This Is God's Will For You?

You should take your Bibles this morning and turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 as we continue understanding God as He speaks to us from this little epistle. You follow as I begin reading in verse 16 to the end of the chapter. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 16. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything. Hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Let's pray. Father, would you now direct our thinking. challenge us and give us hope. Father, as we look at these commands, we realize these are what you expect from us and so we pray that we would change because of it. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ who has bridged the gap so that we have peace with you and their obedience flows from hearts of love and gratitude.

Come to you now, asking you to work for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, amen. One thing that's fun about, sort of fun, yeah, it's fun, about grandparenting is watching your children parent their children. It's always kind of an interesting thing. So we're over at the Parker's, let's say. We over at the Parker and Clarence starts complaining and kind of crying a little bit because Henry has a toy that he wants to play with And Lee his dad turns to him and says Clarence, you need to have a happy heart.

And if you don't have a happy heart, you know what's going to happen. You say, wait a minute. Just wait one minute. how can you tell someone that they have to have a happy heart and what is this business about if you don't get happy you get punished i mean like there's a threat of punishment can it produce happiness what what is that all about what makes you think that that's going to produce happiness well as i look at our text this morning i see that god demands certain things from us what are they let's look at them verse 16 and through 18 rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

God expects joy, prayer, and thanksgiving from us. Wait a minute, one of you may say to me, you mean when my marriage is horrendous, my job is unbearable, school is more pressurized than it's ever been before, and life is defined by hardship and trial, God expects from us joy, prayer, and thanksgiving? Okay, I may get the prayer part, but the joy and thanksgiving part, you serious?

Yep. Yep. God's serious about that. Now, as we come to the end of this letter, the Apostle Paul lays down a number of commands. This started at the beginning of chapter four, you recall, and he's covered such things as sexual purity, hard work, loving one another, encouraging one another and preparing for the day of the Lord then beginning in verse 15 he gives us these quick commands in short bursts it's like boom boom boom boom boom boom boom these real quick commands I mean we do this all the time it's like when you're leaving the house you say to your kids okay now before I get okay now before I go I want you to understand something before I get home tonight right I want you to mow the lawn burn the trash plant the radishes and start cleaning the garage.

Okay, you got it? All right, goodbye. All right, that's kind of what the Apostle Paul's doing here. He's giving us these real quick commands, this staccato, these boom, boom boom commands So Paul says respect and love your leaders Take care of one another Rejoice pray give thanks don quench the spirit read this letter kiss one another and pray for us okay It's one of the commands I'm telling you, so we'll get to it.

Alright? So this morning, let's take a look at the next three quick commands. and note note this you can obey them if three things you can obey them if you know why you should obey you can obey them if you know what you should obey and you can obey them if you know what hinders you from obeying them so those are the three areas we're going to look at today first what does god want us to know know why you should obey now why should you even need a reminder to obey the commandments of God? Why should you need a reminder to rejoice and to pray and to give thanks?

Well, remember that these folks obviously needed the reminder because of all that they were facing. You can't look at these commands without looking at the wider context of the book. And we've been through that book, so we know what's going on. You remember that the whole reason for this letter is that Paul and Silas and Timothy are worried about these people.

They're under intense pressure. They're being persecuted. Things are happening to them, and they were worried that they had abandoned the faith. It was that tough for them. And so with that in mind, they needed these reminders. You remember they faced incredible suffering.

In chapter 1, verse 6, he said, You received the word in much affliction. Right? In chapter 1, verses 9 and 10, he says, You've turned away from idols to the living God. Now remember what that means. to turn away from the gods of that day was to set yourself up to be ostracized by your community and your family. It was for your employment opportunities to dry up.

It was for things that are not good were going to happen to them because of their switch of allegiances. In chapter 2, verse 14, in chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, you remember he says, you're experiencing the persecution and the suffering that other churches in Judea have suffered, and you are experiencing that which God has destined for you. And so we know that they're in the pressure cooker.

They're going through the grinder, if you will. They need reminders to rejoice and to pray and to give thanks Now I would suggest to you that you need reminders to rejoice pray and give thanks because life is not a bowl of cherries for anybody Am I right in that? Oh, you guys. Everything's just happy for you, right? There's no sorrow or hurt in your life.

