… Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

— Ephesians 5:19

Paul tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). When one stops to think about it, that is exactly the opposite of the way we react. For example, if we were teaching a person the secret of success, we would say to them, “This is what you do first … secondly, you do this … thirdly you do thus, and so on…” Then success will come, and finally, you rejoice. However, Paul says first you rejoice.

The world says that seeing is believing; the Bible says that believing is seeing. So we begin by rejoicing. The reason we can rejoice is because we are rejoicing in the Lord. In Christ we already have success; in Christ we are already the possessors of all things and, therefore, we can and will rejoice. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. He is near to those who praise Him. Praise and rejoicing is a safe place to dwell because our enemy, the devil, flees before sincere praise.

Question to ponder:
In what do you rejoice today?