Rejoicing in Christ

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

Nice scripture right, but does it apply to today?

Some believe the Bible is out dated and that its words hold very little meaning today. It is unfortunate but have you noticed that those folks also do not possess the peace of God deep in their hearts. Jesus Christ is not the Lord of their lives, behind the front they put on… they are terribly unhappy (John 3:17-21). Are you terribly unhappy?

Everyone serves something be that money, reputation, looks, or self. And that is where the true believer in Jesus Christ differs; they differ because daily they learn to serve and follow Jesus.

You see a believer at one time in his or her life came to the conclusion that they were terribly dissatisfied. Folks who now serve Christ at one time in their lives served booze, drugs, sex, money, reputation, looks… self. They like me came to a place in their life when they gave Jesus Christ a chance. They said in their hearts, ‘well, I don’t know if coming to you in such circumstances and with such sin in my life will… but Jesus will you accept my heart, my life, and be the Lord of my heart, Lord, please help me.’

And you know what happened? We found a new beginning, a new life. Oh! What a wonderful life we’ve found because of Christ our Lord!! That terrible emptiness that clawed within us was filled; filled with the love of Jesus Christ. That desire to lie, to be angry, to be just a nasty person slowly, ever so slowly is changed… not by being good little Christians, no… but we are the love of Jesus that compels our hearts to seek him, love him, learn of him, and love others.

Are believers in Christ perfect? No, not by a long shot. But let me tell you we are deeply happy. So much so that we read a passage of scripture like the one above and the joy of Christ begins to overflow our hearts and swell our eyes with tears.

Why? Because of the tremendous sacrifice that Jesus did for us on the cross. For on the cross Jesus Christ took on himself all the sins of the world, that includes yours and mine.

So, why aren’t all people saved? God gave folks choice. Some folks reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They go along with the belief that all religions are o.k. and that all religions serve the same God and that all people go to paradise when they die.

Yet, is that the truth?

Don’t you wonder what the truth is?

The Bible says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). Those were the words of Jesus.

Words the believers in Christ believe in. What do you believe in?

I believe the words of Jesus and daily I desire to focus more of my life on him and less on me. Daily, I rejoice in knowing these truths:

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12) – We rejoice because we are children of God and nothing can take that away from us!

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15) – We rejoice because Jesus is our friend and we are his!

“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:13-14) – We rejoice because our sins are forgive us and we have peace and grace because we belong to him!