REJOICE BECAUSE YOU CANT LOSE! By Lakan Mariano But let all who take refuge in You, LORD, rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread Your protection over them, that all who love Your name may be filled with joy. Psalm 5:11 Joy is not anchored on our circumstances. Joy is confidence and delight on who God is no matter our circumstances. Let all who take refuge in You, LORD, rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Paul and Silas sang in a dark and dank prison. Pauls letter to the believers in Philippi was written most likely from a Roman prison. Yet the letter oozes with joy. King David was in the wilderness fleeing for his life when he penned Psalm 63. You would not have guessed that from the psalm: God—you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you! I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts. So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in your strength and glory. In your generous love I am really living at last! (vv. 1-4, MSG). Not only can we have joy in the hardest of times, we can also find joy in the most ordinary of things. A mug of freshly brewed coffee early in the morning. A note from a friend. A light drizzle. Water coming out of the faucet when you turned it on. A short nap. Dishes to do. When I consider that the only thing I ever deserved is hell, and God showed me, us, His love by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross to save me, us, I realize how lucky, how blessed I am. That everything in this life, from the breath I breathe to the food I eat, to family and friends, to even the struggles I have are gifts from my gracious Father. Our daughter Rachel and her husband Cole are expecting a baby boy, Nehemiah, in two weeks. Two weeks after that blessing our son Micah and his wife Cami will have their fourth boy, Hayes. Two days after Kims memorial service this summer, our son Josh and wife Lindsay had Adrie, a very precious and beautiful girl. I look back at my life and wonder at the grace of God. Everything a gift. As hard as it has been losing Kim this summer, God blessed me with such a beautiful life with her that she is never far away. She is never absent. And I know, because Gods Word says so, that our parting is very temporary. So even in the midst of tears I can rejoice in my God who is faithful to His Word. We as believers can rejoice. Not because everything is going well in our lives. But because the One who is in control of everything in our lives loves us and He is faithful and gracious. Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m His bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose! (Philippians 1:21).
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 13:17:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015