1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

1Thessalonians5:16-22 is critically important for our lives to have the kind of endurance and perspective that Jesus alone can provide for us,and God DESIRES for us!Satan knows this,and he is a vicious thief that never gives up atTEMPTing to take from us what God DESIRES for us.These verses say,”Be joyful always,pray continually,give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good,avoid every kind of evil.”The 1st thing Satan is going to atTEMPT to Rob us of is the RIGHT kind of joys in our life.He uses many tactics,one of the most effective is to TEMPT us away from the very things that bring enduring eternal/REAL joys,with things that are fleeting with false joys that rot;fade;destroy;and always lie to us about how they ultimately satisfy(they cannot).The 2nd thing addressed n these verses is what happens to us when we accept the TEMPTING just mentioned->we lose our thankfulness for what God has done through Christ and for WHO HE IS & for HIS PROMISES!This then leads to a waning relationship with The Lord and His Spirit that lives inside those who trust in Christ(we put out the Spirit’s fire in our lives).This leads to our treating God’s Word/His Prophecies with conTEMPT....We can come against these tactics of the devil by “testing everything” of it’s TRUTHfulness....testing everything with The Word of God,with the HELP of His Spirit(praying continually),and then avoiding every kind of evil(including those kinds that are sneaky in how they cloak themselves in the private times of our lives and thoughts).These verses give us a step by step “process” of how to live our lives aware of what Satan is always up to;the signs to look for in our lives that will be 1st indicators of how “healthy” our relationship with The Lord is....and how to shore up our hearts/minds/lives from the atTEMPTS of the devil in and around our lives too rob us of what Hod DESIRES for us to have.Dear Lord,I pray for Your Help in fanning the flame of Your Spirit’s Presence in my life....help me to hold on to what is TRULY GOOD,& to defend against all else that the devil will atTEMPT to use in my life,& lie about...help me to avoiding every kind of evil...

1 Thessalonians 5

One of the most significant “traits” in determining what kind of heart/mind/life that we have is HOPE!What we set our hopes on,&/or anchor our hopes to will pretty much end up being what shapes our heart/mind/life.If our hope(s) are shaped by temporal things,as we get older we will tend to have a hope that fades as “the temporal” fades.If our hope(s) are on things that cannot give us peace &/or joy that endure without “deteriorating” in any way,we will become disillusioned.If our hope(s) are placed on what we need from people,our relationships will wax and wane,and fail to endure.The “kind” of hope we have will determine whether we have lives lived in darkness,or lives lives in the light.Lives with the wrong kind of hope will always fade into darkness!But,the with the RIGHT kind of hope lives will always glow in The Light...& have the peace & joy surpassing all understanding!This is what 1Thessalonians4:13 -5:11 talks about.The first challenge with finding the RIGHT kind of hope is PERSPECTIVE!The RIGHT kind of hope is ETERNALLY BASED!Then we continue to build our hope with TRUTHS,the TRUTHS that are ETERNAL!THE FOUNDATION for these is The Gospel of Jesus Christ!Unless our hope(s) are built on this FOUNDATION,our hope & our lives will fade into DARKNESS...as sons&daughters of the DARKNESS.But when our hope(s) are built on THE FOUNDATION of The Gospel of Jesus Christ,as we live our lives we will move from the shadows and into The Light...we are sons&daughters of The Light.If we are sons&daughters of The Light,these verses in 1Thessalonians are encouraging us to live like we are of The Light,and not like we are sons&daughters of the darkness.When we live like sons&daughters of the darkness,our HOPE will fade as the way we walk/talk/act/think,etc. becomes more like the darkness....and our perspective will become increasingly temporal and more&more selfish, & arrogant(1Thessalonians5;4-8,”But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.).Once we have the right FOUNDATION,then we must build upon it with the RIGHT INSTRUCTIONS...seeking to know these TRUTHS through God’s Word,& His Spirit,& His people.Dear Lord,I confess that I have the wrong foundation for a lot of my heart/mind/life...a lot of “hope(s)” based on things that will not endure/temporal things and/or relationships that should not be a basis of the RIGHT kinds of HOPE.I pray for Your help in identifying these areas through Your Mercy/Grace/Love as I give You all of my life for Your Will to be done...for Your “building” to occur in my life.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

