Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
December 18, 2023
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
16 Rejoice always. 17 Pray continually. 18 Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Don’t suppress the Spirit. 20 Don’t brush off Spirit-inspired messages, 21 but examine everything carefully and hang on to what is good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil. 23 Now, may the God of peace himself cause you to be completely dedicated to him, and may your spirit, soul, and body be kept intact and blameless at our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming. 24 The one who is calling you is faithful and will do this.
Good Morning. Rejoice! The time is near!
I often reflect upon Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in every situation. I consider these three verses part of my mantra for life. However, this morning, I would like to consider verses 20-21: Don’t brush off Spirit-inspired messages, 21 but examine everything carefully and hang on to what is good.
My first thought is, “Why would we brush off Spirit-inspired messages?” These seem to be what we should be seeking. Have you ever done an Internet search? Perhaps you were looking for an explanation for some symptoms that you were experiencing. Most of us have probably done this type of search. Here is where we run into problems with this type of search. If we find an answer that we don’t like, i.e., we should lose weight or get more exercise, then we keep searching until we find the answer that we like. One that fits what we want to hear or do. In other words, the answer that matches our preconceived idea.
If we receive a Spirit-inspired message with which we are uncomfortable, do we brush it off and continue on our path seeking the “true” message? What if God calls us to walk into church next Sunday and share our testimony? Are we ready to do that, or do we say to ourselves that we must have misunderstood the message? Like the Internet search that suggests we do something we don’t want to do, do we read the Bible looking for the answer we want to hear that confirms our agenda?
The second part of our study is to examine everything carefully and hold on to what is good. The tough part of this is what are our criteria for what is good. Is something good because we like it, or is something good because we need it? It is easy to like what we want, but it can be hard to like what we need when what we need differs from what we want to do.
These challenges are part of our faith journey, which we are not called to accomplish by ourselves. If we return to the first three verses, rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in every situation, we will find “how” God prepares us to live our lives. Only by the grace of God may we dedicate our lives to living the life God has planned for us.
Gracious God, Thank you for this beautiful gift of life. We have many wants that we pursue vigorously. Help us recognize Your Spirit-inspired messages and lead us to accepting them. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: Through my perseverance, God can change me.
Rejoice! Pray! Give Thanks! Pastor Liz
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