating the day my Deliverer came for me. It’s the real miracle breathing life into the season, salvation appearing out of the sky to a world dying to live.

    What better reason could there be to celebrate? What tinsel-town light show can compete with such glory?

    Jesus presents to us the ultimate good-versus-evil story. He’s the Prince on a white horse who comes just time to save His beloved. He has written the beginning and ending to every life’s drama, and He is the only real reason life is worth living.

    His coming split history in half and lit up the skies with angelic alleluias. His death and resurrection made our every loss bearable, our every breath a gift, and our future secure.

    Because He came, every day is Christmas. That deserves a serious celebration. Forget the mincemeat pie. The Christmas cards can wait.

    Rejoice.