To Encourage You

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always . . .  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Have you ever wondered what God’s will is for you?  What does He want from you? What is your God-given purpose for being alive? 

A search of the Bible for the words “this is the will of God” or similar statements can make this very clear.  It’s not a mystery. Each one of us can know God’s will for us, for He’s told us in black and white on the pages of Scripture.  And His will is a wonderful thing, as we’ll discover as we search his Word to find it. 

One example is in the passage above from 1 Thessalonians 5 where God tells us to “Rejoice always.” What a wonderful command this is. God’s will for us is that we be full of joy.  And what makes this even more wonderful is that the Scriptures make very clear that God is at work to enable every Christian to actually fulfill His will. God can empower us, and in fact wants more than anything to equip us, to do His will. 

Philippians 2:13 tells us “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”  Do you want joy in your life, fullness of joy?  Do you want to share in the good pleasure of God?  You will never have this without Jesus in your life, and you will never lack it with Jesus in your life.  God is at work in every Christian to make them joyful people.  Obedience to His commands produces joy in our life.  Disobedience brings the loving discipline of God to correct us and again, produce joy in our life.  That joy is a supernatural thing, not conditioned on the circumstances of life. 

So, do you really want God’s joy in your life, every moment of every day?  That is one of the wonderful fruits that come to our lives when we follow the God Who loves us and gave Himself for us.  It’s all summed up very well as the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul tells us, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).