REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS

Sound the trumpet into the night The day of the Lord is near
Wake His people, lift your voice Proclaim it to the world

Rise in splendor, shake off your sleep Put on your robes of joy
And in the morning you shall see The Glory of the Lord
Raise your voice, be not afraid Proclaim it in every land
Christ has died but he has risen He will come again

Nations tremble, wise men amazed A child is born this night
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God Our Father, Prince of Peace

Songs of angels Glory on High And Peace to men on earth
I bear glad tidings Born this day Your Savior and Your God

Let heaven rejoice and earth be glad
Let all creation sing
Let children proclaim to every land
Hosanna to the King!

Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" How often are you to rejoice? You know the answer, Always! You are to rejoice always, because "joy" is the easiest fruit to lose. You can't live off of the joy you had yesterday. Joy can give you strength only when you possess it.

If you had joy last week, that joy will not give you strength today. Joy can only give you strength today, if you have it today. This is why you must rejoice always.

You might say, "I don't feel like rejoicing." God didn't say, "Rejoice, only if you feel like it." No! He said, "Rejoice always." Obviously, God knows that you don't feel like rejoicing always. Yet you need to rejoice always because if you don't, then you lose the strength to fight.

James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." Pure joy is not happiness. "Happiness" comes from the word "happen." Happiness, therefore, is based on what is happening. If something good is happening, then you are happy. However, God says that pure joy occurs even in the midst of trials--even when the car breaks down, or when the kids get sick, or when the boss cuts your hours, or when your spouse is in a bad mood, etc.

Why is James telling us to count it pure joy whenever we face trials? Because joy gives you strength to fight your trials, and if you'll fight the trials, you will overcome. James continues, "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (v. 4). You see, James has in mind "victory over trials", not "acceptance of his trials." So by rejoicing, you overcome your trials.

YET I WILL REJOICE

You will love the verse in Habakkuk 3:17: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls..." (Sounds like this fellow has problems.) Look at the next verse:
"Yet...Yet...Yet...Yet...Yet."
Notice, he is not going to surrender to his problems. He is going to do something about his problems.

He says, "Yet I will REJOICE IN THE LORD, I will be JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR" (v. 18). He is going to REJOICE because, "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights" (v. 19).

Habakkuk had no intention of staying defeated. He may look defeated, but he is not going to stay defeated. The difference between the person who is defeated and the person who is victorious is their attitude.

An attitude of gratitude will put you over in life. This is the kind of attitude that this prophet had. Even though nothing good was happening in his life--no fruit, no crops, no sheep, no cattle--yet he rejoiced.

In our modern world, Habakkuk might have said it this way:
"Though there is no food in the refrigerator, debt is up to our necks and there is no money in the account, though the sickness gets worse, and the pain persist, though my children are on drugs, and my spouse does not appreciate me, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

Regardless of the circumstances, we can rejoice!

--that in all things God may be glorified--

special thanks to Pastor Tom Brown

Hearing the Good Shepherd's Voice

John 10:22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem ; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. 24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense ? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe ; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish ; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all ; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 “I and the Father are one.”

The whole of chapter 10 of John’s gospel is replete with imagery of sheep and shepherds.  In this one chapter, Jesus compares himself to a shepherd watching over his sheep as well as the gate of the sheepfold through which the sheep enter.  Eventually, of course, John will compare Jesus explicitly to a lamb being slaughtered during the crucifixion.  The sheep/shepherd imagery is perhaps John’s favorite metaphor, and likely would have been understood by his early readers.  Shepherding was a common occupation during the time of Jesus, though a lowly and undesirable one.  Shepherds were typically those who had no property or obligation to family, those who turned to the itinerant life of herding sheep in the wilderness as a last resort to making a living.  That Jesus would compare himself at all to one of society’s best-known outcasts is striking, but becomes even more so when in the same breath he declares “the Father and I are one” .  There is something about the life of a shepherd that tells us about who Jesus is.  There is something about shepherding that reveals God.

