Rejoice always, talk with God continually, and thank him for everything.
This is a letter from Dave Coffield, shared with you with his permission.
“Several of us are studying our way through 1 Thessalonians, and I am struck by 5:16,17,18. ‘Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.‘ One of the guys in the study, Russ, suggested that all 3 verses represent God’s will for us. I had never considered that before, and I am grateful for his input.
‘Rejoice always.’ It doesn’t say to be happy always. Rejoice is a choice I make with my will to lift my heart to God in gratefulness regardless of the circumstances. It is our ability to rejoice in hard and unpleasant circumstances that bear testimony to a watching world to the reality of God and our faith. It is a compass heading. I don’t always do a good job of it.
‘Pray without ceasing.’ We can pray without ceasing because our God is always present with us. We are always in communication; the line is always open.
Our sin doesn’t separate us from God. In the early days I believed and taught that. However, all of our sins have been forgiven on Calvary, past, present, and future. All of them. We don’t have to connect with God or regard Him, but He lives inside of us. We carry Him around with us and Psalm 139 says He has intimate knowledge of us. Every word, every thought, every deed.
So, the Lord and I talk all day long. He is a constant companion, an ardent listener and deeply loving of us. Incredible. There is nothing that we can’t share with Him, nothing that He doesn’t know, and nothing that He doesn’t care about. Incredible. How lonely must be the life of an unbeliever!
‘In everything give thanks.’ We don’t have to feel thankful. We don’t have to see the event as ‘good.’ We can give thanks because our Father is absolutely sovereign over this world and its smallest events. So, what we see as an accident, an intrusion, a mistake, is all from the hand of our sovereign Father to accomplish His purposes. We can give thanks because our Father loves us with a matchless, wonderful, profound love.
So, this is God’s will for us. May our lives move in this direction.”
J3Khai.fun 