FRIDAY October 1st
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
NIV (vv16-22) – ‘ Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.’
ESV (vv16-22) – ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.’
There is so much contained in these few verses, they are like short instructions to the believers, and we will just quickly look at each and add a corresponding thought over the next two devotions.
Rejoice always – we all go through circumstances in which we would find it difficult to rejoice, those difficult and challenging moments, those times of loss and heartbreak and the list could be added to, but there is something unique about being a Christian and it is that even in the darkest moments we can know what it is to rejoice, for it is in those dark moments that we feel the presence of God in such powerful ways to cheer us and encourage us. Yes, probably we all have to gear ourselves up to rejoice in difficult circumstances , but when we do, we do begin to experience the presence of God in powerful ways. In Philippians 4:4 we read ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.’ In fact, as you continue it says in verse 5 ‘The Lord is at hand, do not be anxious about anything . . .’ which is a help for us to understand that in the middle of our trying circumstances the Lord is there with us, in the Old Testament we read ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’ (Nehemiah 8:10) may we learn to experience what it truly means to ‘rejoice always’ and as a result know the strength of the Lord.
Pray without ceasing – this is a reminder that we should constantly be a prayerful people. It doesn’t mean we have to be on our knees 24/7, it simply means that we go about our daily routine and business in a prayerful manner, we can be in constant communion and connection with God 24/7. Prayer is the souls sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed, the motion of a hidden fire, that trembles in the breast. Prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear, the upward glancing of the eye, when none but God is near.
Give thanks in all circumstances – Why? Because this is the will of God for us.
Does this mean it is God’s will for us to give thanks in all circumstances, or does it mean we give thanks for all our circumstances because we accept our circumstances are all a part of God’s will? It means both. If we have handed our lives over to the Lord Jesus Christ then we believe that as we follow him, he is directing not only our paths, but all our circumstances. He has a will for each one of us and as we will have surrendered our lives over to that will, therefore whether what we go through seems good to us or bad, we trust Him, and continually give thanks, knowing that ‘for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.’ (Romans 8:28)
May we be encouraged just as we are concerning the fact that Jesus is coming again, (yesterday’s devotion) that until he comes, everything else is also in his hands, he is in control, he is working everything out and nothing, absolutely nothing will ever separate from the love of God those who have fully surrendered their lives to him.