Is that what you're indicating to me? I know it's not true, right? It isn't that way? When your marriage gets troubled and hard, when work becomes insufferable, when school pressures overtake you, when you get that diagnosis that changes your life forever or what's left of your life, when nothing seems good or right, will you still rejoice? Will you pray?

Will you give thanks? that was going to happen with you well let's think about that together why should you obey that he says because this is the will of god in christ for you this is the will of god in christ for you now i believe that little clause that little statement this is the will of god in christ for you goes not just with the statement on thanksgiving it goes with all three of these commands. We must rejoice, pray, and give thanks because that is the will of God for you. What's the will of God?

The will of God is what He expects from you, what He commands you, what He demands from you. So if you want to know God's will, look at what He says, what He commands you to do. But notice, so this is why we ought to rejoice, pray, and give thanks. Why? Because that's God's will. that's what he expects. I want you to think about that for a moment.

Don't just think about that as, oh boy, now we're going to get a sermon about rejoicing when we're suffering. What you need to think about is, why is that God's will for you? Because he wants a distinctive people. When life is hard and you're rejoicing, do you think you look distinctive? Do you? Of course you do.

The world doesn't rejoice in tribulation. The world doesn't pray. The world certainly doesn't give thanks when things aren't going its way. This is God's will for us because it sets us apart. It sets us apart. Listen, you know what?

When I was growing up as a kid, we were told things like, you know what will set you apart from God? the world. I'll tell you what will set you apart from the world. You don't go to dances, you don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't go to movies, and you don't mess around with your girlfriend. That'll set you apart. I don't think I ever heard a sermon about the fact that the will of God for me was that I rejoice, right?

That I would be distinctive in the fact that I would be a thankful person. That's what would make us distinct. See, this this is God's will for us. But notice this will is in Christ. You know, I wrestled with that. Why does he say this is God's will for you in Christ?

Why does he add that? I think he adds that because we have to see and interpret all of God's commands and all of God's expectations through the lens of Christ, through the lens of the gospel. Listen to me. We need to take all the commands of God and put them through or understand them through the lens of the gospel. Now remember the comfort and the call of the gospel.

The gospel comforts us by telling us all is well between you and the holy God. He accepts you and he loves you as his child in Christ. You no longer need to fear his wrath because grace and peace reign in your relationship. Now, do you think that's going to make a difference in the way you look at his commands? Grace and peace reign between us. And then there's the call of the gospel.

Why should I obey? 2 Corinthians 5.15, and he died for all. That those who live, listen, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him, right, for him who died and was raised again. That's why. He died for me. I'm going to live for him.

There's the call of the gospel. So why should you rejoice and pray and give thanks in the most difficult of circumstances? Because that's what God expects of his children. But he doesn't command these like some harsh master. This is his commandments in Christ. Which means when you hear his commands, you want to please him.

Don't you? You want to do that. You want to please him with joy prayer and thanks And when you hear his commands you don sigh with resignation All right I guess I be joyful You don sigh with resignation Rather you stirred you're inspired to do it. And you don't find God's will a burden, you find it a guide to live a life of joy before God. You see, it's his will in Christ.

In Christ changes it all so much. You see those commands through the lens of the gospel. So now you know why you should obey, because it's God's will in Christ for you. But you also ought to know what you should obey. And we've already made that clear, haven't we? What should you obey?

Well, you got these three commands, rejoice, pray, and give thanks. please note and this is what strikes me about these commands please note the all the time no matter what nature of these commands you see them for every one of those there's something on it that says all the time no matter what right rejoice how many times always pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. In these three commands, there's this all the time, no matter what, kind of a flavor about it.

That's what strikes me about those. That's what makes those different. He's really making the point, isn't he? Well, the first is this. What should you obey? Here it is.

You must rejoice. Now, what does it mean to rejoice? I'm sure as I've been talking, you've been going, yeah. Okay, so tell me what that means. Right? It does not mean the mindless, happy, clappy kind of Christianity that leaves no room for sorrow or hurt.

Okay, that's not what we're talking about. Right? We're not talking about that. We're not saying, praise God. Hallelujah. My leg injury has kept me out of work for eight weeks.

Right? Rejoice with me. None of us heard that from Jim. I'm glad we didn't. That would seem so fake, wouldn't it? Right?

