19)
Open to me the gates of
righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
20)
This gate of the LORD,
into which the righteous shall enter.
21)
I will praise thee: for
thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22)
The stone which the
builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
23)
This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in
our eyes.
24)
This is the day which the
LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25)
Save now, I beseech thee,
O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
|
U |
ndoubtedly, finding "a day to
rejoice" might seem an impossible task to some saints as well as sinners.
Those outside of the Lord and those who exist without His joy are finding it
increasingly difficult to be optimistic in the day in which we live.
Far too many of the redeemed of the
Lord feel that their individual circumstances can hinder them. Those
"hindrances" they imagine can be in the form of prohibiting them from
accomplishing tasks, advancing in the Lord, or any number of other things.
Perhaps one of the saddest things is that many are convinced that their
circumstances can rob them of their joy. When will the people of God come to
realize that nothing should be able
to hinder their rejoicing in the Lord. Why? Because
our rejoicing is not to be based on anything about us (that is, how happy we
are, how satisfied or loved we feel or how great we are), but rather, how great
God is.
We might make our every day "a
day to rejoice" for it is in this way that we confuse the Enemy. You see,
he never changes his tactic, and that is to present things to us which threaten
us in some way. These threats can be physical, financial, emotional or mental
(among others), but, whatever form they take, he is
convinced that he can break us. He believes that if he "messes with"
us long enough, we will crack—and all too often, we prove him right.
If we only realized and accepted
what we have been given in the Lord. We have been given a Power so great that
those who exercise it can knock down anything in their path. However, there is
a secret element—we must rejoice in the Lord anyhow and no matter what.
Nobody said that rejoicing would
always come easy. No one will deny that the devil is a master strategist. As
with a well-trained military commander, he is skilled in interception and knows
what moves we are likely to make if he sets certain things in motion. However,
what he does not know is everything. Only God knows this.
We should never be as surprised by
Satan's tactics as we are, for it is common biblical knowledge that he knows
what pressure to bring to bear upon us to get his desired result. We can only
get the better of him when we refuse to react according to the flesh. In that,
when we receive the Holy Ghost, we are taken from the category of mere mortal
man and put into the spiritual being category, we now have an alternate
"copying mechanism."
Our attempts at rejoicing are so
short-lived, primarily because of our reactions. Instead of exercising the
advantages of the Holy Ghost, we react according to how we think. If one has
been taught bad reasoning skills, this is how he will think. If one has been
taught bad "logic," this is what he will use. If one has lived among
irrationality, he will be an irrational thinker. Perhaps saints' biggest
problems come from self-delusion—either of the sort which allows one to believe
he is more than what he is or that which convinces one that his situation is
worse than anyone else's has ever been. If this is how one thinks, he makes
this true of his situation. Rarely are the blessings of God our focus. The
devil makes sure that this is the case, for if we ever really acknowledge how
the Lord has blessed us, we would have an unparalleled commitment.
So, why are we continually told of
the importance of being joyful and praising the Lord? Is it just that no one
has anything else to preach? On the contrary; the Lord has constructed this
plan so that we are essential to its success. It is those who find and exhibit
joy in all situations who will draw others to the
Lord.
Understand this: if you are saved, but have never submitted yourself to the Lord, you will never have a day of joy. When one insists upon his own way, he will remain "at odds" with God and consequently, dreary, defeated and utterly joyless.