Rejoice in the Lord~~ALWAYS!

Part One:

After my list of blessings in last week's blog, I thought it only fair to continue the list from the other side!

 We are home now after our wonderful week in Florida, but, I'm not going to complain about the fact that it was a cloudy, windy 33 degrees upon arrival. Instead, I am going to choose to follow the exhortation found in Philippians 4:4-Rejoice in the Lord, ALWAYS, and again, I say, rejoice. The meaning of this passage is... that we rejoice in the Lord always-for all things-in all things. (That wasn't so difficult!)


So, I am rejoicing in our safe arrival.
     I am rejoicing:
           that is was not 32 degrees.
           that is was not snowing.
           that is was not storming (like it was last night).
           that we have our home to come home to.
           that we have a family here to return to (including grandkids)!
           that Ethan has a basketball game tonight (and only had one last week).
           that God has given us a wonderful ministry in Springfield.
           that an hour after getting home, the clouds broke, and it is now bright and sunny (ok, maybe not warm and sunny-but I will take bright and sunny)!
           that God provided the opportunity in the first place....


Yep, God is good--ALL the time!



Part Two:


I learned something else while we were in Florida. Sermon illustrations are a little different there. In SS yesterday, my parents' pastor was teaching from Hebrews 2.While teaching from verse 10, he was making the point that Jesus is more than just someone we call on in an emergency. The Lord  is not simply a life preserver hanging on the side of the pool that we call for when we are in distress. He is more than some'thing' that arrives in time to bring us to safety. He deserves more than our quick thank you before He is hung back on the hook for the next emergency. I really don't think I have ever heard that illustration in Missouri! 


The lesson was wrapped up with this point:

Is the Lord merely your life preserver? Or, is He the Captain of your ship?

I think that is how I will wrap up today's blog!

Rejoice~~ALWAYS!

Debbie