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11-28-13. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28. IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES- my devotional

11-28-13. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28. IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES- my devotional

thank you jesus

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Key Verse: 5:18                                                                                                                                                            Kevin E. Jesmer

 

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (ESV)

 

Dear Lord, heavenly Father, thank you for the so many reasons to give thanks to you today. There are so many reasons to be thankful and they are not just for material blessings and physical comfort and security. There is much more to be thankful for in the spiritual realm, like the forgiveness of sins, the assurance of eternal life in Christ, the truth that guides our hearts and minds each day, the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement from spiritual mentors in the faith, the adventure and excitement of living a missional life, the love of God and family and the Christian family, the church, the mission Dei (a unique gift given to me and my family), the provision of God for all of our needs, the excitement of God forming new missions movements among us, the release of our hearts from the things that bind us, and bring us into the freedom of Christ, the “oneness” that you bring top our marriage, the steady and faithful work that you bring about in our children and friends that we love and pray for, the deep meaning that you bring to all aspects of our live, the freedom from fear, the mighty deeds that you bring forth in our lives, showing us the beauty of teamwork that comes in  The list goes on and on. We thank you Lord for all your eternal blessings. We need you Lord. We can not live without. May the whole world discover you and live in you and your wonderful love. Guide me with your word today. I pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!

Part 1: How Being Thankful Affects Our Relationships (12-15).

Giving thanks to God is crucial to building and maintaining our relationships with others in the church. Verses 12-15, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”

Thanking God should start with thanking the people who deserve it-those who work hard to care for and admonish us. Look at verses 12-13, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.” (ESV) I thank God for the many people whom God has placed in my life to mentor me. God is definitely working through them all. Over the last year there were several mentors that have been helping me and my family. Pastor Steve and Dr John Armstrong, Pastor Teddy and Liz, Dr Ben and Christy, Les W. in Ontario, to name a few. (I am sorry of I missed someone.) They labor hard among us. They labor hard for the body of Christ. I am definitely blessed because of them and could make the smooth transition to our new mission in life, because of their counseling and encouragement.

When we’re thankful, we can live in peace with each other, giving thanks for one another for our lives of faith. It is hard to keep criticizing one another if we are actually giving thanks for one another. I can even give thanks to one person whom I was at odds with for 7 years, because he came and asked for forgiveness. His humble act paved the way for a new relationship. Definitely, one component to be at peace with one another is to be thankful for one another, especially for those who have been mentoring us in the Lord and for those who have come along side us in our Christian journey.

Being thankful doesn’t make us withdraw; rather it gets us involved in giving proper help to people according to their needs. Look at verses 14-15, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” I agree that living a thankful life in Christ, does lead to loving involvement in others’ lives. It will lead us to greater engagement and greater concern. It will lead us to genuine love for God and for one another. My tendency is to withdraw and become a loner. I also have a tendency to be impatient with others. It was linked to my trying to live according to my own agenda and building up a ministry that would bring glory to my name, instead of Christ. But I repented of this and God is helping me to be more supportive of others and more patient. God is helping me to engage with my community and the world as an expression of my thanksgiving to the Lord. Thanksgiving to the Lord is a power source for this.

Part 2: “This is God’s Will For You” (16-28).

Let’s explore the foundations of our Thanksgiving. Look at verses 16-28, “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

I would like to explore the foundations of my thanksgiving from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28. Real Christian living isn’t heavy and somber; it’s always joyful, prayerful and thankful, and so attractive to others. Look at verses 16-17, “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

There is great joy in Jesus when we learn to trust in Jesus and thank God even in the hard times. God’s will for us is especially to give thanks, even when these bad things are happening. When we’re about to complain, we need to decide to give thanks to God instead. We thank him, by faith, even when we suffer, because we know he loves us and is working in all things for our good. (Romans 8:28) This spirit doesn’t come from our circumstances, but from a real relationship with Jesus. There are some difficult times for us, with jobs, home devaluations, cars living on the edge, interpersonal relationships, negative emotions, etc, but I have hope in the Lord and can thank God through it all. I can give thanks to God when I started loving Jesus and people more than my mission. I can find joy as I learn to let God be God in my life and allow his will and mission unfold in the life of my family. I can be joyful when I am set free from unreal expectations linked to my own desire to build a church, for my own glory and meaning in life. I can be joyful that no matter what happens I am getting closer and closer to eternal life in the kingdom of God, and nothing can stop me from getting there now that I remain in my Lord and Savior Jesus. Yes, there are many reasons to be thankful even when bad things are happening.

If real Christian life isn’t heavy and somber, then why was I heavy and somber for so many years?! The answer is in verse 19, “Do not quench the Spirit.” My legalism was quenching the spirit. I loved my mission and seeking meaning of life, more than I loved Jesus and people. I quenched the spirit because my greatest hope was to expand my church and to find someone who would come alongside me in my somber journey. I quenched the spirit because I was telling God what my mission was in life, and insisting on it, and not letting God lead me on the mission that he had for me. I taught about Christ and the Kingdom of God and the grace of God but I was not living the things I taught. I was in a sense but “not” in another sense. I was taking hold of some good things and refusing to take hold of many wonderful treasures that God had for my life. I did a great job quenching the spirit and a good job maintaining my somber spirit. But that is all in the past because of the grace of God. Now my heart can be filled with thanksgiving.

I thank God that he did a great work in my heart. Look at verse 23, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  The way to be set free from the somber Christian life is to let God sanctify our hearts by his spirit. He will impart his peace through the forgiveness of sins. He will keep our hearts as a dwelling place for his love and peace. Thank you, Lord, for your sanctifying work in my heart throughout this last year. It is only by your grace that I could be released from the somber life that I had built for myself and be filled with thanksgiving.

Our thanksgiving is not some cliché without a foundation or a source. No. It is based on the faithfulness of our God. Look at verse 24, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”  Our faithful God is the one who will make us ready one day to meet Jesus again. The basis of my faith is the faithfulness of God. If it were up to me, I could not be faithful. I could not provide for the family. I could not stand as a father, husband and a misson’s co-ordinator for the North and as a Art of Marriage facilitator etc. I could not do it. My years would pass simply trying to survive. How could I ever procure the forgiveness of sins and find my way to eternal life in the kingdom of God? I could never do that. Where could I find the joy of following Jesus? Only in Christ. God is faithful. He is the Creator. He is the Resurrection and the Life. He raises the dead. He is the ruler of history and nations and he is our God. Thank you Lord. All things are possible in you. May we trust in your faithful love and power always as we journey through this world to the next.

Prayer: Lord, help me to remember to thank those who deserve it. Thank you Jesus for giving me such a wonderful life-giving  relationship with you. Help me by your grace to give thanks in all circumstances.

One Word: Give thanks in all circumstances. 




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