#Rejoice always

[thelordismylightandmysalvation]

Verse of the Day - 1 Thessalonians 5:16

[aspirant1598]

[momentsbeforemass]

Rejoice always?

“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”

Rejoice always? Always always? No matter what’s happening?

Yes.

No matter how bad it gets?

Yes.

That makes no sense at all. And the context doesn’t help.

Paul is writing this to a church that’s being persecuted. How are you supposed to rejoice when you’re being persecuted?

First, Paul isn’t telling them to ignore the hard stuff in life. Or to pretend like they’re not being persecuted.

It’s almost like rejoicing is a separate thing from everything they’re dealing with. Because it is.

How is that even possible?

It all depends on why you and I are rejoicing, on the source of our happiness.

If our happiness is a reaction, a response that depends on something or someone else, then (as much as we might not want to think about it) we know that it’s not going to last.

This is the truth behind C.S. Lewis’ much-quoted line, “Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose.”

That is, do not let your happiness be a reaction. Let your happiness be a choice.

I know people who say they have resting b*tch face. Regardless of how they really feel, that’s just what they look like when they’re not really doing or saying anything. That’s just what happens. That’s their default.

The thing about defaults is that they don’t have to just happen. You can choose your default. If you want to.

Choose happiness as your default. Choose to “rejoice always.”

Not by ignoring what’s going on in your life. Or how hard it is.

But also – by not going with whatever just happens. By being intentional. By choosing how you are going to feel while you’re dealing with it.

And the only way to do that is to do it with God.

Which is the point of the rest of it – “Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”

That the only way to do it, the only way to rejoice always, is to do it with God.

By drawing close to God in prayer. Not just formal prayers or prayers in church, but a simple, ongoing, often jumbled, conversation with God.

Sharing everything with God. Including frustration and anger, even if it’s with God.

Pouring out your heart to the One who has always loved you. And who will always love you.

And by giving thanks. Even if the only thing left to give thanks for is that God is with you right there in the middle of it.

If you do, if you’ve got the courage to do it, don’t be surprised by what happens in your heart.

No matter what’s happening in your life.

(I know these are last Sunday’s readings, but this one really stayed with me.)

Sunday’s Readings

[dkcdude]

Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks

Introduction Life presents us with a series of highs and lows, victories and struggles. It’s easy to find joy when things are going well, but what about when they aren’t? How do we maintain a heart of gratitude when life feels like it’s falling apart? How do we—or do we—help each other navigate life’s valleys and peaks? These questions often challenge us, but in his first letter to the church at…

[beblessedbybella]

"ALWAYS Give Thanks In All Circumstances"

In every situation [irregardless of how difficult the circumstance(s) may be], be thankful continuously and give thanks to God, for this is the will of God for you.❤️

[entrepreneurdrjlifestyleadvocate]

[dwuerch-blog]

Let the Joy Bells Ring

Today is the third Sunday of Advent and we should be singing “Go Tell It on the Mountain”! Well, not necessarily from a mountain. That would mean we’d have to go climbing! Perhaps we can start right here at ground zero to be joy-filled and full of the good news of Christ’s coming to this earth for you and me. The pink, third candle on the Advent wreath is lit today. The pink candle symbolizes…

[naomistares]

short comic about a queen's peculiar tower activities

(this is kind of unrelated to the rejoice mini comicverse i just wrote this dumb thing in 10 minutes cause i wanted to try horizontal comics pages 😭)

[dustydahlin]

Rejoice Always!

“Rejoice Always” (1 Thess. 5:16; ESV).

“To comment adequately on these diamond drops would be to outline a history of the Christian experience in its higher levels” (James Moffat).

This small, two-word verse is incredible. Couched in the context of the return of Jesus and general guidelines for Christian living, this directive comes to us as a beautiful depiction of God’s heart and as an instruction for us to practice the joy of the Lord.

