“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
Even now, Father, for real?
Yes, child, even now.
Have you any idea of the difficulty of my circumstances? Do you know what I face?
Yes.
Then how can you say “now”?
Because I have already won the victory for you. You need not gain it for yourself.
Victory? What I feel is defeat. What I see is pain. Reason and logic say hope is vain and salvation is impossible.
Oh, but my child. It has been won. It is done. I poured out my wrath against the pain of sin on my Son on the Cross. It is why He cried, “It is finished!” It is a finished work. The work of the Cross is finished. Victory has been won!
But, then what do you want me to do?
My child, I don’t want you to do. I want you to believe. I want you to know your identity as my child. I want you to know you are a child of God. Recognize “of God” designates you as having a heavenly origin. Do not do, rather simply believe and rejoice!
For concerning the righteousness that is by the Law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 1For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:5-13
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