Nor does it mean that you paste on an artificial smile and tell people that everything is fine. Doesn't mean that either. And in this letter you don see that kind of fake joy Remember what he said in this look over at chapter 3 again okay look at chapter 3 verses 6 and 7 look what Paul says but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you you see that there's something missing we long to see you for this reason brothers in all what our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith now he's talking about longing he's talking about distress and affliction right chapter 4 verse 14 for since we believe that jesus died and rose again even so through jesus now i got the wrong reference there what am i thinking oh guys I don't know what I'm thinking but anyway it's clear that there's longing there's distress there's affliction in his heart alright so it's not a fake kind of joy okay of course it is 414 I don't know what I'm thinking for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep nope it's verse 13 you know sometimes you just wish you could go go back rewind it and do it do it over again not going to happen here look at verse 13 look at verse 13 but we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Now, what's he saying there? There's grief, isn't there? There's grief. When you're standing at the graveside, no one's high-fiving everybody and saying, Praise God, isn't this great? Right? There's tears.

There's grief. But there's a different kind of grief, isn't there? Nevertheless, it's there. So what is rejoicing? We need to get the right understanding of rejoicing. rejoicing is not primarily an emotional high consisting of only feelings alright we say that again rejoicing is not primarily an emotional high consisting of only feelings Rejoicing is the ability to take pleasure in what God is doing or what God will do I say that again.

Rejoicing is the ability to take pleasure in what God is doing or will do. now I loved watching my boys wrestle you know someone I was teaching down in Clear Creek yesterday and I met another guy who was a wrestler and coached wrestling and the person who was introducing me to John this guy's name was John Tim as he introduced me to John said oh this is Tim Pasma, Tim this is John Tim just bleeds wrestling and I thought, oh brother, am I that bad? Do I talk about it that much? Nevertheless, here we go.

I loved watching my boys wrestle. I loved watching my grandsons wrestle. Now if I were to sit there in practice and watch them, in the midst of that practice, I'm not going to clap and whoop when they crawl off the mat after the coach has beaten them to death with the exercises, the drills that they're doing, and they're about ready to throw up. Right?

I don't clap and whoop and say, this is great. I'm rejoicing at the fact that you're about ready to puke. Right? I don't rejoice at that. But I can take pleasure in the fact that it makes them better wrestlers. That at least they're learning a lesson about enduring physical pain.

I can rejoice in that, right? I don't hoop and holler when they walk off the mat after suffering a defeat. but I can rejoice you know why because I know that life is filled with disappointments and this can be a learning exercise for them they can learn how to handle disappointment I can rejoice in that you see you see look again at chapter 4 verses 13 through 18 but we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do have no hope For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command and the voice of an archangel. angel and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Have you stood by the graveside of a loved one without despair but yet with rejoicing in your heart? How was that possible? Because you could take pleasure in the fact that you knew that Jesus is going to return and you know that Jesus is going to raise everyone from the dead that belong to him and he's going to give us a life of ending unending joy in glory and so there's sorrow but yet there is rejoicing because you can take pleasure in what you know God will do that is rejoicing taking pleasure when you know what God is doing and what he will do.

And he says you must rejoice always. That pleasure-taking must be yours always. When your marriage becomes horrible, you don't run, you rejoice. When your job becomes unbearable, you don't denounce the man, you rejoice. When the strain of school becomes inhumanly intense, you don't drop out, you rejoice. When your diagnosis hits you like a ton of bricks, you don't despair, you rejoice. and if we understand that it's taking pleasure in what God does and what he will do you can rejoice you can rejoice how can you rejoice or take pleasure when life is truly unendurable I feel obligated to answer that question how do you do it well let me just give you some suggestions remember who God is remember who God is is God is your God a God who is sovereign.

We're big on the sovereignty of God around here, aren't we? That in itself does not cause you to rejoice. Because you can have a picture of a sovereign God who's doing everything according to the purpose of His will and think of a cruel, harsh, detached deity sitting on His kingly throne moving all the pieces around in an impersonal manner in order to get what He wants.

Is that our God? No, He is not just the sovereign King. He is our sovereign what? Father. He is our Father who loves us how do I know He loves us how do you know he loves you I never forget Sitting there talking to someone in my office and we were talking about this book where the woman had written you know, do you want to be assured of God's love? Then ask God for a sign.

