Barbara's Bakin' N bits

Rejoicing In the Lord

(1 Thess 5:16-22 )

16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
19 Quench not the Spirit.
20 Despise not prophesyings.
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Hum what is God saying here in these few verses?
A. Rejoice evermore.

Rejoice ever more, now I am thinking of all the people in the world, Christians should be able to rejoice in all things, God is always in control of our lives and what goes on with us, so as he said Rejoice Evermore!! We should never fear what will happen to us we have too many promises from our Heavenly Father to ever doubt or not to feel like rejoicing in the lord.
B. Pray without Ceasing.
I read that verse as a new born Christian and thought to my self, wow how can you always be praying, does not God realize I am a wife and mother of 5 children; when there is so much to do, how can I pray, then as I grew in the lord I understood what he was saying here. Always be in a prayerful attitude, always be ready to call upon the lord in an instant when you need him, and if we stay in close contact with our heavenly father we always have complete access to the throne room, sweet eh.

C. In Everything Give Thanks.
Your proof that you are a matured Christian is when you can thank the lord in times of tragedy, or turmoil and know he is at hand to help you. Not to just thank him in the good times but in the really tough times too. I used to sing a song called God of the Mountain, and in it said, the God of the mountain is the God of the valley, and never a truer statement was made, he is always God, He is always wanting our thankfulness, by thanking him we acknowledge that he is God and that all things he gives is good and for our own good, and for a way of growing us.

D. Quench not the Spirit.
Now how can I quench the Spirit of God, does not he have complete control over me, well this is where our free will enters in. We can quench the Spirit easily, we can be blinded, by Satan, he can fill our minds with all sort of garbage, and this will quench the Spirit of God in moving. Your own mind thinking ungodly things is your worse enemy. You sit in a good church service, and really feel the Spirit moving, praising God and some coming to the altar, and all of a sudden you are wondering what I am gonna fix for dinner, well honey that just broke the Spirit moving for you. Some think it takes lots of worldly sins to to quench the Spirit, not, God said anything that is not of Faith is sin. that tells it all.

E. Despise not prophesyings.
The reference here seems to be to preaching. that when our pastors are preaching, let us listen carefully and with full attention, addressing mankind on the great duties of religion, and of publishing salvation, is to be God’s great ordinance for converting the world. There is nothing else that has so much power over mankind as the preaching of the gospel: there is no other institution of heaven or earth, among men, that is destined to exert so wide and permanent an influence as the Christian ministry.

F. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Never be quick to believe any man, no matter how good a preacher he may be, he is still human, we need to prove the things of God's word, put them into action, prove that they are from above and are godly. Examine by the words of Christ, and by the doctrines which, from time to time, have been delivered unto you in preaching and writings. Try the spirits, the different teachers, by the word of God.
Hold fast that which is good. Whatever in these prophesyings has a tendency to increase your faith, love, holiness, and usefulness, that receive and hold fast. There were prophets or teachers even at the time of Christ who professed to be of God, and yet were not.

G. Abstain from all appearance of evil.
This is just as it sounds, abstain from all appearance of evil, the human mind is a devious function, my husband always says he would not turn around in a bar parking lot, even though it may be innocent, and he would never take a drink, about the time he pulls out brother so and so from the neighborhood sees him, and what is he to think, well of course he thinks the worse, that he had been in the bar drinking. If we dress in skimpy clothing the ones who do not know us, think we may be very slinkly and worldly, so let us always dress, act, go and speak as God would be happy with, simply obey his word, and us his guide lines for your life, you cannot go wrong with a teacher like the Holy Spirit.

Well I have enjoyed doing this little study, hope you have enjoyed it too, God bless you as you serve him where you live, and do what he calls you to do.

Be a blessing to some one today, Barbara