The Walk Devotion - Counting Steps
In Everything Give Thanks
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thessalonians 5:16-17
The week prior to Thanksgiving the Lord kept drawing me toward I Thessalonians. Several times I put it off and didn’t go there. Sometimes truth can be uncomfortable and painful and we are tempted to push it aside. But true liberty is found in truth. The scripture tells us to know the truth, and the truth will set us free (John 8:32). As disciples we are called to abide in His word, to hold fast to His teachings and live in accordance with them. As we abide in His word, make it our home, walking and living by it we will become intimately acquainted with the truth, and truth will set us free.
Finally making my way to I Thessalonians Ch. 5 I am immediately pulled in to verse 14 by the address,” Now we exhort you, brethren”, in other words this is the herald to listen up because we are about to be encouraged to proceed forward with specific instruction. The next verses can be read like bullet points, here they are simple and to the point:
Warn those who are unruly
Comfort the faint hearted
Uphold the weak
Be patient with all
See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone
Always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all
Rejoice always
Pray without ceasing
In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the Spirit
Do not despise prophecies
Test all things
Hold fast to what is good
Abstain from every form of evil.
Specific instructions indeed. Easy? Not always. Without the help of the Holy Spirit working in us I would venture to say impossible. Human nature negates our ability to make these actions possible. But here we are exhorted, encouraged to make these actions part of who we are in Christ Jesus. We are to allow the love of Christ and the Word that we are abiding in to have it’s way in our actions, thoughts, words. Not human nature, but the new nature that we have in Christ (II Cor. 5:17).
Number 9 of the bullet points brings us to the crux of the day, and I think of the whole of 2020.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing
In everything give thanks;
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We don’t always feel like rejoicing, our emotions, especially this 2020 year from a global perspective, have been bombarded with feelings of grief, sorrow, anxiety and fear. Personally we have had to stay attuned to guarding our hope and faith. As we move forward in obedience to the instructions given us to rejoice, it aligns us with the Spirit. As we push through the pain and run to the Father, crying out in prayer, sometimes not even having the words to say, Holy Spirit comes to our aid, the great comforter, and prays through us making intercession for us. That rejoicing, joy in action, becomes strength, rising powerfully to break through the darkness. Releasing the power of God to work through us in our circumstance.
Lastly we are told “In everything give thanks”. I heard a minister say once this does not mean we are to necessarily give thanks for the circumstance but to have a thankful heart in the midst of it. Recognizing God is in control, working it out for us, knowing that His mercy endures forever. Remembering and acknowledging His grace at work in our lives. He is a good Father, He is love, He will do exceedingly abundantly for us. Key to receiving is a thankful heart, a rejoicing heart, a heart attune to the Father.
This Thanksgiving season, choose to rejoice, choose to pray, choose to give Him thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.