~candice~ Posted October 26, 2011 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 955 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 11,318 Content Per Day: 1.89 Reputation: 448 Days Won: 33 Joined: 12/16/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted October 26, 2011 Hi folks Wondering if you could add your understanding to this scenario. We know that the Word asks us to rejoice in all things. However, I am aware of the fact that death was not in His design (was a result of sin) and I also know that Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, and also that God does not 'delight' in the death of the wicked. So I am struck, wondering, how do you "rejoice in all things" when the "thing" is the death of someone? It can't mean being giddy with happiness, as that really doesn't marry with Jesus response, and while I know we need to praise Him in all things I wonder how to praise Him when it is His permissive, and not decreetive, will that has been observed? Let me know if this doesn't make sense and I will elaborate more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHERB Posted October 26, 2011 Group: Senior Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 82 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 789 Content Per Day: 0.15 Reputation: 123 Days Won: 4 Joined: 11/06/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/23/1971 Share Posted October 26, 2011 You aren't alone - Not sure this was where you were going w/ this............... Anyway, You just do………..because we live in this sinful world, we place labels on the situations (good or bad) that occur in our lives, it is part of our existence. God allows things to happen to us , He sees the big picture - He knows the outcome when sometimes and probably most times we don’t. There could be someone else He wants to reach and He uses us to do that. We praise Him and the light hopefully shines through. I have been through a lot the last year and I have seen other people grow from different events that has happened – maybe not good for me, but good for them. However, if it brings someone to Christ then it really is good for me too because God allowed that to happen and used me for that purpose. Praying for you sis!!! love, sister-in-Christ, Jane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest agua Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 "Rejoice in all things" can mean rejoice in spite of things. It doesn't mean we celebrate every event. Php 3:1 NLT Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~candice~ Posted October 26, 2011 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 955 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 11,318 Content Per Day: 1.89 Reputation: 448 Days Won: 33 Joined: 12/16/2007 Status: Offline Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 Good point Ag. We don't need to call it good, we just need to rejoice despite the bad. Thanks for the prayers Jane. I'm really being rather unemotional and theoretical about this, makes it easier, because deep down I love the Lord and fear that grief has stopped me from praise. Really need to get my attitude sorted out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoob57 Posted October 26, 2011 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 35 Topic Count: 100 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 41,412 Content Per Day: 8.00 Reputation: 21,575 Days Won: 76 Joined: 03/13/2010 Status: Offline Birthday: 07/27/1957 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Hi folks Wondering if you could add your understanding to this scenario. We know that the Word asks us to rejoice in all things. However, I am aware of the fact that death was not in His design (was a result of sin) and I also know that Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, and also that God does not 'delight' in the death of the wicked. So I am struck, wondering, how do you "rejoice in all things" when the "thing" is the death of someone? It can't mean being giddy with happiness, as that really doesn't marry with Jesus response, and while I know we need to praise Him in all things I wonder how to praise Him when it is His permissive, and not decreetive, will that has been observed? Let me know if this doesn't make sense and I will elaborate more. God has taught us of sin (the in and out) consequences, yet as friends, in our cleanness through His Son we have been told all things! The Eternal state is the end of our beginning and as sure as it is spoken of then, so now, we are to live as it will be... So then I rejoice in the now of all things for it is the then I am going- God calls us to this understanding of mind and heart here Isa 28:24 24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods? NKJV Luke 9:62 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. KJV God has always given us the understanding that what He has spoken will be and no matter where we are now that must be present also with us. The Strength of God is seen in the greatest sorrows conjoined with: "all things work to good", "Father wipes the tears away", "With Him into eternity". When we remove our eyes from Him like Peter we sink in the depths of failure here... Love, Steven (Let the Word dwell in your hearts richly Col 3:16) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted October 26, 2011 Group: Royal Member Followers: 10 Topic Count: 5,823 Topics Per Day: 0.75 Content Count: 45,870 Content Per Day: 5.94 Reputation: 1,897 Days Won: 83 Joined: 03/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/19/1970 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I think of that segment in Habbakkuk, where it states (paraphrase): Even though everything goes wrong, yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. You may have heard the worship song based on that? I also refer to the song "Find me in the river" by Delerious, and the song "Kiss the Son" by Kevin Prosch - they both should be on You Tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller Posted October 26, 2011 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 827 Topics Per Day: 0.10 Content Count: 12,101 Content Per Day: 1.50 Reputation: 249 Days Won: 3 Joined: 04/01/2002 Status: Offline Share Posted October 26, 2011 I am reminded of Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Betsie, when in the concentration camp. "'Fleas!' I cried. 'Betsie, the place is swarming with them!' "We scrambled across the intervening platforms, heads low to avoid another bump, dropped down to the aisle and hedged our way to a patch of light. "'Here! And here another one!' I wailed. 'Betsie, how can we live in such a place!' "'Show us. Show us how.' It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realize she was praying. More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie. "'Corrie!' she said excitedly. 'He's given us the answer! Before we asked, as He always does! In the Bible this morning. Where was it? Read that part again!' "I glanced down the long dim aisle to make sure no guard was in sight, then drew the Bible from its pouch. 'It was in First Thessalonians,' I said. We were on our third complete reading of the New Testament since leaving Scheveningen. "In the feeble light I turned the pages. 'Here it is: "Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all...'" It seemed written expressly to Ravensbruck. "'Go on,' said Betsie. 