500 days of rejoicing

3:25 p.m. Today's project is to rejoice!



Not only am I rejoicing in Heidi and Pavel's wonderful engagement pictures , and the way the wedding elements are fitting into place, but am rejoicing in the way that the Lord is putting together the business aspects of my life in the smooth way He does things, rather than the agitated approach I was using two days ago! Absolutely every matter that had me up at night, whether forms to be mailed or arrangements to be put into place, lined up beautifully today. Praise the Lord!

Don't you just love the Lord our Provider, Healer, Leader, and above all, Savior? "With God, all things are possible,"Jesus said in Mark 10:27, whether that means the problems we have unknowingly avoided because of His mercy, or the troubles we've plunged into that He rescues us from.

This blog marked 500 posts in the last year and a half, posts that God has faithfully given me seven days a week, on every subject that the Holy Spirit brings to my attention by God's will for my life--for the edification and encouragement of believers, a witness to the unsaved, and ultimately, I pray, for His glory. I pray that Jesus' heart, His love, and His call to all people would shine through these articles.

When I use the word "rejoice," I am not necessarily denoting hilarity or a response to good news only, although I can rejoice as excitedly as anyone. ( Or more so!) The Greek language used in the New Testament has many nuances, some of which seem almost contradictory. Often Christians are exhorted and challenged in what we should be rejoicing in, as the following partial list from Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words demonstrates. Christians are to rejoice in:

• The Lord, Philippians 3:1
• His Incarnation (Jesus Christ coming to earth as a man), Luke 1:14
• His power, Luke 13:17
• His presence with the Father, John 14:28
• His presence with us, John 16:22
• His ultimate triumph, John 8:56
• Hearing the gospel, Acts 13:48
• Our salvation, Acts 8:39
• Receiving the Lord, Luke 19:6
• Our enrollment in heaven, Luke 10:20
• Our liberty in Christ, Acts 15:31
• Our hope, Romans 12:12
• Our prospect of reward, Matthew 5:12
• The obedience and godly conduct of fellow believers, Romans 16:19

I find those absolute reasons for daily rejoicing, but the following list not so much:

• Suffering with Christ, Acts 5:41
• Suffering in the cause of the gospel, 2 Corinthians 13:9
• In persecutions, trials and afflictions, Matthew 5:12

Yet, I am called to rejoice in all of these matters, and several hundred more, according to this dictionary! In fact, I am told in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."

Impossible? Of course it is, in my own mind and heart! But let me return, by faith, to Jesus' words in Mark 10:27 :

WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.