"rejoice with inexpressible joy" (1 pt 1:8)
"I tell you, there will be the same kind of joy before the angels of God over one repentant sinner." —Luke 15:10
Jesus promises us that we can have the joy He has, that is, complete joy (Jn 15:11). He commands and therefore graces us to rejoice in Him always (Phil 4:4). We can "rejoice with inexpressible joy touched with glory" (1 Pt 1:8) because:
- Jesus is Lord (Phil 4:4).
- God is our Savior (Lk 1:47).
- We have gone up to the house of the Lord (Ps 122:1).
- We have drawn "water at the fountain of salvation" (Is 12:3).
- One sinner has repented (Lk 15:7, 10, 32).
- We are suffering for love of Jesus (Col 1:24; 1 Pt 4:13).
- The Holy Spirit has produced the fruit of joy in our lives (Gal 5:22).
- What the Father has hidden from the learned and the clever He has "revealed to the merest children" (Lk 10:21).
- "Despite the increase of sin, grace has far surpassed it" (Rm 5:20).
- "God makes all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His decree" (Rm 8:28).
- "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9).
"Our purpose in writing you this is that our joy may be complete" (1 Jn 1:4). "There is cause for rejoicing here" (1 Pt 1:6).
Prayer: Father, make my joy complete (see Phil 2:2).
Promise: "I have come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ." —Phil 3:8
Praise: Bill and Doris recently celebrated their fifty-fifth wedding anniversary. They have spent a number of years training people to be Bible teachers.
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, April 4, 1998
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 8, 1998