Rejoice Before God--Rev. Mark Hankins Part Three

I know some of you have been waiting to hear about Thursday night, the last night that Rev. Mark Hankins was here. Please accept my apologies in the delay in writing this post--with all of the late nights I was very short on sleep and so I needed some time to catch up!

Let me tell you, Thursday night did not disappoint! Many great things were shared, but the service really centered around the subject of rejoicing. The Bible speaks quite a bit about rejoicing, but this seems to be an area that many of us are lacking in.

Psalm 68:3 NKJV

But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.

When I think of someone rejoicing exceedingly I think of the people you see jumping up and down, hooting and hollering, and even dancing--all because their favorite football team just scored a touchdown. You don't see a lot of this kind of behavior in church, even though God makes it abundantly clear that He desires this. In Leviticus 23:40 God even commands the Israelites to rejoice before Him for seven whole days every year! We should not be any more free than we are in church.

King David was a good example of someone who was glad and rejoiced exceedingly before the Lord his God. 2 Samuel 6:14 tells us that David danced before the Lord with all of his might. This must have been some serious rejoicing, because his wife was offended and embarrassed by his behavior and she was quick to tell him so. She didn't think the King should act so undignified. He let her know that she hadn't seen anything yet--and as a side note there is a good lesson to be learned here about being critical of others. Michal was cursed by barrenness for the rest of her life because she dared to criticize a servant of the Lord. Yikes!

Rev. Mark Hankins mentioned a time when the Lord said to him, "If you only knew what happens in the spirit when you rejoice, you would rejoice everyday." What a powerful statement. Daily rejoicing would mean rejoicing when things don't seem to be going well. Rejoicing in the face of adversity is a strong act of faith that says "I believe God, and I know that He has the power to turn this situation around." It's that kind of faith that makes things happen and causes God to move on your behalf. The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God.

I want to encourage you to be glad and rejoice exceedingly before the Lord today, especially if you are facing something difficult! Hallelujah! God is good!

I'll close with one of my favorite "rejoice" scriptures.

Psalm 5:11 NKJV

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.

Praise the Lord!