“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

What if I were to tell you that the word “rejoice” is written in the imperative? God commands us to rejoice.

Isn’t that interesting? I would never associate rejoicing with a command. “I demand you be joyful!” Hmmm. That doesn’t quite seem right.

Rejoicing…isn’t that a feeling? Isn’t rejoicing something we feel when things are going great? How are we supposed to control our feelings? Feelings are a reaction to something.

Not the way God is using this term. Rejoicing is a choice. You choose joy. If it weren’t the case, God would not command us to do so.

You see, “This is the day that the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). Every day, every moment is a gift from God. Recognizing this, Christians rejoice. We choose joy.

Why? Because God created this day. God gifted us with this day.

Every day, every moment is a gift. Rejoice! Be glad in it.

“Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

“You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is your God; besides him there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:35).

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

Before you read today’s meditation, please re-read the verses of the day paying close attention to the word “know”.

There is not one passage in the Bible that says feel your way to the LORD, or feel your way to the truth. There is not one verse in the Bible that tells us to do what you feel.

Yet, this is exactly the message of our world. The world tells us, “go with your feelings.” “Be true to yourself. Be true to your feelings.”

What horrendously terrible advice!!!

Don’t go with your feelings. Your feelings will betray you. Your feelings will betray your allegiances, loyalties, and your love. Feelings will let you down as it will guide you down the pathway of destruction.

How can I say that? Because feelings have no morals nor boundaries. I have feelings that are horrendous to staying committed to my wife. I have feelings that betray my commitment to Christ. Feelings are not permanent. One day I feel this way, and the next day that way.

Don’t follow your feelings.

Feelings will never lead you to God. Feelings will never lead you to truth and freedom.

God doesn’t want you to guess and feel your way around in this world. God wants you to KNOW God and KNOW the truth.

Christians:

• Know that the LORD is God
• You were shown these things that you might know the LORD is God
• You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

“Then I saw a ‘new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There is be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.‘” (Revelation 21:1-5).

We have been looking at the three tenses of salvation:

• Past Tense – Justification – Status Change – All God, all grace
• Present Tense – Sanctification – Ongoing Change – Partnership with the working of the Holy Spirit
• Future Tense – Glorification – God’s Promised Kingdom Realized – All God

Today, we will be looking at glorification.

God promises in the Bible that Jesus will return to judge the world, and to rule. When that happens, God will establish a new heaven and a new earth. Creation will once again be all that God intends. There will be no more pain, no more tears, no more disease, no more death.

God will judge the world. Those who have not received God’s plan for salvation through his Son Jesus Christ, will receive the desire of their heart to be eternally separated from God. Those who have rejected Christ will spend an eternity apart from Christ in hell.

Those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior will receive new bodies and be placed in God’s eternal kingdom as sons and daughters.

This is all God’s doing. This is God’s promise. This is God’s grace.

We long for the day when God will fulfill his promise. But until that time, the purpose of the church is to proclaim Christ and his love for sinners. For “God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Let’s get to work. Not even one need perish. God has already made a way through his Son, Jesus Christ.