It is possible to arrive at an accurate understanding of this instruction from a simple reading of the English translation. However, it can be easy to miss a few nuggets of gold, from the treasury of God's wisdom, if we miss a few items.

Firstly, everything we need to know about this command is packed into the inflected Greek word. 1) The verb is written in the imperative mood, which means this is a directive - something commanded to be performed. 2) It includes the active voice; this simply means the subject is the one performing the action. In this case, the subject is the believer. And 3) it is written in the present tense. This denotes the sense of ongoing, continual, habitual, or regular performance of the action - to rejoice.

{Recommended Reading}

Ultimately, everything we need to know about this instruction is packed into the verb. With just this verb, we are told that "the believer is commanded to perform the action of rejoicing continuously - as a lifestyle." To strengthen the intended emphasis, the adverb for "always" is added.

But to extract every last drop of goodness from this instruction, I want to highlight a few additional items that may be helpful for our understanding and practice.

One of the items that truly captures my fascination is the fact that this is the verb form for joy. In other words, this is the action of joy or the practice of joy. This is not a new concept to our Scripture (cf. Gal. 5:22-23), although it feels a bit foreign to us because we have a much more passive understanding of joy. What does this mean? This means God has gifted us this instruction that we may move away from being passive spectators to being active practitioners of joy.

"This means God has gifted us this instruction that we may move away from being passive spectators to being active practitioners of joy!"

The final consideration is this: the Greek word for rejoice was a common word used to describe the social etiquette of that day - Χαίρω (chairō). This was a common word used in formal greetings (both written and vocal). This can be understood as a relational expression of goodwill and good tidings. In this sense, it is possible, dependent upon the context, that this may be applied to this text in the sense of a formal relational greeting.

Ultimately, once we place these considerations together, we can understand this text to mean “you are commanded to abide, and continue abiding, in a joy-filled relationship with God.” Joyfully greet the Lord in relationship regularly. 

This is further supported by how Jesus describes God's giving, and the believer's receiving, of the Joy of the Lord. In John 15:1-11, Jesus describes himself as the vine in which we - the branches - abide and bear fruit. Jesus then punctuates this wonderful teaching with a surprising promise of Joy. He states, "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (vs. 10-11).

{Dusty's Book}

The Greek of this passage reveals a conditional promise. This is written in the subjunctive mood, which simply means that it is possible to receive and have joy based on the instructions previously spoken. In this case, abide and bear fruit. In so far as we continuously abide in relationship with the Lord, we practice posturing ourselves to receive joy from the Lord. We practice joy. (To learn more about this concept, Click Here to read the article.)

In other words, rejoice always! And remember that we are commanded to continuously abide in a joy-filled relationship with the Lord. God wants to have an ongoing relationship with us. Seek him in Scripture. Seek him in prayer. Seek him through fasting and meditation.

Let us seek the Lord and practice receiving his joy today.

[theodoreangelos]

Rejoice at all times. (1 Thessalonians 5: 16) Soyez toujours dans la joie. (1 Thessaloniciens 5: 16) Πάντοτε χαίρετε. (Προς Θεσσαλονικεις α΄ 5: 16) Freut euch zu jeder Zeit! (Thessalonicher 5: 16) Всегда радуйтесь. (1-е Фессалоникийцам 5: 16) Zawsze bądźcie radośni. (1 Tesaloniczan 5: 16) Mindenkor örüljetek. (1 Thesszalonika 5: 16) Vždycky se radujte. (1 Tesalonickým 5: 16) 要 常 常 喜 乐 (帖撒罗尼迦前书 5: 16) همیشه شاد باشید! (اول تسالونیکیان 5: 16)

[zuzu-draws]

So after the spoilers for Chap 257 dropped, I saw some tweets clarifying the meaning of the Kanji Sukuna used in the chapter when referring to his mother, and the overall reveals in the chapter got me thinking.

