How To Rejoice And Be Exceeding Glad!

One of my favorite Beatitudes can be found in (Matthew 5:11-12): “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

There are three reasons these two verses are such a blessing to me:

Blessing 1 – Joy doesn’t depend on circumstances

Normally we think that joy comes when things are going well for us. While this is true, for the Christian joy is something we can experience at all times; even when things are not going well for us. Clearly no one wants to be reviled, persecuted, and spoken evil of, however, when it comes from sharing the goodness of Christ we are told that we will receive abundant joy in the process. One of the greatest blessings I have learned in my walk with the Lord is that joy doesn’t depend on circumstances but on obedience to the Lord. As we obey Jesus joy will always be something that will accompany our obedience. In these two verses when we do something to help advance the kingdom of God be prepared to rejoice even if we are persecuted for our actions. Knowing that we are doing things that please the Creator of the universe is what real joy is all about!

Blessing 2 – Be prepared to receive an awesome reward

Whether we share Christ with an unbeliever or take a stand for morality sometimes we are not going to be well received. In fact, we may be mocked, ridiculed, and even ostracized by our actions. I believe that when this happens we receive an immediate reward as well as a future one. The immediate reward is knowing that you may either lead someone to Christ by planting a seed, or let Jesus know that His priorities are your priorities. Either way, while our feelings may be hurt in the process, our spirit can rejoice that we are doing things to advance the kingdom of God; and nothing is more wonderful than this. And of course, as these verses share great is our reward in heaven. While it is hard to say just what this great reward will be, I believe, it may be that we will be given a greater capacity to enjoy and worship Jesus. But whatever reward we receive it will clearly be grand.

Blessing 3 – We will be in great company

Did you know that when you receive persecution for Christ’s sake you enter into some exclusive company. We are told in verse 12 that the prophets of old were subject to similar persecution for standing up for God. I love reading (Hebrews 11), the great heroes of the faith chapter, to see that many of the heroes received persecution for their stance for God. For example, we read about Moses in (Hebrews 11:24-25): “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” And my friend when we are reviled and afflicted for our stance for Christ we too become a hero of the faith. So, while we can’t be added to (Hebrews 11) since the Scriptures are complete we can know that we share in these heroes of the faith accolades. Again, to have God well-pleased with our loyalty to Christ is and should be a great source of joy.

In closing I love reading the corollary verses in (Luke 6:22-23): “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” I love the phrase: “and leap for joy.” As we draw closer to Christ this demonstrative attitude and action should, I pray, accompany all of us.