Thank you for taking the time to read the sermon this week. I am glad that a few more people are reading the messages again, and I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to post these messages.
Last week, we learned about some of the expectations that Paul had for those who were waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus. We are to be people of love who live at peace with one another. We are to encourage one another, and we are to forgive one another.
Today, we look at three of the more familiar verses in the book of I Thessalonians. Let us look at each one of these verses individually. First of all verses 16 states, "Rejoice always." In some ways, this may seem like a hard thing to do. When bad things happen to us, we can find it hard to be in a spirit of rejoicing. However, as believers in the Lord Jesus, we always have something to rejoice about. No matter what type of circumstances we find ourselves in, we can rejoice in the fact that our sins are forgiven. We can rejoice in the fact that we are filled with the Spirit. We can rejoice in the fact that Jesus Christ is in our hearts. We can feel His love for us, and we can have a relationship with Him. We can always rejoice knowing that we have eternal life. No matter what happens to us in this life, when this life is over, we will be with Jesus forever in the place that He has prepared for us.
In verse 17, Paul tells us to "pray continually." I don't think that Paul is saying that we are to spend 24 hours a day in prayer. I think that he is saying a couple of things here. First of all, we need to keep praying. We shouldn't let a day go by without coming to the Lord in prayer at least once. We can praise Him for who He is and for what He has done. We can bring our needs and the needs of others to Him. We can ask that He intervene in situations in the world. We can pray for peace.
Another point I believe that Paul is making is that we should always be in a prayerful mindset. What I mean by this is that we should be people who pray throughout the day. When we see a need, we bring it immediately before the throne of grace. We pray for our needs throughout the day. We pray for our family members and friends when we know that they need help or are going through some type of difficult circumstance. Prayer is a major factor in our lives. We need to be always praying for we know that the Lord does hear and answer prayer.
Finally, we come to verse 18 that tells us, "Give thanks in all circumstances." I'm glad that the NIV translates it this way. Some versions translate this verse as in all things give thanks which often leads to confusion. Paul is not telling us to be thankful that bad things have come into our lives. We don't have to thank God that we just had our house blown away by a storm or that we are sick. What we do need to realize is that even in these hard times, we have things that we can be thankful for as those who know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
At all times and in all circumstances, we can be thankful that we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We can be thankful for the fact that we know Jesus as our friend. We can express thanks that God has given us His word in the Bible. Even in the hard times, most of us can find a lot of other things to be thankful for.
I know that even when I face hard times, I can be thankful that Jesus gave me the best friend I could ever have on this earth. He gave me my friend Toby. I can be thankful that I had believing parents who introduced me to the Lord Jesus Christ and provided me with a Christian education. I am thankful that I can read and listen to music.
We need to be thankful to the Lord for the good things that He has brought into our lives. We also need to thank the Lord when we receive an answer to prayer. Many of us ask the Lord for things, but then we forget to say thank you. I am working on doing better at this.
Let us be people who rejoice and give thanks. Let us be people of prayer knowing that the Lord hears us and wants to help us in all things. Amen.
Prayer Requests
I have been feeling just a little bit better this week. Keep praying that I will feel better and better. Thank you.
Keep praying for peace in Ukraine. We also need to pray for peace in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Ethiopia.
Please pray for the people of Pakistan. I just can't get my head around how bad the flooding was there. Pray that they will receive the aid that they need. Also, pray for those in Florida, Puerto Rico, Canada, Nicaragua and other places in Central America that have been affected by the bad storms.
We need to keep praying for an end to coronavirus. Also, I am thankful that I heard that monkeypox is on the decline here in the US. However, other nations are still having problems. Let us keep praying for an end to this disease. Pray that the sick will recover.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Senegal and Kyrgyzstan. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue in I Thessalonians. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will try to have a midweek post. May God bless you all.
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