"Rejoice in the Lord ever. I will say it once again: Rejoice!" - Philippians 4:4

When you call back of the discussion "rejoice," what practise you typically call back of? You might recall of rejoicing as being in a land of abiding happiness and jubilant every item of your life with unending exuberance.

What nearly when you lot meet the Scripture that says "rejoice in the Lord always"? Does that take the aforementioned sentiment as the mentioned country of happiness in a higher place?

Philippians 4:4 has the campaigner Paul telling the church of Philippi, in a letter, to always rejoice in the Lord, ever celebrate the Lord. This carries the understanding that yous do it whether you want to or not, whether you lot are happy with the Lord or non. When you lot gloat with the right thought in heed about how God works, information technology volition exist possible to find means to rejoice in the Lord.

Allow usa examine the following passages in Philippians 4 to come across why this advice from Paul is so profound and how we tin can agree to this belief of God's greatness at all times, finding the joy inside building up equally we requite Him cheers.

What Is the Context of Philippians 4?

The volume of Philippians is the apostle Paul's letter to the church building of Philippi to share with them wisdom and encouragement for living out their organized religion in Christ and standing stiff when struggles and persecution might occur.

Remember that when it came to suffering for your calling, Paul was definitely the expert. He endured severe persecution for his belief in Christ and phone call to ministry, and so communication from him on rejoicing during trials seems to be a practiced idea.

Philippians 4 centers more often than not on Paul conveying to the believers what to focus on during times of uncertainty. He wants them to besides know that as they get through challenges, they will be able to do more because Christ is in them (Phil. 4:13).

The quaternary chapter of Philippians too encourages people to not be broken-hearted for anything, simply to give their needs in prayer to God (Phil. 4:half-dozen) and gain God's peace in return (Phil. 4:seven).

Paul also shared in Philippians 4:11-12 how he has learned to be content where he is because he knows what it is like to be hungry and full, to suffer and to abound.

Notwithstanding, with Philippians 4:iv, Paul but declares that we "rejoice in the Lord, always. Once more I will say, rejoice!" What Paul is saying here is that we should rejoice at all times, whether we are sad, happy, angry, confused, or even tired: at that place shouldn't exist a moment that goes by that we aren't giving cheers to the Lord for His honey and provision.

joyful mom and daughter singing praise songs with headphones on

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Lordn

What Does It Hateful to "Rejoice in the Lord Always"?

Rejoice, co-ordinate to Merriam Webster Lexicon, is "to give you" or "to feel joy or keen delight," while to rejoice in means to "have or possess."

Then, the Scripture conveys that to rejoice in the Lord is to accept joy or delight in the Lord; to feel joy when you think of Him ever.

How exercise you practice that, y'all might inquire? Well, call up of God as y'all would someone you can see in front of yous, whether a family member, friend, co-worker, or someone from your church or community. When you spend time with someone that brings y'all joy and happiness, y'all rejoice or please in being with him or her. You gloat it.

Although y'all tin't encounter God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, you come up to know that they are in that location with yous, equally close as anyone tin be to you. You experience their presence when you lot experience calm in the midst of chaos, happiness or positivity in the midst of sadness, and confidence in the midst of uncertainty. You are rejoicing in knowing that God is there with y'all, strengthening you when you are weak and encouraging you lot when you lot feel like giving up.

What if You Don't Feel Like Rejoicing in the Lord?

Specially in our present status of life, it can exist hard to rejoice in the Lord when in that location is hurting, struggle, and sadness all effectually us. However, information technology is possible to love on the Lord, to rejoice ever, even when y'all don't experience like it or are grappling with likewise much pain to think of God.

Philippians iv:4 is followed by the well-known verses shared in Philippians 4:6-7, where it talks about not beingness anxious and giving your requests to the Lord with thanksgiving in your centre. Poetry 7 follows this with: "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

What these verses state is that when we rejoice in the Lord, we begin to feel peace in our situations, peace in our hearts and minds, because we understand that God has our prayer requests well in manus and brings united states peace until those requests are answered.

Fifty-fifty when yous take been waiting a long time for a prayer request to happen or a situation to change, you lot can rejoice and be thankful for the Lord in the meantime considering y'all know your prayer asking has reached the ears of God and will be answered soon.

One fashion to rejoice when yous don't feel like it is to think back on the times that you were waiting on other prayer requests or were in like situations of distress, and how God provided when it didn't await like anything would change. When you remember what occurred and how beholden y'all were to God, this feeling should fill up you with joy and tell you that God tin practice this over again and again. He is a God who loves and cares for y'all.

And so, Philippians 4:6-7 tells us non to be broken-hearted, as the world would have usa be, but hopeful, thankful, and at peace in knowing your prayer requests will be taken care of. The world may exist broken-hearted in its lack of command, merely y'all don't take to be considering you know who is in command.


Photo credit: Unsplash/Nghia-Le

A Prayer to Rejoice in the Lord

As nosotros close, let's follow what is expressed in Philippians 4 and rejoice in the Lord ever, every bit we give Him our prayer requests and await His peace in return.

Lord God,

Thank you for loving usa and caring for our needs as Yous practice. For You lot know the plan alee for us and know how to guide our steps to exist in line with that plan. It's not always like shooting fish in a barrel to rejoice and remain hopeful in You when problems and circumstances arise, but we take to think back on the times we accept been in similar positions and recall how Yous blest usa more than nosotros thought possible. From big to little, nosotros can count the blessings that You gave us earlier and discover they are more numerous than we ever thought possible. That is because You lot know our needs before we ask them, You know our heartaches before we have them, and You know what volition grow united states of america the most to be all we can be in Your optics. And then, let us rejoice and be glad every bit we give You our prayers, knowing when nosotros least expect information technology, You will bring them into fruition. We give all of this to You in Jesus's proper noun.

Amen.

God Volition Provide

Rejoicing in all situations, especially nowadays, can be hard to do, if not impossible, at times. Notwithstanding, God has called us to rejoice in Him always, knowing that we are loved and cared for by an eternal God.

The apostle Paul knew well the suffering that we can endure in our 24-hour interval, having experienced several bouts of information technology throughout his ministry. But he reminds us in this affiliate that we need to always exist looking to God for hope and encouragement. God volition provide for our needs when no one else can.

As we bypass feelings of apprehension of rejoicing when we are going through difficult situations, hopefully nosotros will permit those feelings be replaced by feelings of peace and confidence that the God who began a good work in united states of america will fulfill it in His children.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/torwai

Blair Parke  is a freelance writer for BibleStudyTools.com, and previously worked for eight years with Xulon Press. A graduate of Stetson University with a Bachelor'due south in Communications, Blair previously worked as a writer/editor for several local magazines in the Central Florida expanse, including Celebration Independent and Lake Magazine in Leesburg, Florida and currently freelances for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin.

This commodity is role of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide like shooting fish in a barrel to read manufactures that respond your questions nigh the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses inside Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will assist you amend understand the pregnant and purpose of God's Word in relation to your life today.

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