✍️ JOY is "a feeling of great pleasure and happiness". It's the emotion we feel when life is good — when the sun is shining, when our team is winning, when we are healthy, happy and heartened. Most people do not typically speak of the happiness of heartbreak 💔, the pleasure of migraines, or the bliss of losing. Philippians is the most Joyful book in the Bible. The Apostle Paul uses the Greek words for joy and rejoicing sixteen times in only 104 verses. And yet he writes from a dingy Roman prison, a place we would typically associate with misery and trial, which most people assume are the opposite of joy. He's surrounded by every conceivable obstacle to joy, so why does he seem so. In Philippians 3:1 and 4:4, Paul commands us to rejoice in the Lord. What does this familiar command mean? For the apostle, "the Lord" regularly means the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus humbled Himself even unto death on the cross, the Father highly exalted Him, and all will one day pay homage to His universal reign. Philippians 2:6-11. Rejoice in the Lord means that these truths about Jesus: who He is, what He has done, and what He will do — personally and profoundly affect us. Receive the grace of rejoicing always in Jesus Name 🙏.

Rejoicing in the Lord means knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord, Saviour, and Treasure. It means He gives us deeper, purer, sweeter, more lasting pleasure and gladness than anything this world 🌎 has to offer. As Paul says in Philippians 3:8, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord". Rejoicing in the Lord means that there is a new song in our hearts — the song of the redeemed — that the din and distresses of life cannot drown out. He is the chief object of our joy. I prophesy that the joy of the LORD will fill your heart today in Jesus Name.

Paul rejoices in the Lord and he rejoices in his people. He thanks God and prays with joy because of their gospel partnership, and he urges them to complete his joy, Philippians 1:3-5; 2:2. In Philippians 4:1, Paul calls these believers "my joy and crown... that I love and long for". Rejoicing in other people may seem like a shift from God-centered joy to idolatrous human-centered joy, but it's not. We rejoice in God's people for Christ's sake, celebrating the work that he has done, is doing, and will bring to completion in and through them at the day of Christ Philippians 1:6. We rejoice when we see God open people's eyes 👀 to behold the supreme beauty of Jesus when the gospel is preached. We rejoice when we see God answer our prayers for victory over sin, help in trials, and healing from sickness. We rejoice when we see people maturing in their love, holiness, and knowledge of God. Do you rejoice in God's people? Are you on the lookout for answers to prayer and evidences of God's grace in those around you? Do you long for your fellow Christian's holiness, progress, and joy in the faith more than you crave their approval and applause? May God grant you 🫵 grace today to rejoice in God and in God's people in Jesus Name 🙏.

Happy Sunday. Please keep reading and sharing the Fresh Fire 🔥 Daily Devotional to bless others today. God bless you 🫵… Shalom 🙏.