After Paul’s turnaround in his life from a life of religious piety to a life honoring Christ’s Mercy & Grace,he had a turnaround in his heart/mind/life FROM a perspective of having many reasons to “feel like” his life was better than others and that there were many reasons for others to honor him because of his knowledge,financial security,position, and heritage.Before his turnaround,Paul used his life and his words in pious ways,making every effort to condemn those “less pious” than himself and those that were a “part of his pious church”.Afterwards,Paul’s “opinion” of Himself and others “turned inside-out”!His life and words became UNpious as he realized more and more of his personal dependence on Christ...,Paul became a humble “representative” for Christ...a humble witness for Christ and what only Jesus is able to do for people.Paul’s humbled life became a living witness of what absolute dependence on Jesus would do in and through a person->the TRUE confidence,TRUE peace,& ENDURING joy that only a life FULLY dependent on Jesus can EXPECT.In 1Thessalonians4:11-12, it says,”Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”These verses are encouraging us to have lives that “live inside-out”...to be diligent about the ways that we first take care of our personal “condition” and how we grow our personal relationship with Jesus,and then  our “daily life” will become a positive influence on those around us because of the ways we live/talk/act/love/walk as we become more and more like Jesus in the ways we live/talk/act/love/walk.Being humbled as Paul was is the key to a life like this!Any amount of pride and/or arrogance will definitely be an impedance to our lives becoming what these verses are calling us to become.Dear Jesus,these verses open my eyes to realize how many pious thoughts/words/actions/expressions I have had in my life and continue to have!Forgive me!And open my eyes to my own/personal dependence on Your Mercy&Grace,so that I am constantly undergoing an inside-out change in my thoughts/words/action/expressions as I live/talk/act/love/walk through every day.

1 Thessalonians 4

As Christians,in our heart we will know or “feel a tug” about the right thing to do or think,or we will know/remember what God’s Word says about something! When we choose to do or think something other than this knowledge &/or tug, 1Thessalonians4:1-8 says that we are rejecting God in our life!(“...we instructed you how to live in order to please God....It is God’s will that you should be sanctified....that each you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable....For God did not call you to be impure,but to live a holy life.Therefore,he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God,who gives you the Holy Spirit.”)God gives us the Holy Spirit to be our HELPER!Too help us seek the righteous&honorable influences & instructions instead of being swayed by any other influences & instructions.When we accept our HELPER’S “help” we will seek the righteous & honorable influences & instructions,and reject/turn away from the influences & instructions that are NOT righteous & honorable->those common to the ways of the world.When we instead succumb to the influences & instructions that are NOT righteous & honorable,we reject/turn away from God and HIS HELP!And we begin a “walk” that will distance us from a righteous & honorable relationship with God our Father in Heaven & The Lord Jesus Christ.Dear Lord,I pray for Your HELPER to be what I am most sensitive to in my heart/mind/life.Please help me to know when I begin to drift,and help me to continually make the “adjustments” in my heart/mind/life that will keep me from rejecting You!

1 Thessalonians 2

When we ask Jesus to be our Savior AND Lord, He places His Spirit into our heart/life,as The Lord promises in Ezekiel36:24-27,”....I will sprinkle clean water on you,and you will be clean;I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.And I will put MY Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to follow my laws.”As HIS Spirit “moves” us to seek and follow HIS Ways,we will have a growing hunger for HIS Word.In 1Thesallonians2:13 Paul talks about how GOD,through HIS Spirit indwelling in our lives,we will be changed from the inside out to be more like Christ...and GROW an intimate relationship with Our Father in Heaven->”And we thank God continually because,when you RECEIVED the word of God,which you heard from us,you accepted it not as the word of men,but as it ACTUALLY IS,THE WORD OF GOD,which is AT WORK IN you WHO BELIEVE.”.This means that when I neglect my time studying God’s Word,or don’t sincerely seek to know God’s Heart as HIS Word works within me to reveal HIS Heart to me/within me...,then I am in essence avoiding or even denying THE WORK of God’s Spirit in my life.This results in challenges of True Faith,and a True Belief,that lead to challenges to my life of having a sincere NEW Heart growing to be healthy in my life.This leads to  many claiming to be Christians having lives that are not much different from the “impurities” of the  world around us that Ezekiel36:24-27 says we will be cleansed of when we decided to Trust Christ.If our lives are not being changed/impacted by the work of God’s Spirit in me...I gotta ask the question,”what is at work in me”!?If my life is not undergoing the “metamorphosis” of God’s Work In me....then I need to sound a personal ALARM in my life that opens up the cleansing powers of God’s Spirit in my life,& redirects my heart/mind/life to seek God’s Word with my heart/mind/life.Dear Lord,I have had periods of stagnation in my heart/mind/life with You...and I can look at these and realize not only what I have missed at times,but also how my heart became hardened like that which Ezekiel talks about.Jesus,tune my heart/mind/life to Your Spirit living living in me...and stir a desire in me to feast on Your Word as sustenance for life...nourishment for my heart/mind/life...and may I also seek Your Work in my life.