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Today we are going to take a posture of peace by always rejoicing even when we don't always

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want to rejoice. Posture is a short audible fist bump to remind you God is with you

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in everything. Together we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

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Yesterday I shared 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 16 through 18 that says,

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Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you

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in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4-4 reiterates this truth. It says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again

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I will say rejoice. So just to clarify, when are we supposed to rejoice? Always. What are we

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supposed to be rejoicing about? The Lord. And I probably could just end the episode here today

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and tie it off, but Paul had more to say. He said, Again I will say rejoice. Now honestly,

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sometimes I wonder if Paul repeated himself here because he was anticipating all of my excuses.

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You know, my excuses for not rejoicing always haven't just been circumstantial. I used to

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let my natural personality dictate my worship. Specifically the worship expression of rejoicing.

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I excused myself from rejoicing so many times by saying things like, well I'm an introvert,

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or I'm just a very practical person. Like I'm not really emotional. I'm not really an overly

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joyful or expressive person. But worship is designed to take you out of this natural world

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and make you aware of your kingdom reality. What about you? Do you come to God guarded?

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Or do you struggle to rejoice? Maybe not just always, but anytime. Have you ever tried to

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excuse yourself out of fully engaging in worship by telling God, this is not how you made me?

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The Lord says in worship, I'm making you like me. In worship, you are engaging with who he is,

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his thoughts, his perspective, his nature, and he is the most joyful being ever.

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Joy is in your kingdom DNA. Lean into this truth today. You always have something to rejoice about

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who the Lord is. If the world has told you otherwise, if you have told yourself otherwise,

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it's time to embrace that truth. It's time to know that truth. Knowing, experiencing the truth

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will set you free. So I had to stop making excuses. I had to put rejoicing always into practice by

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starting to rejoice. And here's what I'm learning. Rejoicing is expressed in every part of your

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being. It is spiritual, it is mental, it is emotional, and it is physical. So when I rejoice,

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I am aligning all of me with the truth and it is transforming me. What started out as me making a

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joyful noise in the car by myself, you know, in the safety of isolation has developed into lots

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of laughter and joy in my home and it's starting to overflow into my relationships and my encounters

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with other people. I have been strengthened. I find myself less bothered, less frustrated,

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less intimidated. And rejoicing is becoming less of a practice and more of a lifestyle.

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And I don't feel violated like I thought I would be. In fact, I feel more myself than ever before.

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And of course I do, because what God says is the truest thing about me. What God says

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is the truest thing about you. I've just decided I want to be aligned with the truth always, so I am

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always rejoicing. The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3. In Hebrew, it is

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shalom, shalom, meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who

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you are in Jesus because of Jesus. You are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win.

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With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's defeat

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on replay.