Day 3: Rejoice in the Lord always.

Philippians 4:4-9 NIV
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

There is a reason Philippians is called the Joy Book of the Bible. Paul's words are so full of joy and exhortations to be joy full, if you missed it then you weren't paying attention.
This particular passage is Paul's final words to the church in Philippi. I believe that this is also his last letter written before his death. At the moment he penned this letter he was under house arrest in Rome. He had been sent there because he declared his Roman citizenship and appealed to Ceasar to decide his case (the Jews in Jerusalem had been trying to kill him for no good reason). Right after this letter then had him killed. He had been in prison for 5 years, had freedom for 4 years and then was put in prison again for a little under a year (this time Rome considered being a christian a crime), before his execution.
When I think about all his persecution and suffering and the reflect on his joy I'm amazed. I also become aware that our joy has nothing to do with our circumstances whatsoever. Our joy is rooted in the Spirit and when we're rooted in the Spirit, we become full of joy.
As I read this passage this morning I realized that everything Paul was exhorting the Philippians to do was related to rejoicing in the Lord and refusing to let your joy be stolen.
I know from experience that when I am gentle and aware of the Lord's presence it is easier to smile, and easier to be gracious to others. When I allow myself to be harsh, or annoyed by others behavior I am relinquishing control of my emotions and so the world around me affects me more. I am choosing to be affected. Sometimes when something has bothered me, when I haven't gotten my way or I don't like what another person did, I can feel the choice I have to continue to allow myself to be angry or to release it. I wish I could say that I choose to let go of my anger more times than not, but I can't. I can say that the Spirit works on me and I eventually do, and I can tell you that I probably don't even smile until I do. I suppose if you looked at my facial expression I'd have my eyebrows scrunched and my bottom lip stuck out. Funny picture I know, but I've done it.
That eyebrow scrunching is also common when I worry and agonize over things I have no control over. This is where that next verse comes in. Do not be anxious about anything but by prayer and petition give your requests to God. Key word: GIVE. When you give a person something, how often do you take it back and say, "No, it's mine! I can play with this toy better than you can! Mine!" As absurd as it sounds this is exactly what we do with this we want to change in our lives. It's like we revert back to overgrown three year olds or something. We are convinced that wecknow what needs to be done and that by worrying about we can make it better some how. Jesus said it best when he asked," who of you by worrying can add one hour to his life? " I know I can't, but if you look at my track record I sure try hard. When you worry, you again are choosing to sacrifice your joy. You can bear the burden of fixing what you don't have the power to fix and STILL be joyful.
But when you are gentle, when you are aware of the Lord's presence and you give your worries to God with thanksgiving, (this is the best part) God will protect your mind. In other words when you don't stop God from helping you, He is able to help keep the kingdom of darkness from stealing your joy. You just have to choose what you are going to let your mind dwell on. And when you choose to dwell on heavenly things - all that is good - you are able to revel in the beauty of the Lord's presence and be filled with joy.
Mire than anything else, I believe that is what I admire most about Paul and how he grew through Christ's influence. He just released everything to God and he went through life and life in prison filled with joy. I want that.
My prayer for you and I is that we are able to give to You, Lord, what troubles us and live with gentle hearts that we might be aware of Your presence. Father, protect our minds. May we feel your joy fill us today. May our joy be contagious to those around us. Amen.