{"id":9747,"date":"2018-11-09T00:01:26","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T23:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/?p=9747"},"modified":"2018-11-09T10:39:21","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T09:39:21","slug":"rejoice-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/2018\/11\/09\/rejoice-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejoice!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-9747-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/NOV-9.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/NOV-9.mp3\">https:\/\/www.gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/NOV-9.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bible.com\/en-GB\/bible\/116\/PHP.4.4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Philip. 4:<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><b><i><sup>4\u00a0<\/sup><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cAlways be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again\u2014rejoice!\u00a0<\/i><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bible.com\/en-GB\/bible\/116\/PHP.4.6-7.\"><span class=\"s2\"><b><i><sup>6<\/sup><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a><span class=\"s1\"><i> Don\u2019t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><b><i><sup>7\u00a0<\/sup><\/i><\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i>Then you will experience God\u2019s peace\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">We always challenge people to take action because hearing the Word alone does not profit much. It is when you take action that it begins to profit you. <\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">#3. <\/span><span class=\"s3\"><b>Gratitude Develops Faith<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">: In addition to honouring God and building friendships, gratitude develops faith. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bible.com\/bible\/68\/HAB.3.17-18.GNT\">Hab.3:<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><sup>17-18<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> (TEV, with emphasis) \u201c<i>Even though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines, and even though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no grain, and even though the sheep all die, and the cattle stalls are empty,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/i><\/span><span class=\"s3\"><b><i>I WILL STILL<\/i><\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> be joyful and glad, <\/i><\/span><span class=\"s3\"><b><i>because<\/i><\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> the Lord God is my Saviour<\/i>.\u201d This is someone that<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>understands that even though everything on the outside is not favourable but you are in control of what goes on, on the inside. You have to choose to be grateful, be glad and joyful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The writer of Habakkuk gives us the reason why it is possible to be grateful even though everything on the outside appears to be contrary. <i>\u201c<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s3\"><b><i>I WILL STILL<\/i><\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> be joyful and glad, <\/i><\/span><span class=\"s3\"><b><i>because<\/i><\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i> the Lord God is my Saviour<\/i>.\u201d This is so big. Your joy is not dependent on having A or B. You remain joyful because you have God. I am not saying it is bad to have A and B. I am saying the source of your life and your joy cannot be based on what you have or do not have. The source of your life and your joy should be Jesus alone. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">When you get this, you are on the right track. Guess what? The true test of your life and your faith is not when things are going on well. The true test of your life is when things are hard. That is when you will know who your real friends are. Pretend to be broke for three months then take a stock of your friends. True love and true friendship is tested when there is nothing. Ask Job; after a while, Job\u2019s wife more or less told him he was of no use to her. Why then was he still holding on to God? She said, \u201cCurse God and die\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">I do not mean to blow my wife\u2019s trumpet but she was solidly with me even when I had nothing. Some women will grind everything to a halt even at the expense of their husband\u2019s salvation. Some people actually walk out on their marriage. Gratitude develops faith and without faith it is impossible to please God or even move the mountains before you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Prayer<\/b>: Lord Jesus<i>, <\/i>even though the fig trees have no fruit, the fields produce no grain, and the sheep all die, I will remain joyful because You are my Saviour, in Jesus Name. Amen!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Philip. 4:4\u00a0\u201cAlways be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again\u2014rejoice!\u00a06 Don\u2019t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.\u00a07\u00a0Then you will experience God\u2019s peace\u2026\u201d &nbsp; We always challenge people to take action because hearing the Word alone does not profit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-gratitude"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9747"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10160,"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9747\/revisions\/10160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfhlive.tv\/freshfire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}