He Rejoices over Me?

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3

“The Lord your God is in your midst,
    a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?..

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:29-35,37-39

Another impatient response. Another caustic bite of sarcasm. Another tirade of expletives. God rejoices over me? Another wave of doubt. Another long stew of self-loathing. Another slough of bitterness over hurts and rejections. God rejoices over me? Failures, unkind impulses, unclean thoughts, uncontrolled reactions, self-centeredness- does God rejoice over these? No! Yet He rejoices in me, that I am His and He’s remaking and sanctifying me to reflect His perfect image. He loves the unlovable and makes us bloom.

“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11

The beautiful thing about God’s rejoicing in us is that it is rooted in His unmerited affection and faithfulness, not our behavior. His is a steadfast, keeping love that purifies us and never parts.

“Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!” Psalm 65:4a

Once He has saved us He perseveres to make us holy. He reminds and enables. He intercedes, defends, and helps, and is glorified when we yield to His Spirit’s prompting and power.

“As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:15-16

Rather than ruing what we are not, would we delight in the Lord? Instead of wallowing in ugly thoughts and rebel hearts, would we rejoice in His love for us and respond in kind? What needs changing to be more like Him?

Lord, keep me rejoicing in You, and so reflect Your holiness and beauty.