Deuteronomy 31:8 is a great verse to start your day with and get into the rejoicing mode.  It says “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

And again in Philippians 4 Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!”
How do we do that?

The key is what I learned from one of my professors at Bartlesville Wesleyan College; Dr. Weeter shared in a message “The how and the why do not matter if you know the WHO!”  That is so true.  If we know who we serve than the hows and whys of this world should not keep us from rejoicing.

Rejoicing is not an emotional outburst but more an outpouring of joy that comes from withing because we know Who’s we are and Who is in control.  We can continue to rejoice in the Lord through the trials of this world (because we will always have trials) when we focus outside of this world.

Look up some of these great men of the Bible who had great suffering but were still able to rejoice:

David throughout the Psalms
Paul in Prison
Daniel

Then think about what you can rejoice about today, even if it is not about circumstances but about the God who is in control of your life.

The bible is good for correcting . . .  I am very tired of church people using the word judging in place of correcting and rebuking.  When one of my children made a bad decision it was my job as a parent to rebuke and correct them.  I would be a horrible parent if I just let it go.  The same is true in the work place.  Supervisors are supposed to correct and rebuke their workers to make the work place safe and functional.  So why do we get so bent out of shape when someone tries to get us back on the right track in our spiritual life.

We get defensive immediately and think “this person is judging me!”, when really it is our job to help each other stay true to the end.  If I mess up, I need my sisters to let me know.  Sometimes I do things unintentionally and need to make it right, sometimes I am very intentional but think no one will notice this one sin (yeah, right).  My sisters in Christ should feel comfortable to confront me (in a gracious way) and let me know I may be heading down the wrong path.

It happened in bible times as well.

Peter was confronted by Paul in Galatians 2: 11-21.  Peter was in the wrong and had to be brought back to the right path.

Paul also confronted several churches about the way things were being done.

In Revelation, John talks to the churches about some of the wrongs they were doing.

We need each other to help us stay true to the end and to not get entangled by the world.  Correction should be done graciously, not judgmentally, but it should be done. We are here to build each other up AND keep each other on the right path.  We live in a world full of temptations, and sometimes we give in.  Let us be the family of God that works the way God intended it to work.  In 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 it clearly states the purpose of God’s word in our lives, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
And in Proverbs 27:17 we see how we are to help each other,  “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Let’s keep each other strong until the end.  Let’s do what it takes to help each other along this rough journey we call life!