Rejoice ever more. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

This verse tells us three wills of God in Christ Jesus concerning believers: rejoicing, praying and giving thanks. If we can practice like this, we can maintain a normal relationship with God and have progress in spiritual life.

Rejoicing ever more shows that God hopes that we can have joy in our hearts. But we are always troubled by many things, such as our family not being at peace, the suffering of our illness and the unpleasant incidents between us and our neighbors. We cannot solve our problems by ourselves, but we can rejoice in the Lord. The Lord is the source of our joy. We can rejoice ever more as long as we live in the Lord and use His words as the guidance in our life.

God hopes that we can pray without ceasing and draw near to Him. Prayer is unconstrained by any form. We can pray at any time or place, telling our actual state and troubles to God and asking God to protect us, enlighten and illuminate us.

In every thing giving thanks—no matter in ease or in adversity, we should confirm that it is arranged by the Lord and it possesses His good will. Though we cannot understand that in a short time, we can benefit from them as time goes on. So in every thing give thanks and never lash out against Heaven and man alike, thus we’ll be full of joy. May God guide us to have progress in these three aspects.

Share a passage of God’s words: “In the Bible are the words ‘Rejoice ever more. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks’ (1Ts 5:16-18). Rejoicing ever more, is this easy to achieve? This must be put into practice, you must make it into reality. Praying without ceasing—this is a source of, and path to, rejoicing ever more, and in this you will be able to give thanks in every thing. When you have joy and know thankfulness, when you know that all God does is good, and know how much grace you have gained from God, and how many blessings you have gained from Him, then you will know to be thankful to God. Only when you have a heart such as this, and knowledge such as this, will you be able to truly obey God, have love for God in your heart, be satisfied, and know to obey all of the environments arranged by God. You’ve remembered these words, yes? Some words are but little words, yet they are indispensable to the process by which people’s lives grow. It is not the case that people can be saved and sated by abstruse doctrine and great messages; if people are able to put these small words into practice, and do so often, then they can make you change, they can transform you, they can turn your states around, and make you strong, you won’t be timid, you won’t retreat, they will turn you into someone with confidence. What were those several words? (Rejoice ever more. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks.)”