FRIDAY: THANKSGIVING FAITH

Nov 25, 2022
2 min read

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good,  reject every kind of evil.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Three things God wants me to do is to rejoice, pray, and give thanks—this is God’s will for me! Additionally, all these things are stated in the absolute—I am supposed to do these things all the time.

If I’m not continually doing these things, I may lose my focus on what God wants for me. In doing so, I can get side-tracked and quench the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.

How do I quench the Spirit? Every time I get anxious, angry, lose hope and am otherwise self-focused, I can easily get in the way of the work the Spirit wants to do in my life. I must remember Jesus said He is the Way, and I don’t want to get in His way.

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS

The truth is I get in the way more times than I realize. I don’t rejoice all the time; I don’t pray continually, and I don’t give thanks in every single circumstance. God, however, gives me immense grace in dealing with my rebellious nature.

When I do the things, I want to do instead of doing the things that God wants for me, I quench the blessings that God wants to bring to my heart—His comfort, love, and peace—and instead replace them with the sin of disobedience and its repercussions (i.e. anxiety, anger, and hopelessness).

Even though I disobey, God gives me grace. I don’t deserve His Divine patience, but He waits for me as I eventually learn that my way doesn’t bring fulfillment, but His way leads me to a place of rejoicing, prayer, and giving thanks. God wants me to be washed thoroughly by His peace, so all these unwanted attributes are washed away.

God desires to sanctify me through and through, making me more like Jesus every day. It is through His faithfulness that He sees me as blameless.

Lord, thank You for the opportunity to rejoice, pray, and give thanks to You continually and in every circumstance. It is through Your grace that I have life, and it is through Your life that I have eternal hope. Amen.

May you be blessed,

Chaplain Wayne Ruckman