Thought for the day: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (Reference 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV)
When Paul wrote to “rejoice always”, he wasn’t trying to be facetious, he was saying instead of walking around with gloom and doom, look for the Joy that Christ has given us. We find that Joy in remembering that He have us Hope through His Death and Resurrection that He gave us life and that’s where we rejoice always.
It’s easy to get caught up in life with the woes around us. We could let false accusations get us down. We could let others hurts affect our joy. We can even let the pressure of deadlines interfere with our focus. When we learn to rejoice always, we won’t let those things interfere.
This is also one of the reasons he said to pray continuously or without ceasing. We learn that our perspectives on things may not necessarily be right. We learn that we may have the wrong focus on them. It should also help us to remember that in praying like this, we will pray for others and for our concerns as well. Yes, it’s ok to pray for our concerns and needs.
In praying we hopefully learn what God is teaching us. We learn that it is not on our own power that we can resolve “The World’s Problems”. We lead others to see that He has The Power to take care of our needs. They may not be meet when we want them to or expect them to. He will deliver when He sees it’s the right time, but, we need to ask Him to Help and Provide. I joke with a friend about how God is the 11:59:59 hour God. In other words it’s in His Timing not mine.
In our time of rejoicing, praying and giving thanks, we develop a closer knit Relationship with Our Father and Our Lord. We learn more about Him and can share about His Love to others. This develops our testimony of what He has done in our lives.
In talking to another brother this morning, George Mueller was brought up. He was a prayer warrior who started orphanages and later, his world wide travelling evangelistic ministry that God started him on when he was 73. At a time when modern pastors retire God started him in an entirely new ministry. Hearing of the example of trust he had in Jesus providing for the needs, should be an inspiration for all of us. Example of what he would do is that when it was time for the meal, there wasn’t any food in the house. He would tell the children to set the table for the meal and then they would sit down and start to give thanks for their meal. There was a knock on the door and someone was bringing them food saying that they were led to bring the food for them and, it was already prepared.
Let’s reflect on this today and remember what He has done for all of us. Remember to pray for others as well as our needs. Rejoice in all things and give thanks for His Love. Love you all.
