Sunday Share

This month, the Scripture Journaling from Shannon Long is a collection of scriptures all about “Rejoice in the Lord.” I’m very excited to journal this subject because of a sermon that I heard years ago, maybe 2008, given by Graham Cooke.

Graham Cooke asked the question, “Wouldn’t you like to know for certain what the Will of God is for your life?” And of course we DID!!! So he gave us 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

If I had been through multiple versions of hell without a deep faith, and someone had said those words to me, I would have been hot under the collar and would have rejected Graham, Jesus, and the church in general, so if you are saying anything like, “but you don’t know what I’ve been through!” …..

Uhm, no I don’t know what you’ve been through, but He does. And still, He didn’t follow that scripture with a caveat that started with, “unless”. Ouch! No caveats anywhere in the Bible that I’ve found yet. Just directions. Paths. Narrow paths.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

In 2003 I had an intense prayer wish that ended with, “… and I don’t care how you do it.” After praying for two weeks, my prayer was answered in the middle of a lightening strike and house fire at midnight. How dramatic, right? The Monday after that I was driving to work and passed a church with a marquee showing the lesson that Sunday had been on Psalm 119:105 and I took it as a sign of how I was going to get my brand new built house from CONDEMNED to CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY….. with only enough light to see one step at a time.

God is good all the time! Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks!