God's will: Rejoice Always!
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God’s will
God’s will
Do you want to know God’s will for you? Do you know God’s will, and God’s will for you, for us as a family? First and foremost is salvation (2Pt3:9). Impossible to have God’s will done in your life until God is in your life. Then God makes His will known through the scripture and empowered by the Spirit so we can carry it out.
Sometimes the scripture is quiet clear on God’s will.
All men come to repentance (2Pt3:9)
God is not slow, not slack, he wants all to come to repentance, He wants all to be saved.
Some simple instructions with Application (1The5:16-18)
16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
What are the instructions, the application here?
Even further specific instructions and reason too (1Pt2:15)
15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
What are the results if we do the will of God?
OK, does not take rocket science to know God’s will in the above passages, and this series is not exhaustive in any way, but hopefully it is informative, encouraging, empowering and challenging for application as we Go through this series.
Tonight we are looking at God’s will for you to Rejoice always.
God wants us to rejoice always
God wants us to rejoice always
Rejoice, its a command, its a verb it means: feel or show great joy or delight. And doing what God desires, God’s will is good for us and in this case good for others too. Not only are we to rejoice, we are to rejoice always.
Rejoice in life and all it has
Rejoice in your youth (Ecc11:9)
9 Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.
Rejoice in your work (Ecc3:12-13)
12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.
Your life is a gift from God, your work is a gift from God, and you will be held accountable for what you do with the gifts from God you are given. So rejoice for all things that you have been given
Rejoice in your life and your wife (Ecc9:7-9; Ecc11:8)
7 Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. 8 Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head.
7 Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. 8 Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.
9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.
Rejoice in all things given from God (1Tim6:17)
17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
God’s gifts are given to be enjoyed, so in other words rejoice for God’s gifts!
And, rejoice responsibly (1Tim6:18-19)
18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
What are the instructions here in (vv.18-19)? - be rich in good works, do good, be generous, be sharing, take hold of the eternal! For that is life indeed
Before we can grasp taking hold of the eternal and enjoying that we have to know it and rejoice in our salvation.
Rejoice in our salvation
Rejoice in knowledge of your salvation (Lk10:20)
20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
(expand on that, your name in the lambs book of life)
Rejoice in the peace you have because of your salvation (Rom14:17)
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Joy in the Holy spirit that comes because the righteousness of God and peace of God given through the Holy Spirit as your entrance into the kingdom of God.
And, rejoice for it is a part of the fruit of the Spirit that you have because of your salvation (Gal5:22)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
So, rejoice always, I think we get the point here, now the reason.
Our need to rejoice always
Our need to rejoice always
There are things that are joy killers, joy stealers but Joy is found in the Lord and is part of the fruit of the Spirit, sometimes joy comes in prayer or praise.
Rejoice in prayer
Anxiety can weigh us down, but a good word, rejoicing can make it glad (Pro12:25)
25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.
A glad heart, a rejoicing heart can raise a persons spirit up (Pro15:13) so feast on rejoicing (Pro15:15) for this life can be hard.
Joyful, rejoicing heart is good medicine (Pro17:22)
Oh hold on, I need to give you at least one of the scriptures above.
13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.
Rejoice, pray for spiritual strength
For the joy of the Lord is our strength, and great strength at that (Neh8:10)
Rejoice in what we believe so hope may abound (Rom15:13)
Rejoice, for, it can be contagious (2Cor2:3)
The Romans verse says
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
and as for contagious, well I reworded it but here it is
3 This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all.
shared joy, contagious joy, so remember rejoice always!
How to rejoice always
How to rejoice always
God’s will made known through the scriptures so may we look at how to rejoice always as the bible shows.
Rejoice in the Lord
Specified Joy, repeated joy (Php4:4)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
What are we to have joy in? Why do you think, believe that?
Purposed joy (Ps21:1)
1 O Lord, in Your strength the king will be glad, And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice!
David was the king and he was speaking in 3rd person of himself, but we can speak in 1st person to God with purpose, What is the purpose here?
Gift of Joy (Ecc2:26)
26 For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
Gift of the knowledge of joy, the wisdom of joy!
Source joy (Ps31:7)
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, Because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul,
What is the source of joy here? - it is in his lovingkindness, in some versions it may say mercy, he knows our affliction, he knows our trouble, yes, he knows our sin, but yet He gives us mercy and lovingkindness, so what a great thing to rejoice in the source of our joy.
So, be full of Joy (Ps16:11)
11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
In His presence there is fulness of joy, we can rejoice, show joy by following His path knowing that at his right hand are pleasures forever.
May the joy, rejoicing continue by applying some simple scriptural tools:
Read, feed on God’s Word daily (Ps1:1-3; Jer15:16)
Be blessed by feeding on God’s word daily, be careful who you hang out with and walk with. Be a tree that bears fruit!
Jeremiah says it like this.
16 Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
What does it say about God’s word here? - Jeremiah ate them, and they became joy and delight!
Meditate on God’s Word (Jn15:11; 1Jn1:4)
11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Spoken to the apostles not just to have joy, but that their joy may be full! We too when we feast on the Word of God can have our joy tank filled and overflowing.
4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
1Jn1
The words of the apostles given as well as the words of Jesus given so you can have full and complete joy!
Sing praise, sing with joy to the Lord (Jm5:13; Ps71:23; Ps104:33-34)
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
we have much to be cheerful for, our salvation, our very life, so may we sing praises of joy to the Lord.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; And my soul, which You have redeemed.
Ok, sing, shout for joy, sing from your very soul, from your heart because you have been redeemed, redeemed oh how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the lamb . . . you know how the song goes.
Oh wait there is more, are you feeling joy, is joy on your lips, is joy filling your heart? For it is God’s will that you rejoice always, so let me keep going.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 34 Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the Lord.
Ps10
Don’t just sing today, sing everyday, as not only is it good today, it is good and pleasing everyday to the Lord and in the Lord!
Fellowship with one another who are filled with the same joy (2Cor7:13; Phm1:7)
13 For this reason we have been comforted. And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
Your joy, like Titus joy, can bring joy to others, so let your joy come out!
7 For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
Refreshed in the Lord and word gets around and it can do what? bring joy , much joy, and comfort in your love, because of your heart for one another!
Your joy can be a joy to others, so be joyful (1The2:19-20; 3Jn4)
19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy.
Oh man, oh man, oh man what do you see here? - Hope, joy, crown of exultation. The people are our glory and joy. - they were to Paul, just think about how we can be hope, joy and crown of exultation to others today!
(Encouragement slide - rejoice always 1The5_16)
It is the Lords will, the will of God for us to
Rejoice always (regardless of circumstance)
Rejoice in the Lord for he is the source of all joy
Rejoice in the Lord for he is the giver of all things in which to rejoice
Rejoice in the blessings given, both spiritual and physical
Yes, joy, never-ending, even rejoice in the hard times, the times of persecution as it says in (Mt5:10-12), for even in those times we can find inexpressible joy (1Pt1:6-9) The God of all comfort gives us hope, hope has been poured out by the Holy Spirit (Rom5:3-5)
God’s will made known, instructions give, illustrations given, reasons given, so may we be diligent to walk in the will of God and rejoice always.
(encouragement slide 2 - rejoice in the God of my salvation) Prayer (exit slides)