I’m making this post as a way of gathering my thoughts, personal speculations and where I think all of this connects to Sukuna’s character and the information Gege has given us over the years. Nothing I say is by any means new information, but like I said, I’m just collecting my thoughts here. By the way, just a warning, this post contains SPOILERS for the JJK Manga! If you don’t like that, please don’t read this!

Something I’ve noticed is that the theme of “Hunger” and symbolism of “Cooking/Food” is heavily referenced with Sukuna throughout the Manga. Gege in a previous Fanbook has disclosed Sukuna’s favorite Hobby to be “Eating”.

This theme is again very much ingrained within Sukuna’s cursed techniques and even his Domain Expansion, the “Malevolent Shrine”. With his two main techniques being “Dismantle” and “Cleave” are cutting-type attacks. He is also able to use a Flame-Arrow, and Fire is essential for making Food. The Shrine in his Domain Expansion literally has mouths on all sides, looking eager to chew down anything in-front of them!

This symbolism also heavily influences Sukuna’s own manner of speech, and the way he speaks to other characters in the series as well. With his post-fight chat with Jogo before his death, Sukuna mentions Jogo lacking the “Hunger” to take control of his desires, preventing him from reaching the heights of Gojo Satoru. Before the Start of their fight in Shinjuku, Sukuna called Gojo a “Nameless Fish on top of his cutting board”, and that he was going to start by “Peeling off the scales”(refering to Gojo’s infinity). There’s also further symbolism that supports this by analyzing the Kanji and meaning of Sukuna’s “Malevolent Shrine” but I’m not very educated on that so I won’t be opening that point here.

What all of this points to is that Eating and Food……is extremely important to Sukuna, to the point that it literally affects him in manners innumerable.

Eating is an instinct, a necessity for the survival of every single living being.

And In the face of extreme Hunger and starvation, even those with the strongest will could lose their Humanity and revert to the basic animalistic side of their existence. (The Heian Period also had a Famine, although I believe the timing to be a bit off, but do with this info as you see fit)

In JJK Chapter 257, it is revealed to us that Sukuna and his Twin were most likely starving in the womb of their starving mother.

On the brink of starvation, Sukuna had to consume his “other self”(his twin), so that he could survive.

Btw, this tweet and this thread gives additional characterisation to Sukuna:

Link to the original thread: Link.

More context (and reactions :P):

Link to original thread: Here

This reveals to us that indeed, Sukuna was born a twin. And as we all know, “Twins” are seen with extreme scrutiny in Jujutsu Society, they’re not well liked. This too in a period where Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcery was at its peak, it is not far-fetched to assume that his Mother may not have been treated very well by the people in her surroundings, especially as she bore twins.

When Kashimo asks if Sukuna was born the Strongest or if he made himself the Strongest, this is the response Sukuna gave to him:

When you think about it, how do you think the people around them would have reacted when the woman: who was supposed to birth two twins, gave birth to a single child instead? and that child had consumed his other twin in the womb itself?

No doubt people would’ve been horrified, disgusted and even revulsed. With the woman and her newborn child.

This would’ve led to their further ostracisation in the already very close-minded society. Unable to fend for herself and her newborn child, it must’ve been difficult for Sukuna’s mother to survive. I feel like somewhere along the line, Sukuna was left alone to fend for himself at an extremely young age. To protect himself from both Curses and Society alike.

This is why I believe Sukuna knows what true starvation, weakness and hunger feels like. Both in the emotional and literal sense. He was left without another person caring about him or his well-being, in a cut-throat period where it was “Fight or be killed”.

Powerful curses roamed all across Japan, nowhere was safe. Simply be strong, or you'll die. There's no room for weakness. And initially, a kid!Sukuna was weak, as anyone would be in the beginning when they're just starting out in this world. (and maybe, he didn't have much to eat, leading to long periods of starvation? :') )

I believe it is this debilitating hunger, and feeling of weakness that eventually led to Sukuna’s current Hedonistic mindset.

