1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 says,...
Today's verses are 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, which read,
v.16-18 - Rejoice always; praying without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Paul continues on with his short phrases of instruction at the end of this letter to the Thessalonians. Have you ever wondered what the will of God is for your life? There is general will of God and a specific will of God. Usually we want to know God's specific will for our lives but we ignore God's general will for our lives. How do we know God's specific will for our lives? We keep and live in God's general will for our lives. These short phrases are God's general will. It starts with the short phrases that we looked at yesterday and so we add to our list.
"Rejoice always;..." - For this to happen you have to be active in thinking larger than the situation that is happening is right in front of you. To do this you need to keep your eyes on the cross and the salvation given to you as a comparison to life.
"...pray without ceasing;..." - For this to happen you need to have a regular time with the Lord. Prayer needs to be a pattern in your life. It is your first resort rather than your last resort. Have you ever noticed when a brother or sister in Christ shares a burden with you and you don't stop and pray about it right there? Why didn't you? Wouldn't it be the most natural thing in the Christian world to do? I am guilty of this also.
"...in everything give thanks;..." - For this to happen we need to be grateful for what we have. We are content with what God has provided and we continue to keep what we have in His hands. A good practice today would be to go around your home and life and give thanks for what you see.
v.19-22 - Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.
Paul continues on with even more short phrases. It might be a good practice to write all these short phrases down from verse 14 on a sheet and put it in your Bible when you are thinking about God's will for your life. Let's handle these.
"Do not quench the Spirit;..." - We are not to quench the Spirit or grieve the Spirit but we are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and walk by the Holy Spirit. We quench the Spirit with sin and allowing sin to continue on in our lives.
"...do not despise prophetic utterances." - We get these utterances from our time with the Word of God and also from respected religious leaders referring to the Word of God. Where do we find the prophets? In the Bible and so we continue to follow it's instruction for our lives.
"But examine everything carefully;..." - We can hear and we can read wrong or not fully at times. We need to take what we hear and what we read in light of the whole Bible and its message of grace. This keeps us from cherry picking and proof texting.
"...hold fast to that which is good;..." - We are hearing and learning something from God and we are making sure it is in line with what God has said in His word but we still hold fast to what we know is good. Paul told Timothy to hold onto what his mother and grandmother had taught him as a child from the sacred writings. Anything added will be something that is to build upon what you already know and are doing.
"...abstain from every form of evil." - Paul gives one last phrase to be active in our resistance of evil. Learn how to say "no" to the devil. Put up guardrails in your life so that you stay 3 feet away from the line of sin to reference our Sunday night series. So let's put these general will of God for my life phrases together.
Quite a list to follow for the general will of God but remember this is the primer for you to know God's specific will for your life. We probably need to spend more time with this list in our lives so it will "be" our lives so that God has instruments to use in specific areas.
"Lord, the list keeps me on track and my eyes on You. Help me to follow You always and everyday and not make my relationship with You based on my feelings at the moment. May You be glorified as I follow Your general will for my life. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.16-18 - Rejoice always; praying without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Paul continues on with his short phrases of instruction at the end of this letter to the Thessalonians. Have you ever wondered what the will of God is for your life? There is general will of God and a specific will of God. Usually we want to know God's specific will for our lives but we ignore God's general will for our lives. How do we know God's specific will for our lives? We keep and live in God's general will for our lives. These short phrases are God's general will. It starts with the short phrases that we looked at yesterday and so we add to our list.
"Rejoice always;..." - For this to happen you have to be active in thinking larger than the situation that is happening is right in front of you. To do this you need to keep your eyes on the cross and the salvation given to you as a comparison to life.
"...pray without ceasing;..." - For this to happen you need to have a regular time with the Lord. Prayer needs to be a pattern in your life. It is your first resort rather than your last resort. Have you ever noticed when a brother or sister in Christ shares a burden with you and you don't stop and pray about it right there? Why didn't you? Wouldn't it be the most natural thing in the Christian world to do? I am guilty of this also.
"...in everything give thanks;..." - For this to happen we need to be grateful for what we have. We are content with what God has provided and we continue to keep what we have in His hands. A good practice today would be to go around your home and life and give thanks for what you see.
v.19-22 - Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.
Paul continues on with even more short phrases. It might be a good practice to write all these short phrases down from verse 14 on a sheet and put it in your Bible when you are thinking about God's will for your life. Let's handle these.
"Do not quench the Spirit;..." - We are not to quench the Spirit or grieve the Spirit but we are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and walk by the Holy Spirit. We quench the Spirit with sin and allowing sin to continue on in our lives.
"...do not despise prophetic utterances." - We get these utterances from our time with the Word of God and also from respected religious leaders referring to the Word of God. Where do we find the prophets? In the Bible and so we continue to follow it's instruction for our lives.
"But examine everything carefully;..." - We can hear and we can read wrong or not fully at times. We need to take what we hear and what we read in light of the whole Bible and its message of grace. This keeps us from cherry picking and proof texting.
"...hold fast to that which is good;..." - We are hearing and learning something from God and we are making sure it is in line with what God has said in His word but we still hold fast to what we know is good. Paul told Timothy to hold onto what his mother and grandmother had taught him as a child from the sacred writings. Anything added will be something that is to build upon what you already know and are doing.
"...abstain from every form of evil." - Paul gives one last phrase to be active in our resistance of evil. Learn how to say "no" to the devil. Put up guardrails in your life so that you stay 3 feet away from the line of sin to reference our Sunday night series. So let's put these general will of God for my life phrases together.
- admonish the unruly
- encourage the fainthearted
- help the weak
- be patient with everyone
- don't repay evil with evil
- seek after what is good
- rejoice always
- pray without ceasing
- give thanks in everything
- don't quench the Spirit
- don't despise prophetic utterances
- examine everything carefully
- hold fast to what is good
- abstain from every form of evil
Quite a list to follow for the general will of God but remember this is the primer for you to know God's specific will for your life. We probably need to spend more time with this list in our lives so it will "be" our lives so that God has instruments to use in specific areas.
"Lord, the list keeps me on track and my eyes on You. Help me to follow You always and everyday and not make my relationship with You based on my feelings at the moment. May You be glorified as I follow Your general will for my life. Amen."
Pastor Adam
Comments
Post a Comment