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Rejoice always,

pray without ceasing,

in everything give thanks; 

for this is the will of God for you

in Christ Jesus. 

Do not quench the Spirit

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19

 

Good morning beloved sister!

The Apostle Paul is waking us up today with encouraging words to keep us in God’s will!

Sometimes we tend to make following God’s will to be mysterious and complicated, but here it is laid out in four simple sentences! 

These are not simply actions to be performed to please God, they are attitudes that will change our natural perspectives; manifesting supernatural love and the power of God in us!

How wonderfully wise is our God! When you step into the presence of God’s Spirit filled people who are rejoicing always, praising Him and giving thanks; the love, joy and peace of the Lord is contagious! It feels like a celebration when we gather together, and it is indeed a celebration! God’s love flows and we can freely love our neighbor, even the ones across the aisle, because we share the same Father!

With our Abba always with us, we have every reason to rejoice always! If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) Praying without ceasing means we can commune with our Father at all times, in every place! (Matthew 28:20) Therefore, in every situation, it is right and good to give thanks to Him who lives in us, with us and is victor over all! 

Yet, there is the admonition to not quench His Spirit. With all that joy, why would we want to do that? I daresay that we all know why. We are constantly tempted to fix a situation with our own words, wits or wisdom. Even when praying, “Lord, help me!”, we often look for the solution that appeals to our senses or hopes.

We should always want to keep our spiritual ears open to the voice of the Lord. He whispers to our spirits. We get an inkling, sometimes a compelling thought, sometimes a warning. This is the voice of the Helper, the promised One our Father sent to minister, guide and teach us. (John 14:26)

Just as children learn to be led by their parent’s voice, we learn how to discern the Holy Spirit’s voice through practice. When children don’t respond to the parent’s voice, there are often consequences. The same is true in the Spirit, if we become hard of hearing it will harden our hearts to God's voice. That is one way of “quenching the Spirit”.

God doesn’t expect us to obey perfectly, but He does expect us to learn. One of the most basic ways humans learn is by the method of trial and error. The Bible is full of such examples! I might be going out on a limb here, but maybe that’s why God sends His children trials, so we can learn from our errors!

Our lives are full of tests and temptations! We need the Holy Spirit to guide us, help us to endure and overcome such things! If our spiritual ears remain sensitive to His voice, He will lead us into victory!

There have been incidents in my life when I had to suffer the consequences of going my way, deaf to the voice of God admonishing me to turn to Him instead. Time after time I’ve had to humble myself and repent of my actions or words and of quenching His Holy Voice. Thankfully, the Lord has never given up on me! And He hasn’t given up on you either! 

Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up! (James 4:10) because that pesky test will eventually come around again, ordained by God’s loving hand. With His help, you will overcome it a little sooner. Eventually, as you learn to accept the Lord’s will in the trial, rather than fight against it, the Lord will begin to change your perspective, give you wisdom and the enjoyment of the good fruits of His Spirit! Most of all, you will know that it is your God giving you confidence, that He is working with you while in the midst of the trial, not just observing from afar.

Can you relate, my sister? 

Our Abba loves us so much! He knows that life in this fallen world is difficult and treacherous to our souls. He is with us to help us with our weaknesses. That is reason enough to rejoice always! Reason enough to pray without ceasing!! We can’t help but respond by giving thanks to Him in every situation, because He is with us! 

Hallelujah! Thank you Lord, You are ever faithful and true!

Keep loving Jesus and moving forward!

With love, your sister, Celeste