Those of us living in the twenty-first century, however, don’t do so well with shepherd imagery.  We don’t see many shepherds these days, do we?  What was once commonplace has become obsolete, and our unfamiliarity with the task of herding sheep makes it difficult to fully appreciate the meaning behind John’s metaphor.  We tend to reduce the image of shepherds and sheep to one of pastoral tranquility, something akin to a reaffirmation that God “maketh me lie down in green pastures” and “leadeth me beside still waters”.  While such a connection may be appropriate and necessary for those needing to be comforted, it nevertheless overlooks the dangers and difficulties that shepherds faced.

Consider, for instance, that the primary task of a shepherd was protecting the sheep.  There were constant threats of predators or thieves wherever the shepherd happened to be.  Jesus alludes to this reality in the first eighteen verses of chapter 10, where he speaks of both thieves and wolves.  It falls to the shepherd to defend the sheep from these constant threats.  In comparing himself to a shepherd and his followers to sheep, Jesus means to invoke this kind of image – the sheep living under constant threat (though blissfully ignorant most of the time) while the shepherd constantly protects, oftentimes putting his own life in danger for the sake of  his flock.  In fact, this very willingness to confront the danger and “lay down his life for his sheep” is what makes a shepherd “good” (see John 10:11-14).  Once again John’s gospel tells us in no uncertain terms that Jesus’ life is in danger.  It is no coincidence that the “good shepherd chapter” of John ends with Jesus’ nearly being stoned.  That’s not exactly pastoral or tranquil, is it?

Of course, no one ever said that the Christian life should be tranquil.  We may at times fall into the trap of assuming that we Christians should somehow enjoy benefits that others do not by virtue of our belief.  To the contrary, Jesus himself teaches us that following him means just the opposite.  Time and time again our lives will be tested.  Time and time again we will come face-to-face with the threats and evils of the world.  Time and time again we will be called to respond with the selfsame love, grace, and sacrifice as our Lord Jesus did.  Claimed as his sheep, Jesus means for us to be his shepherds in the world.

As we minister in his name it can be difficult to keep him at the center of all that we do.  There are countless voices in our world competing for our time and attention, vying for our allegiance.  In this day and age of twenty-four hour cable news and op-ed “infotainment”, we are constantly bombarded with voices on top of other voices, one talking head after another.  A great deal of consideration is given to how and where we get our information about the world, and the media presents us with particular slants and spins designed to convince listeners that this or that voice is to be trusted above all others.  Sometimes it can be difficult to hear the voice of our shepherd above the cacophony of words.

A friend of mine once told me that being a pastor is like being a stray dog at a whistler’s convention.  That image is humorous but illustrative of what happens when we don’t know who our master is.  We end up running this way and that, on one misguided sprint after another.  Wouldn’t it be fulfilling to be able to hear that one tone above all the noise, that one whistle that tells us who we are and who’s we are, that one signal that makes all the others fall flat?  Jesus tells us that his sheep know his voice and follow him.  If this is true, then it means a primary task of following Jesus is listening.  We must train ourselves to hear his voice above all the other voices in our world, to daily connect with that voice that says, “This way!  You belong here with me!”  But we must understand that following the voice of Jesus brings us face-to-face with the “teeth” of life, so to speak.  We are called to encounter and resist the threats of the world, threats such as oppression, poverty, injustice, and dehumanization.

When we do so, we do so under the watchful eye of our compassionate shepherd, the guard who lays down his life that we might live.  He is our Lord, who claims us and calls to us as we move from one wilderness to the next.  He leads us to confront the threatening evils of this world knowing that they have no real power over us.  Though they may assail us and cling to us, they cannot pry us from the grasp of our Savior.  Though they may kill us, they cannot extinguish our life in Jesus Christ.  Though they may sever us from our earthly life, they cannot separate us from the love of our eternal shepherd.

That, simply stated, is who God is. –Lee Koontz

–that in all things God may be glorified–

Think Like Christ

“They will hear my voice.” (John 10:16)

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows his own, and they know him. How wonderful is that? We can know him. He promised: “They will hear my voice” (John 10:16). He didn’t say: “Maybe they will” or “I hope they will.” He just said: “They will.” As often as we sit with him, ask him questions and wait for answers, as often as we quiet the noisiness and busyness of our lives, and give him room to speak, we will hear him.

