Remember! Rehearse! Rejoice!
November 23, 2020
One of the coping strategies suggested for managing your emotional state during COVID-19 is to list and to rehearse all the things you are grateful for. To rehearse means to say it again, to repeat, to practice, or to recite. The repetition and the recitation are crucial elements to assure that it is getting into your mind and into your heart so you can recall it at any time. This repetition is not a new technique. It is a God technique (see Joshua 1:8).
2020 has been anything but normal and with COVID-19 now threatening to shut down our holiday gatherings and our churches, we will need to dig deeper than a gratitude list of regular things we can see and feel and taste and hear. We need to reach beyond the mere listing of things and into the rehearsing of something that no COVID-19 can ever take away from you. That is your salvation. If you are saved, there is no force on the earth that can separate you from the Creator of the whole earth.
When I use the term “saved,” it means that you made a quality decision to give your life to Jesus Christ. This is an event that you would remember. You may not know the date of the event, but you will remember the circumstances. If you don’t remember that event, but just assume that because you have gone to church your whole life you are saved, think again. Just because your parent wanted you to be saved, that does not mean you made the very important choice for yourself. But don’t fret if you don’t remember or if you don’t know if you are, let’s just get it done right now. Pray this out loud:
Jesus, I am a sinner and I know it. In my own power, I can’t change who I am, but You can change me into a new creature. I believe You sacrificed Your life so that I would not have to pay the penalty for my own sins. I am sorry for my sins. Thank you for your death and resurrection that now brings me forgiveness of my sins - past, present, and future. Please come into my heart and make my life something worthwhile. I invite Your Holy Spirit to take up residence in my heart. My life is now Your life, Jesus. Make it something special. Thank you.
Rehearsing your salvation includes rehearsing the great benefits of salvation. But if you have been saved for a long time, you might be taking these things for granted and so it is good to remember them, rehearse them, and rejoice over them. Here is a starter list of benefits I will be thankful for this Thanksgiving and I encourage you to find some quiet time to do the same.
1. Eternal Life. People who are saved will never die. They will shed this physical body, but their spirit will live forever.
Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live; And whoever continues to live and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) Me shall never [actually] die at all. Do you believe this? John 11:25-26 (AMPC)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
And I (Jesus) give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. John 10:28 (NKJV)
2. Joint Heir with Jesus. Our salvation includes adoption into the family of God. God the Father is our father. Jesus is our brother. We are heirs of all the promises God made to Abraham when He joined in covenant with Abraham. If you want to get really excited, read about the promises of Abraham (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) and think about the fact that you are an heir to that promise right now, in this life. Wow! Thank you, Jesus!
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:14-17 (NKJV)
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29 (NKJV)
3. Supernatural Assistance. Our salvation brings the Holy Spirit into our heart. He is joined to our spirit and so we have the benefit of the wisdom of God if we teach ourselves to listen to His voice.
“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” Luke 12:11-12 (NKJV)
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5 (NKJV)
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 (NKJV)
Remember! Rehearse! Rejoice! Happy Thanksgiving!
