The Attitude of the Blessed

Philippians 4:4–7 KJV 1900

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 25.125 χαίρω

to enjoy a state of happiness and well-being—‘to rejoice, to be glad.’

GOD’S WORD Translation Rejoice

rejoice to be joyful; to show great happiness

Paul emphasizes twice in this passage to rejoice, which means that we should put great effort and intention into rejoicing.

As a matter of fact, he states that our rejoicing should not stop, it should be always. Alway means at all times and on every occasion; no time is excluded and every moment matters.

Whether you realize it or not, rejoicing is a spiritual strategy. For the scripture states in:

Nehemiah 8:10 KJV 1900

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

There is a certain strength that is gained from rejoicing; rejoicing heightens your faith level and rejoicing is an expression of your confidence in God.

Praise is who we are. We do not just actively praise, we live praise.

To us, praise is more than just a life-style, it is a disposition. There is never a reason that we should not praise and give thanks to God. As a matter of fact, we praise in some of the most difficult circumstances.

Our praise to the world is a mystery. It is a mystery because, when they expect us to be sad, we rejoice. We don’t rejoice because of circumstances, we rejoice because of what we know.

Yes, our praise is predicated upon our knowledge that the Lord is at hand. This means that the Lord is always near us; He is forever present with us.

There is never a time or a place that God is not ever present. and being redeemed, He is always with us in a tangible way.

Many times, we underestimate the present-ness of God being with us. He is near when things are going well and when they are not.

He is there when we are doing well and when we don’t. He is at hand.

Our praise should not be predicated upon conditions, but our praise is based upon who God is and upon our belonging to God.

Remember the words spoken by Jesus in

Luke 10:20 KJV 1900

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Our joy is based upon our relationship with Christ; and, as long as Christ is in our life, we have reason to rejoice.

Therefore, Paul states that we are to let our moderation be known unto all men. That is, we are to let our calmness, peace, and joy to be experienced by all that we come in contact with.

Moderation in verse 5 means, pertaining to being gracious and forbearing—‘gentle, gracious, forbearing.’

Basically, never let anything external to you affect that which is internally within you. In other words, let no outward troubles disturb your inward peace; but let your inward peace spill outwardly to calm your circumstances.

And, again, we can express moderation because the Lord is at hand. Just as you will behave differently in the presence of your supervisor or yet in the presence of your pastor, behave honorably in the every present presence of God.

Therefore, Paul says to be careful for nothing, that is, to stress about no thing. We don’t have to worry about anything when we have God ever present with us.

When we need anything or desire anything, God is ever present to meet our needs and to answer our requests.

And, there are times when God wants to enhance your relationship with Him and He will cause you to pray unto Him for an answer.

We need to recognize that His present is there to help us to learn that He is needed for us to lean on. We can safely lean when we know He is around, therefore, we can rejoice for His presence.

And, as I close, my prayer to God must be supplicated with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving certifies your request and insures delivery just like our natural postal service.

Supplication means that which is asked with urgency based on presumed need—‘request, plea, prayer.’ or that which is being urgently requested by a suppliant. A suppliant is a person making a humble plea to someone in power or authority.

Therefore, it is my rejoicing and my thanksgiving that appeases my God who is ever present with me. If you can forever keep your praise, you will forever have His presence.

So, I charge you today to give God His continual praise and thanksgiving that He truly deserves from your life.