Rejoice?

 What is the first thing that comes to your mind when someone mentions REJOICE?  What does it mean to rejoice?  Is it possible to rejoice in the midst of problems and situations?

Well, let’s see if we can shed some light on the matter now. Welcome once again to Thoughts of Expression.  I have been thinking about this word rejoice for a few days now. And looked it up in the dictionary to get a better understanding of what it is about the word that just impacts.  Here is the definition that impacted me the most: “Middle English (in the sense ‘cause joy to’): from Old French rejoiss-, lengthened stem of rejoir, from re- (expressing intensive force) + joir (experience joy.)” Notice the red letter words. This Old French word really hits the meaning that the bible also gives when it comes to rejoice. Expressing intensive force of experienced joy, WOW. Other words that mean rejoice are: happiness, pleasure, joy, delight, elation, jubilation, exultation, celebration

The verse in the picture says to always rejoice. Now how is that possible? Pope Francis had this to say,”We are not called to accomplish epic feats or proclaim high-sounding words, but to give witness to the joy that arises from the certainty of knowing we are loved, from the confidence that we are saved.” So what does it mean? It means that as followers of Christ, we are to show the world that it doesn’t matter what happens in our lives, we will have joy, it doesn’t matter what situations we find ourselves in, we will have joy because the Jesus told us from the beginning that we will suffer because of this world but He had already conquered the world.  This means that our problems are already solved, situations have already been taken care of, so we are just waiting for the end result and that in itself gives you joy, a cause for rejoicing, a cause for jubilation.

So I will leave with this exhortation from James, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. “

God bless you and rejoice for He loves you and has already given you the victory.