'That wasn't all.' "'Oh yes:'..."Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.'" "'That's it, Corrie! That's His answer. "Give thanks in all circumstances!" That's what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!' I stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room. "'Such as?' I said. "'Such as being assigned here together.' "I bit my lip. 'Oh yes, Lord Jesus!' "'Such as what you're holding in your hands.' I looked down at the Bible. "'Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all these women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages.' "'Yes,' said Betsie, 'Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we're packed so close, that many more will hear!' She looked at me expectantly. 'Corrie!' she prodded. "'Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed suffocating crowds.' "'Thank You,' Betsie went on serenely, 'for the fleas and for--' "The fleas! This was too much. 'Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.' "'Give thanks in all circumstances,' she quoted. It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us. "And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong." -------------------------- snip ---------------------------- "One evening I got back to the barracks late from a wood-gathering foray outside the walls. A light snow lay on the ground and it was hard to find the sticks and twigs with which a small stove was kept going in each room. Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling. "'You're looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself,' I told her. "'You know, we've never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,' she said. 'Well--I've found out.' "That afternoon, she said, there'd been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they'd asked the supervisor to come and settle it. "But she wouldn't. She wouldn't step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?" "Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: 'Because of the fleas! That's what she said, "That place is crawling with fleas!'" "My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie's bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for." When something happens to us, we view it with damaged vision. We cannot know what God knows, or see what He sees. When my only child died I had a real hard time recognized how God could use something like that for His good. But through the days and weeks following, the name of Jesus was lifted up, and He was glorified. Death causes all men to reflect on his own mortality. And it is through our walk with Him, during times of duress, that helps others to look and see His light shining through us. For when we are weak........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterGwriter Posted October 30, 2011 Group: Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 0 Topics Per Day: 0 Content Count: 1 Content Per Day: 0.00 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/18/2006 Status: Offline Share Posted October 30, 2011 As was mentioned in prior responses, I agree that 'rejoicing in all things' doesn't mean celebrating every event. When it comes to the death of a loved one, you can take joy knowing that their earthly journey is over and they are with our Lord and Savior forevermore. Never again will they have to experience the trials, tribulations and sorrows that we must endure in this life. Also, we can still give praise to God after losing a loved one. At the end of the first chapter of Job, after Job learns he has lost almost everything, including his children, he said: "...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21 KJV) Although you don't have to rejoice in the fact that a loved one has passed on, you can rejoice in the fact that God blessed you with their presence in your life. The reason you grieve is because they meant a lot to you and have contributed to who you are as an individual. Rejoice in the fact that you are a better person as a result of their influence on your life and in the fact that you will see them again when your time on this earth is done. Hopefully this makes sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoob57 Posted October 30, 2011 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 35 Topic Count: 100 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 41,412 Content Per Day: 8.00 Reputation: 21,575 Days Won: 76 Joined: 03/13/2010 Status: Offline Birthday: 07/27/1957 Share Posted October 30, 2011 As was mentioned in prior responses, I agree that 'rejoicing in all things' doesn't mean celebrating every event. When it comes to the death of a loved one, you can take joy knowing that their earthly journey is over and they are with our Lord and Savior forevermore. Never again will they have to experience the trials, tribulations and sorrows that we must endure in this life. Also, we can still give praise to God after losing a loved one. At the end of the first chapter of Job, after Job learns he has lost almost everything, including his children, he said: "...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21 KJV) Although you don't have to rejoice in the fact that a loved one has passed on, you can rejoice in the fact that God blessed you with their presence in your life. The reason you grieve is because they meant a lot to you and have contributed to who you are as an individual. Rejoice in the fact that you are a better person as a result of their influence on your life and in the fact that you will see them again when your time on this earth is done. Hopefully this makes sense I think it is the exact sense! As with all result in this life, as lesson, of what sin has done-> we find relief in God Who has given us The Way, The Truth, The Life out... It simply would not have been much of a lesson if sorrows had not been woven into sin! Love, Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldShep Posted October 31, 2011 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 934 Content Per Day: 0.20 Reputation: 137 Days Won: 6 Joined: 07/20/2011 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/12/1950 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Hi folks Wondering if you could add your understanding to this scenario. We know that the Word asks us to rejoice in all things. However, I am aware of the fact that death was not in His design (was a result of sin) and I also know that Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, and also that God does not 'delight' in the death of the wicked. So I am struck, wondering, how do you "rejoice in all things" when the "thing" is the death of someone? It can't mean being giddy with happiness, as that really doesn't marry with Jesus response, and while I know we need to praise Him in all things I wonder how to praise Him when it is His permissive, and not decreetive, will that has been observed? Let me know if this doesn't make sense and I will elaborate more. Grief at the death of a loved one was shown by Christ, we are not called to be without compassion and feelings for those we love, but, to rejoice at the idea that their pain and suffering has ended, once they are with the Lord. As a reminder to give thanks I have over my garage door this sign. ICL Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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