OUTLINE:
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Perspective
Joy (ala 1Th 5:16) comes from appreciating the things that God has given us by grace.

“rejoice”
from chairo - (from the root char - "favorably disposed, leaning towards" and cognate with charis = "grace") – properly, to delight in God's grace ("rejoice") – literally, to experience God's grace (favor), be conscious (glad) for His grace. In brief, means being “glad for grace”.

A Daily Choice
Familiarity, and rejoicing in God's grace, are really mutually exclusive. If we get too familiar with God's blessings, we will not enjoy His grace. However, rejoicing in His grace means you are not being familiar.

Rejoicing In Grace
As is the case with any other command in the Bible, God’s command to “rejoice always” (1Th 5:16) is first made possible by His grace.

Rejoicing In Grace
In fact, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that the very act of rejoicing is not only enabled by grace, but the object of our rejoicing is also grace. Grace, in essence, becomes spherical, all-encompassing, a function of God’s enveloping love, both cause and effect.

John 1:16
For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

The Plague of Familiarity
We remain conscious of outside stimuli when we DON’T have confidence in its consistency, purity, predictability. Until the normalcy of something is disturbed, our conscious attention of it is minimal, dismissive even.

2Co 12:15
I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

2Co 12:15 [Message]
I’d be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more I love you, the less I’m loved?

Familiarity
Is a function of the faithfulness of others. It is something that feeds off of the predictability of the most faithful individuals we’ve got in our lives. Who’s more faithful than the Lord Jesus Christ??? Who are we more familiar with???

Grace In Our Faces, Daily
The abundance of grace in our life is so predictable that we become familiar with it, to our own detriment. God is able to glorify Himself, despite our failures; but in our familiarity, we lose out on the rejoicing in such facts.

Appreciation Produces Love
If we APPRECIATED the family of God He's put in our lives, if we APPRECIATED those that show concern and kindness towards us, the love would be flowing constantly in both directions.
 That's where God is taking us.

Obedience
If God prepares us, gives us the strength, and then lights the path, the very best we can “do” is obey His commands. Obedience results in blessing (ala Lk 1:50; 1Pe 1:13-19).

Walking Away From Jesus?!!
They became familiar with the blessings, taking for granted the Blessor. There's the curse of familiarity!

“Lord, to whom shall we go?”
Peter's words epitomize the one thing that separated the Apostles from the rest of Jesus' "disciples" (some of which weren't yet saved - ala Jn 6:64; 1Jn 2:19) - HUMILITY! Submission/surrender are fruit of humility, the essence of God's grace in salvation.

“By Grace, They Were Prepared”
Jesus taught His disciples to have their OWN convictions! He then gave them His Spirit to teach, encourage, and empower this. We all have the Word of- and the Spirit of Christ, by grace.

God's grace never fails!

“By Grace, They Were Prepared”
The great work for any believer is to spread the Gospel. We all need to be literally changed by grace through faith in order to accomplish this good work. Jesus has left His precious salvation ministry to His sheep to carry on.

Jas 1:5 [Amplified]
If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.

MacDonald on Lk 18:34
“Their minds were so filled with thoughts of a temporal deliverer who would rescue them from the yoke of Rome, and set up the kingdom immediately, that they refused to entertain any other program. We often believe what we want to believe, and resist the truth if it does not fit into our preconceived notions.”

The Value of Patience
We tend to look at the “finished product” when we think about the apostles, but that is a mistake if that’s all we consider. While this provides us with hope, the greater blessing is to recognize how God’s grace prepared them.