Words to Live By ...


1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
 "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

As Paul closes out his letter to the Thessalonians he says these words. The common theme is some form of the word "all".  Rejoice ALLways. Pray continuALLy. Give thanks is ALL circumstances.  Paul knows these new believers are concerned about Jesus' return in their lifetimes.  He knows that they will be facing persecution for their beliefs.  He knows some of the brothers and sisters will grow idle and cause problems in the body of Christ.  But through it all he admonishes them to focus on these three disciplines.  

Rejoice always.  Paul says this as well in Philippians 4, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice."  Paul is not saying that everything is going to go well all the time.  But we can "re-joice"!  We can return to the "joy of the Lord", which is our strength.  Joy is a byproduct of the Holy Spirit as we stay rooted in Christ.  

Pray continually.  The bible says this more than once too.  Sometimes we have our evening or morning prayer time and we think we are done for the day.  But Paul is calling on us to have a posture of prayer. As things happen during our day we can offer them up in prayer.  If there is a burden in our heart we can continue in prayer for ourselves or others.  

Give thanks in all circumstances.  There will be circumstances that we might not be thankful for, but we know that God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to His purpose.  When we give thanks we remind ourselves of God's faithfulness even when we were not faithful.  I find some people who have the least can be the most thankful, and others who have the most are the least thankful. 

If you notice these are not feelings but behaviors.  We may not feel like rejoicing. We may not feel like praying.  We may not feel like giving thanks. But we can do it because this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus.  We can do this "in Christ Jesus" as we abide in him.  Take some time tonight or tomorrow practicing one of these disciplines.  Jesus is our example.  Jesus modeled these things his whole life even on the cross we even prayed for those who crucified him.  These are good words for us to live by.  

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