He’s essentially traumatised by it, and believes that it was his own weakness that led him to experience this sheer starvation. That he deserved to feel this way because he was weak then. Perhaps, the people around him were right, that as long as they have the power and strength to overcome anything, they’re free to do as they please; And there is nothing anyone else could do about it.

I feel like the irony here is that Sukuna himself, must’ve been a “weakling” before eventually rising the ranks to become History’s Strongest Sorcerer. This is also why he values Strength so much.

Ultimately, Sukuna has decided that there was nothing more important than being strong enough to fulfill your own desires. And “eating” is one of his most important desires. It’s his favourite thing to do, the one he derives the most pleasure out of. And like an animal, whose main focus is to consume, consume and consume. He too, simply consumes.

Most morals likely have no meaning to him. He doesn’t care who he hurts, what he does, as long as he’s able to get what he wants. And this isn’t limited to eating.

This is why people referring to Sukuna as a “Natural Disaster” is so befitting of him. Because Natural Disasters also don’t care about what or who they’re destroying, they just come and go, wreaking havoc appropriate for their nature and magnitude.

I believe Sukuna himself has said lines similar in nature, when talking to Kashimo:

Now I’m not sure how Sukuna perceives or even experiences this “Love”, because I think he has a rather very warped idea of it. I do think that this definition of love is similar to the one that Gojo also understands, but I don’t think he knows what “love” truly is. I’m not sure how I could comment on this, but I do think that Sukuna’s emotionally starved, whether he realises that or not.

Because, like Kashimo himself asked Sukuna “What is the point of dividing your soul into 20 different parts and then traversing across time if you’re satisfied with this?” we do not know the answer to that yet.

But many people have speculated that “Black Box” panels in JJK manga represent a curse (either self-inflicted or put by someone) on the speaker. Like, take a look over here where Sukuna reiterates the same dialogue, except it looks like he’s trying to reassure himself:

This once again shows that Sukuna has only ever strived for himself, in the same hedonistic fashion, to a very very extreme degree. It is possible that he's been lacking something, and he himself does not realise that he’s lacking it. Maybe it was this subconscious feeling, that led to Sukuna agreeing to Kenjaku’s plan of dividing his soul into 20 different parts, and to traverse across time as a Cursed Object.

Sukuna’s an incredibly complex character, and I’m excited to see where this goes. Gege has put extra care in the way he characterizes and depicts Sukuna, and again, I’m really sad that a lot of that characterization gets lost in translation. Still, I’m going to try my best to understand and get the most accurate feel of his character as I possibly can.

If you made it this far, Thank you for reading! And if you would like, please do leave a comment in the tags or replies because I would love to read what other people think of this and just Sukuna in general. I do not see a lot of people doing critical analysis of him, and a lot of his actions are seemingly swept under the rug. I don’t like that, so hopefully this contributes to people focusing more on Sukuna and his character. (/^v^)/ <3

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

I'm not sure if your event is open just yet (potential time differences) but may I request Lilia, as the ghost, with the prompt 6.Bump in the night with romantic, fluff and maybe a bit of horror cause we know Lilia likes to scare people please?

I'm so sorry if I didn't do this right 😅

Bump in the Night; Lilia Vanrouge

Content; Gender-neutral reader, implied romantic feelings/pining

Content Warning; Swearing, light fear

Word Count; 700+

A/N; I hope you like what I came up with, Lilia will always be a little imp. And don't worry about formatting, you did everything perfectly!

Please do not put my work into AI. If you would like to see more of my work check out my masterlist!

You were grumbling to yourself as you lit some candles while holding a flashlight under your chin.

The power had gone out due to a blizzard, right when you were in the middle of catching up on your favourite show. But the weather didn’t care about the plotline or the barely warm soup that was now sitting sadly on your stovetop. No show and no dinner, you were shit out of luck tonight by the looks of it.