The truth is, whether we believe it or not, God knows everything about us. The good and the bad, the things we hate to admit, and those we wish weren’t true but can’t quite bring ourselves to admit. God knows it all—and still he loves us!

As true as this statement is, it can also be hard to believe: Jesus really loves us! Equally hard for us is believing Jesus’ promise that we can experience a deep and personal relationship with him and the Father. We can know him in a way that goes beyond what we might normally expect in any human relationship.

Here’s another promise that we might find hard to believe: that we can take on his own mind about life in this world. As we grow closer to him, we can begin to feel the stirrings that move his heart. St. Paul told the believers in Corinth: “We have the mind of Christ,” and he wants to tell us the same thing today (1 Corinthians 2:16). We really can know his thoughts, because he is eager to share them with us. We really can hear him, because he created us for this kind of relationship. He has given us his own Holy Spirit to help us know his love in the deep recesses of our hearts.

Just think: God’s love, his creativity, his inventiveness, his compassion and humor, his wisdom and knowledge, his discernment and understanding—we can begin to taste all of these. The Holy Spirit makes it possible. He opens our minds and hearts to receive all of this simply because God loves us. So go ahead and ask. You will receive. Jesus promises! – WAU

“Jesus, I want to know you as fully as possible. I want to hear your voice and feel your love. Speak to me, Lord. I am listening.”

The Good Shepherd

“The sheep hear his voice.” (John 10:3)

The people who first heard Jesus compare himself to a shepherd had some background knowledge that many of us lack. They knew that when shepherds brought their sheep in for the night, they often put them into pens with other flocks. And how did shepherds distinguish their sheep from all the others when it was time to go out to pasture again? Easy. Each shepherd had a distinctive call, which only his sheep would recognize and follow.
What an apt metaphor for Jesus’ relationship with us! He is the Good Shepherd, whose sheep know to respond when he calls to them.

Or do they? Perhaps this is an area where some of Jesus’ sheep—some of us—need a bit more training. Do you believe that you have the potential of becoming so familiar with Jesus that you can quickly discern his voice from the other voices in the world? This gift of discernment, which is every believer’s inheritance in Christ, is developed as we imitate the first Christians, who “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

Close attention to Scripture and church teaching can help us recognize God’s voice and the kind of things he might tell us. Fellowship with other followers of Christ can build us up and give us a sounding board to help us see if our ideas are on target. Personal prayer can become a conversation where we learn to hear the voice of him who loves us best. And the Eucharist can become an intimate encounter with the Lord, who wants to lead us into a deeper understanding of his will.

Isn’t it comforting that, despite our unworthiness, we can still hear Jesus say, “I love you”? This is our Shepherd’s distinctive call. How can we possibly resist?

“Jesus, open my ears and teach me to recognize your voice in all the ways it comes to me. Then open my lips and let me be your voice to others.”

Let Go and Let God

The lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:26)

Imagine that you are traveling an unfamiliar road. Suddenly, the road forks in two different directions. You have three choices: go left, go right, or turn around and go back to where you came from. You don’t have much time to decide because you are running low on gasoline and you’re feeling pretty hungry. So what do you do?

In situations like this, making a decision with no clear outcome can be stressful, scary, exciting, and nerve-racking all at the same time. But such situations also present us with the perfect opportunity to trust God and not just rely on our own logic or understanding.

This is exactly what the apostles did in today’s first reading! They didn’t know who to pick as the next apostle. Matthias and Barsabbas were both equally qualified for the role. They both had their own set of strengths, and they both matched the requirements that Peter had set. Both were bold in preaching, and both were deeply committed to Jesus and the new church. So which one should they choose? The apostles didn’t have a long, drawn out process of discernment: They drew lots and left it up to God to decide for them.

God knows where he is leading us, and there are times when he’s the only One who knows how we’re going to get there. The last thing we want to do is over think a decision. We can get so caught up in methods of discerning God’s will and making sure that we are absolutely right that we forget to let go and let God take control. There will be times when we will simply not know what to do— but God will.

