Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
who made the great lights
His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day
His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
with a mighty hand and outstretched arm:
His love endures forever.
to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.
to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
and killed mighty kings –
His love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan –
His love endures forever.
and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
(Psalm 136)

Alright. Be honest. How many of you began skipping over the phrase “His love endures forever” while only reading the other parts?

It’s okay if you did.

But now, I want you to read the whole thing over again, but don’t skip over, “His love endures forever,” and come back to the rest of this post.

What do you think the Psalmist is trying to say?

Why does the Psalmist write like this?

So, you remember one thing: “His love endures forever.”

No matter what you’re going through life, no matter what you are facing, there is never a there where God’s love is not there!

Why? Because “His love endures forever!!!”

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:25).

Jesus grew…

Just think about those words! When the second person of the Holy Trinity took on human form, he, while being fully God, was at the same time, fully human.

Jesus grew…

Jesus, God himself, had to go through the same physical, mental, emotional, spiritual growth that we all need to go through.

Jesus grew. So should we.

Our text says that Jesus grew in three areas:

1. in Wisdom
2. in Stature
3. in Favor with God and with man

Jesus grew in wisdom. This refers to Jesus’ growth in the knowledge and the fear of God. Knowledge and fear of God go hand in hand. Knowing who God is better leads to fearing, respecting, honoring, obeying God better. That’s what fearing God means. To fear God means to respect and honor God by obeying God.

Knowing God is never about knowing more information about God. Growing in the knowledge of who God is, what God has done for us, and the life that God is calling us to live is about doing our part in becoming who God created us to be. Growing in the knowledge of God leads us to obey God. It leads us to transform: we become more who God created us to be.

Secondly, Jesus grew in stature. This one is easy! Just look at my mid section…I’m excelling in growing in stature!!! That’s not quite what this means, unfortunately. To grow in stature is to grow in stewarding our health.

The Apostle Paul tells us, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” When we grow in stature, we grow in our capacity as stewards of our bodies as God’s Temple.

Finally, Jesus grew in favor with God and men. This has to do with character and reputation.

• Character is who you are when no one but God is watching. Who you are in private ought to be the same person in public. When your private and public life become more like Jesus, you grow in character.
• Reputation is about your relationship with other people. What you stand for and believe and how you act is your reputation. Your belief and actions, when they are consistent, leads to growth in your reputation with others.

Jesus, in preparation for his public ministry, grew in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man for eighteen more years. Only after eighteen years of preparation was Jesus ready to launch his public ministry at the age of thirty.

Be like Jesus! Grow like Jesus!

“Rejoice always!” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

Interesting.

When a person tries out a new food item and if they respond with, “Interesting,” what do you think that means?

If you were to ask me how my Christmas and New Year’s break was, my answer?

Interesting.

I found out a day before Christmas that Kaleb tested positive for Covid. Because of my heart issues, my family insisted that I stay away from Kaleb. So, I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day by myself in a hotel room.

Interesting.

The plan was for me to get back with the family after three days and after a negative Covid test for the rest of the family. That was the plan. Things didn’t go to plan.

Interesting.

After testing, Helen and Kaitlin also tested positive for covid.

Interesting.

Notice, I didn’t say, “Terrible!”

Helen and Kaitlin had very mild symptoms. They only had flu-like symptoms. Kaleb, on the other hand, had almost no symptoms.

Thank God our family is healthy and managing. Isolating and quarantining was never on any of our plans, but through it all, we’re all healthy and doing well.

Thanks to Alan and Jane Macpherson for offering their cabin so Karis, Kailey, and I can have a place to stay. So much better than a hotel room. The non-covid Kims have been staying at the cabin while the covid Kims continue to isolate and quarantine.

The text for today doesn’t say, “Rejoice when things are going your way.” Nor does it say, “Rejoice when things are going great!” It simply states, “Rejoice ALWAYS.”

Rejoice is written in the imperative. It’s a command.

Here’s what that means: rejoicing is a choice. It’s something we choose. It is not an emotion we passively feel, but it is a condition we choose.

You should also note that rejoicing does not mean feeling happy or giddy. This has to do with a sense or state of being.

What I can tell you about my Christmas and New Year’s break was that there was a whole lot of down time and alone time. There wasn’t much giddiness. There wasn’t much glee. But I had joy. I knew, no matter what, God was in control, God loved me and my family, and that God knew best. So, no matter what the future held, I was in good hands, because I was in God’s hands. There was nothing in this created world that could separate me from the love of God.

So, even though things weren’t always great, I had joy. Joy is the result of who God is, not my experiences nor external circumstances. Joy depends on all that God has already done for us.

So, no matter what you are facing, no matter what you are going through, remember, you can and you must choose joy.

Rejoice! Rejoice always!