CELEBRATE
“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!”
 Philippians 4:4 MSG

The day I found out that I was pregnant with our first child I was elated. I couldn’t believe that God had blessed us with a baby. We had been told that we might not be able to conceive. When our son was born after a tumultuous five days of labor I couldn’t contain my joy. He had ten little fingers, and ten little toes, the biggest blue eyes, (when they were open) and his grandfather’s chin. What a cutie! Now you know that he was as perfect as every other child that is born to a first time mother. Every mother thinks every one of their babies is perfect, even those who are born with birth defects. So do you know why they are perfect? It’s because that baby is their baby. The pain of child birth is quickly forgotten when that little life is put in your arms for the very first time. As a child grows and develops they begin to smile, gurgle and giggle even roll over and then they start to crawl. Every new accomplishment is a celebration. The first tooth, first word, as parents and grandparents we celebrate them all. We have parties for birthdays, team sport victories, great report cards, all things that should be celebrated. However, there are many other things to celebrate; being home at night with your family for dinner, watching a ball game together on a Monday evening, playing catch in the yard, so many little victories that we accept as ordinary but don’t realize are opportunities to take to God and revel in Him.
 
When you look around you what do you see? Do you see all the minute things in nature, or just trees, grass, flowers, and birds? For instance, have you ever noticed the detailed coloring on a bird’s wings? Do you really see nature at its finest? These are all things that the Lord created just for us and yet we take them all for granted. One of the things that I hear over and over from cancer survivors is that they become acutely aware of their surroundings when faced with the possibility of death. They suddenly want more time to tell the ones they love and care about all the things they should have been telling them all along. They notice the smallest things around them and point them out to others so they won’t miss out on the joy of moment. They celebrate every day, moment and event in their life. This is how we should live every day! Why does it take something like an illness to bring us back to the Creator? This is a question believers have struggled with for all time. Some say it is because we never stop long enough to think about it let alone see anything around us. Sadly some Christians fall into the trap, the trap of being too busy to “stop and smell the roses.” We get so busy “doing” church that we forget the relationship God intended for us to have with the church. You know the part about being intentional and involved in each other’s lives? When we get involved we get to celebrate the victories in each other’s lives. We become a family that grows, learns, and leans on each other, the way God intended. We become the fleshy fingers, hands, and feet of God for each other.
 
Life will hand you many obstacles along your journey, but each challenge is another opportunity to show those around you Gods love and sovereignty. It’s what we do with these challenges that reveal our relationship with our Heavenly Father. How we model for others, the way we navigate the turbulence in our life can bring encouragement to those who may experience the same trial down the road. Even in the midst of adversity or better yet because of it, we need to look for the joy in the moment and celebrate God who is the author of our victories. When we live in the assurance of God being in control of our lives we can find joy in all situations, we can revel in Him every day, every moment. He loves us so much that He paid the ultimate price; He died for our sins. That fact alone is every reason to celebrate, every other thing in life pales to this sacrifice.

This is Easter when we celebrate God’s death, burial, and resurrection. What better time to reconnect with the joy of our salvation. When I read the scripture and it tells me to “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean revel in Him”, I envision people jumping and dancing for joy. Then I see myself. Do I always do this? No, but I try to make it my goal everyday to see God’s hand in every situation and event. I live in the mountains and am reminded moment by moment of His creation, this feeds my soul. I am looking for more ways to revel in Him every day, all day.  As you check your pulse this week I pray you will begin each day looking for God and celebrating Him. He loves you more than you can imagine, hopefully you’ll begin to REVEL!
 
Kathi Brixey
"Reveling”
 
CHALLENGED TO THE CORE
P.O. BOX 414
LAKE ARROWHEAD, CA. 92352-0414