"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 every situation, 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. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
(Philippians 4:4-8 NIV)
What is double joy? We surely wish for abundance of joy in life. Through the Word of God abovesaid, let us find out the secret to receive multitude of joy from the LORD.
There are 5 things we can learn from the 4 verses above:
- Undying commitment to rejoice.
In verse 4 the word "rejoice" was mentioned twice. To be a follower of Christ is a double joy. The first joy comes from salvation. Whatever we are going through right now, whether we are losing financially, or we have lost something dear, one thing to remember is that all things in this world is only temporary. Remember heaven, the everlasting reward for us believers!
The second joy comes from hope. There is always the goodness of God in everything we experience. Everything He does in our lives always brings goodness for us who love Him. - Serve one another.
In verse 5 God commands us to show gentleness to one another. Do not focus on ourselves all the time. During this season we have plenty of time, use it to serve. Seek opportunities to serve our brothers and sisters and humanity. Start by allowing others to enter our lives. Ask the Holy Spirit to provide us with the names of people we can serve, and serve them. - Do not be anxious.
God does not only command us not to be anxious, but He also provides the ways to alleviate our anxiety such as:- Prayer
It is important to pray routinely. Whatever our situation is, whether we are facing challenges or not, keep praying. - Ask
Put all your worries on His altar. Believe that He listens.
- Prayer
- His peace will guard us.
God promises in verse 7 to have His peace guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. His peace prevents us from sin in the time of trouble. If God is not anxious, we should not be anxious. If God is not afraid, we should not be afraid. Do not focus on the problem, instead focus on God and we shall walk faithfully. - Guard our minds with the Word of God.
Start our day by reading the Bible so our minds will be guarded by His words.
In verse 8 God commands us to think these things:
- Whatever is true
His words enable our hearts to separate right news from wrong news - Whatever is noble
God wants us to think of His noble plans and purposes - Whatever is right
Our minds should not plan deceit - Whatever is pure
Think of God even more - Whatever is lovely
He wants only lovely things in our minds. He wants us to pay attention to our lifestyle and attitude so we remain lovely for Him - Whatever is admirable
God wants to make sure every word we speak is admirable - Anything excellent or praiseworthy
God wants us to fill our minds with testimonies of believers. Listen to testimonies and stories of people who God helps. This is important to build our faith.
Excerpted from Ps. Philip Mantofa's sermon, 18 April 2020, Youtube & Instagram Live
https://youtu.be/2MdCTmgylqw