So instead, you grabbed all the candles you could find, a small horde of blankets, and hunkered down.

You fidgeted around, picking at some loose strings, and tapping to the beat of the battery-operated clock. 

… bored bored bored THIS SUCKS bored bored bored …

You dragged your hands down your face. Why couldn’t the power go out while you were asleep? Why did it have to go out on one of your only quiet nights to yourself? Why couldn’t the power wait until you had your dinner? 

The wind howled outside as if it were mocking you.

The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end, and the candles snuffed out, one by one. Not by a draft, or wind, but as if someone was pinching off the flame. The room was cast into darkness, only the pale blue light from outside lighting everything up in a dim silver cast.

Face the issue at hand that had all levels of nope nope NOPE written all over it? Or, hide under the blankets like you were a kid again?

… you hid under the blankets. You reasoned it wasn’t from fear, but rather to conserve your body heat, since hey, the candles died out due to some unforeseen and totally normal reason.

But then you smelt something burning.

There was no power though, nothing was working so why was something burning?

You shuffled to the kitchen and peered out from your blanket cocoon.

The soup, which was barely lukewarm, was now a charred mess of black sludge.

“The hell,” you hissed, eyeing the baffling liquid. Part of your brain was screaming DANGER DANGER DANGER!!! And the other part? It was mourning the loss of your dinner.

A breathy chuckle was in your ear.

You wanted to move, but you couldn’t. You were frozen in place by some unseen force.

You felt delicate fingers trace the back of your neck before they came to a stop at a pulse point, which was easy enough to find since your pulse was beating like a trapped bird trying to escape a cage.

“You always look the same,” the voice whispered, the chuckle and playfulness long gone.

The voice flitted closer, and you could make out a hazy figure in your peripheral vision, but just barely.

The figure, a petite figure, came to a stop in front of you. The only thing about them that felt physical, that was the most clear, were their magenta almost red eyes. They bore down on you with a weight; of knowing, of countless years, of longing, and a mix of grief and mischievous — an odd combination.

“What do you want,” you asked, fighting your mouth to spit out the words.

The man, you assumed the spectre to be a man at least, gave you a soft smile.

He took your face into his cold hands, or at least tried to, and rubbed circles into the apple of your cheeks. “Many things, dearie,” he sighed softly, “but only if you want them too. I’ll leave if you want me to. I just want to see you happy.”

An odd thing to say when you nearly gave me a stroke. 

Despite that near stroke though, you didn’t sense any malevolence from the ghostly figure who held you softly. And despite his cold touch, he was nothing but warmth, but in the sense of a weak candle.

One must just take care of the flame to see it grow.

Time after time, Lilia would find you, his spirit drawn towards yours.

I love you.

Never really said, but it would end in the same way. Him quietly loving you from the sidelines until he found his opening. An opening into your life, and your heart.

~~~~~~~

Taglist; @afunkyfreshblog @bloomstruck @eynnwwyjth @identity-theft-101 @ithseem @lucid-stories @moonsoup01637 @ryker-writes @twistwonderlanddevotee @xxoomiii

[aspirant1598]

[ellovett]

tfw when ur in a doomed/tragic/toxic lesbians competition n these two mfs show up: 🤦‍♂️🚶

Some doodles i made of an oc i ship w lucifer from the sandman!! their name's seraphiel!! a high ranking seraphim from silver city and is a certain someone lucifer used to be very close with before the fall. now they meet on occasion for typical diplomatic bullshit between hell and the silver city, but not w/o immense tension. oc in the second pic is teresa and belongs 2 my bestie: @pagtingin-pagibiglang !!

ref used under the cut:

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Pray Without Ceasing

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 | Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. Cross References: Psalm 34:1; Daniel 6:10; John 6:34; Ephesians 5:20; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:4

Read full chapter

What does it mean to rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16)?

[wiirocku]

1 Thessalonians 5:16 (NKJV) - Rejoice always,