...great support...great advice...

“12 But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; 13 esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.

23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. 25 Beloved, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28.

Over the years people have told me that the bible doesn’t really give practical spiritual help. They feel it is more of a history book. When I hear people say that, I want to hug them and beg them to look again at the Bible. Today's text, for example, has some incredible and helpful encouragement to us all. Listen to this: “13 Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them” 1 Thess. 5:13-14.

What a life we could live if we lived with others in peace! It still blows my mind that more and more countries are developing, for example, nuclear and chemical weapons, and not one world leader is speaking to the world, begging the world leaders to do away with these kinds of destructive weapons. We are all just continuing to move down the road until we all have such destructive weapons of total annihilation! There is no peace in this direction. So today we hear the brand new Christian Church begging people to “13 Be at peace among yourselves.” That’s pretty practical spiritual advice and help!

And then we read: “15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thess. 5:15-18. Again, what advice to live our lives emulating! Don’t spend your life getting even with others. Live your life doing good to everyone. Be happy and rejoice! And keep praying!

The one I like the most is the word that tells us, “18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thess.5:18.

Dear friends, lay down your emotional arms and give thanks to God for your life because this is what God wants you to do. Pass this along to someone in your life who needs to hear this.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.