Always be joyful?

“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 NLT

QUESTION: Is this a command?

And if it is a command, why would God ask us to do something if we’re not capable of doing it?

I believe there is only one way to obey this and that is by keeping an eternal perspective.

I say that because in this letter to the church at Philippi Paul had written, “For me to live as Christ to die is gain.”

How could he write that? 

Paul saw this as a win-win situation.

If God allowed him to live (and he was under house arrest as he wrote this), he saw it as an opportunity to continue to serve the Lord he loved.

But, if God allowed him to die, he thought of it an opportunity to be face-to-face with Jesus.

The entire letter written by Paul to the Philippians is about keeping a healthy mind set, Paul then demonstrates over and over again the mindset we need to have in order to make that happen.

Joy isn’t found. Joy is chosen