Jesus. Just the mention of His name is a reason to rejoice. As soon as the angel announced His birth to the shepherds, a multitude of the heavenly host kicked into some serious high praise.
Suddenly, all of heaven was rejoicing and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
Now, heaven was not the only place that was filled with spontaneous praise on that glorious day when Jesus was born. God had a group of people on earth that knew it was time to rejoice. I believe that the wise men that came from the east were on a divine mission from God to shower His Son with gifts and rejoice over His birth.
They traveled to Jerusalem saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship him. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (Matt. 2:2,10).
The American Heritage Dictionary defines joy as: “intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.” Now multiply that by 1,000, and you begin to get a glimpse of the kind of exceeding joy that the wise men experienced.
After all, this was the most anticipated event since the creation of the world! The Savior of the world was born. Now mankind could know real peace and real joy!
When a heart is full of real joy, it is important that we let it out. Isaiah 61:10-11 says:
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before the nations.
Throughout the Bible we see people that saw the power of God and walked in victory when they refused to allow circumstances of life to stop their praise.
The Apostle Paul discovered the power that praise could unleash while chained in prison with Silas for preaching the gospel. Speaking from first hand experience, Paul encouraged the Philippians to “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).
When you put your trust in God, rejoicing is not very difficult. Once you believe in Jesus, even though you do not see Him, your heart will be filled with a joy that cannot be put into words. First Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
I want you to think about all that Jesus means to you and to the world and take time to let the joy out. Refuse to allow the cares of this life to cause you to neglect your praise. Remember, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
You were created to rejoice!
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Reverend Cathy Duplantis is an anointed teacher of the Gospel dedicated to living by faith and inspiring others to do the same. Cathy is the wife of Evangelist Jesse Duplantis. She has worked continually with her husband in ministry since it began in 1978, serving as Administrator, Editor in Chief of Voice of the Covenant magazine, and television co-host.
Cathy uses her life experiences and divine revelations to encourage and inspire her audience and is a favorite guest speaker for women's conferences and church meetings. She also continues to preach the Gospel with Jesse in meetings throughout the USA.
Along with her husband, Cathy is the co-founder of Covenant Church, a local outreach of JDM in the greater New Orleans area. It was her vision to build a church where people would be encouraged to realize their potential in Christ Jesus, to be able to overcome life's circumstances and to experience success spiritually, emotionally, and physically. In the summer of 2017, Cathy obeyed God and stepped into the Senior Pastor position of Covenant Church. Now, not only is she sharing the Gospel through her local church, but she is continuing to spread the love of Jesus around the world. Cathy desires to show believers everywhere how they can be transformed into powerful and joyful people of faith by applying the teachings found in God's Word.
