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Go ahead and look first at Philippians 4 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.

Key Verse(s): Philippians 4:4-5

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Title: Rejoice

Observation: In all things rejoice in the Lord. The command of Paul, and because it is scripture, we must also see it as the command of God.

Tomorrow I leave for a funeral. On a logistical note, I will not blog for a few days as I travel. His name was Darrell. Darrell was a success in the first half of his life. He was one of the first 30 nurseryman ever licensed by the state of California. He was owned and operated a large family Nursery business. If I remember the story right, he was married to a former Playboy model. He had it all.

Then his marriage imploded. He was lost and lonely. In the midst of his searching and trying to repair his life, he found two things. The first was his wonderful second wife, Jackie, and two, he found Jesus as his savior. Not that he was a bad man before, or an unethical one, but he had a radical conversion to Christ, where Christ became alive and real in his life. He was passionate about Jesus.

He was so passionate about Jesus, that he volunteered to teach the High School Sunday school class at his church. New to the faith, he knew that he loved teenagers and wanted them to know the love of Jesus. And who was the first student to come into his class? A 14 year old Matt Real. And I was not the spiritual giant you see before you today. I was a prickly, angry, difficult teenager who was very much out for himself.

But Darrell loved me. He loved me through the times I was angry, difficult, and distant. He consistently shared the love of Jesus when I was over my head in things I had no business in. He consistently showed the love of Christ to me when I was consciously not taking the teaching of Christ and walking a very different path. He loved me through all of that.

And later, he encouraged me as an even more prickly and difficult late adolescent to join a small group of men who got together very early for prayer. And then as I moved closer to Christ, I became a radical who attacked the established church at most every opportunity. He was patient and loved me through that too. He helped me grow from a boy into a man. When I got called into ministry, he was a huge supporter. And when I felt picked on and abused he told me, in mostly kind words, to get over it and get on with the work that God called me to do. I can’t remember a time when he was not encouraging and love.

I will miss him greatly. Only a third of his life was one where he followed Jesus. Yet he had an enormous impact on my life and the lives of hundreds and hundreds of others. And the truth is that I can rejoice in his life, because he is now with God, and has laid down the burden of life to enter paradise with Christ. I can rejoice because of him and his life and all that he did here.

Application: I want to be a model to people like Darrell was. I want to love and encourage other, to rejoice like he did in the life he was given.

Prayer: Lord, help me to love, encourage, and become a mentor to others. Allow me to enjoy life and rejoice in my young wife and my little boy. Thank you for all that you have given to me.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

# posted by Matt Real @ 9:29 PM