Are there any decisions you have to make today that will require you to “let go and let God”? If so, quiet your mind. Then, say a prayer of surrender, make your best decision, and ask God to direct your path. Believe that if you let go in this way, he will guide you. – WAU

“Jesus, I trust in you. I surrender my life to you and let go of control. Please show me the path to life. Let me know unending joy in your presence.”

God's Transforming Love

“Ananias went and entered the house; laying his hands on him, he said, ‘Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way.’” (Acts 9:17)

Saul and his friends never got tired of telling the story of his conversion. Barnabas uses it to explain why the Christians no longer need to fear this man (Acts 9:26-29). Paul tells it to the Jews who want to arrest him (22:1-21) and to King Agrippa who met the apostle during his long imprisonment (26:1-23).

Why is this story so significant? Because it shows how deeply the resurrection of Jesus can change people’s lives. At the beginning of Chapter 9, Saul is breathing out threats, bent on capturing these heretics and bringing them to justice. By the end, he is docile and pensive, eager to put aside his old life, join a new community, and learn all he can about the Way he had been trying to eradicate.

The event is no less powerful for Ananias, an ordinary believer whom God asks to do a very bold thing. To identify himself as a Christian before Saul the Pharisee is to put his own life on the line. But God assures Ananias that Saul is no longer a murderer but rather God’s chosen instrument. Because he believes God, Ananias is able to address Saul as a brother and to heal his blindness.

How has Jesus’ resurrection changed you? Perhaps you were paralyzed by fear until you experienced his unconditional love for you. Perhaps you were burdened by anxieties until his hope lifted you up. Perhaps you were driven by selfish ambition until God set you free to give as generously as he does. Perhaps you couldn’t let go of a hurt until Jesus showed you the way to forgiveness.

Further, how might the Spirit of God want to change the way you see someone else? Maybe he will help you see someone you consider an enemy in a new light, as beloved of God, someone for whom he has planned great things. Maybe you are another “chosen instrument” to help that person to encounter the trans­ forming love of God. – WAU

“Jesus, I want to know you and the power of your resurrection. Let your love transform me and each person I encounter today.”

–that in all things God may be glorified–

Are We Equipped?

“Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30)

One thing about Philip: He was physically fit. It’s not everyone who could have caught up to that chariot—the first-century equivalent of a government limousine—as it clipped through the desert. And not everyone could have managed to jog alongside while holding a conversation with its passenger. But it’s not mainly because Philip was in good physical shape that the Ethiopian official responded to the word of God. Their encounter would have come to nothing if Philip hadn’t been scripturally fit as well.

Of course, Philip was “filled with the Spirit” (Acts 6:3) and ready to seize every opportunity to proclaim Jesus. And clearly, the Holy Spirit guided him as he did. But it’s also clear that Philip knew Scripture. He knew it so well that, having heard just a few verses read aloud, he instantly recognized the Suffering Servant prophecy (Isaiah 53:7-8). His heart must have leapt with joy because he had just seen this prophecy fulfilled in Jesus. What better starting point for presenting the good news? And so, as Jesus did with the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:27), Philip opened up the meaning of God’s word and led the Ethiopian to Christ.

God wants us to be able to do what Philip did that day. In his exhortation on the word of God, Pope Benedict XVI tells us: “There is no greater priority than this: to enable the people of our time once more to encounter God, the God who speaks to us and shares his love so that we might have life in abundance” (Verbum Domini, 2). First, though, we have to apply Philip’s question to ourselves: Do I understand what I am reading? If we are not immersing ourselves in God’s word—by studying, praying, and living it—how can we expect to be joyful, winning witnesses?

So put yourself on a scriptural fitness program. Get a good study Bible, if you don’t already have one, and read it every day. Develop a plan for what you will read, and when and where. Take advantage of the books, talks, study groups, and other helps that are out there. And as you do, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and help you get scripturally fit. “Ethiopians” are waiting all around you! - WAU

“Spirit of God, open up your word to me. And help me open it up to others.”

--that in all things God may be glorified--