That just about curled my spine. Ask him for a sign. And she says, like I said, God, if you really love me, show me two bluebirds today. and says driving down the road and guess what I went by a mailbox with two bluebirds on it painted on it that's how I know God loves me and when I was talking to this person and she told me that that it's okay to do that I about came unglued you know why you know how I know God loves me he crushed his son for me don't give me bluebirds I know he loves me because He crushed his son on my behalf and I didn't deserve it.

That's love. There's love. Remember who God is. I'm reminded of 2 Corinthians chapter 1 where it says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions. Afflictions.

Remember who God is. You can rejoice always when you remember who God is. Remember his promises. Remember his promises. When things are hard, here's a promise that always rings in my head. Romans 5, 3-5.

Where the Apostle Paul writes, not only this, but we rejoice in our sufferings. Okay, there it is. We rejoice in our sufferings. What is he, a madman? What is he, crazy? You rejoice in your sufferings?

What have you been smoking, Paul? Right? Well, listen to what he says. Not only this, but we rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us. How can he rejoice in his suffering?

He remembers, you can remember this promise when you're facing suffering. God intends through all of this right now to produce perseverance in me and if I stick with it He going to change me character And when that character changes guess what I become a person of hope Isn that interesting You start out with suffering, you end up with hope. That's what God intends to do.

Remember the promises of God. That's how you can take pleasure in what God is doing. he says as well that you must pray what does it mean to pray wow as i as i was thinking about that preparing for this i thought wow do we do a whole bible study on prayer now let me just give you a simple definition prayer primarily involves petition asking now it's more than that please understand it is more than that But primarily it is petition, asking God to intervene to affect changes in nature. Oh, God, please stop the rain.

Or to affect changes in the course of human events. Oh, God, work in this situation so that we get the needed funds that we need, right? You're asking God to intervene. It expresses our utter dependence on God. It's saying, God, unless you intervene, nothing's going to happen. You've got to move in this situation.

So it's primarily petition. And God commands us to pray without ceasing. Now look, what does that mean, to pray without ceasing? I've heard as many explanations, tons of explanations, so I'm going to give an attempt this morning. What does it mean to pray without ceasing? it doesn't mean to pray every waking moment right how would you work on the line at Honda and be praying all the time how would you be hanging that door and praying if you're praying all the time you can't do what God expects you to do with the rest of your time right what happens when the buzzer sounds for break and you're not praying someone's talking to you then what?

Well, if it means praying all the time, then you're sinning if you stop praying. Can't mean that. The thing I always been told is it means have a prayerful attitude at all times The problem with that is what does that mean What does that mean That I got this aura of calm about me all the time Right I got this aura of calm all the time so I can pray What happens when a dog bites you?

I lose it pretty quickly, right? Sin, then, if that's what it means. I think you can discern what it means from the context. All right. Rejoice always. Give thanks in all circumstances.

OK. No matter what's going on, you can rejoice. No matter what's going on, you can give thanks. No matter what's going on, you can pray. No matter what's going on, you can pray. Pray without ceasing.

Always be ready to pray. in other words it god has to be in your spiritual peripheral vision he's always got to be in your vision it's more about god than it is about your attitude god's in your peripheral vision everything's about god when you wake up in the morning what's the first thought you have when i wake up in the morning not every morning but when i wake up in the morning i'm thinking this day belongs to God. He's asking me to do some things that I'm going to find difficult. I'm going to need his grace.

Before my feet hit the floor, I'm saying, okay, God, I desperately need your grace today. Please help me. As you're driving over to help your friend prepare dinner, you know you're going to have an opportunity to minister. God's in your peripheral vision. You know this is meant by God. You're going to pray, God, help me to minister to my friend as we work together.

You're working on the line. God's in your peripheral vision. What do you know about your work? This is what you know about your work. You've got to work for the glory of God. Your work, your work and your attitude is supposed to reflect that you belong to God.

And as things start getting tougher that day, God's in your vision. You're saying, oh God, my work has to be good. I've got to do my best and I can't get upset. Help me to be calm and kind in the midst of this chaos that we're going through right now at my work. It's the idea that God's always there. So when God gets out of your Peripheral vision, when your marriage goes south, when your job is the pits, when school is too much, when life is a bummer, if God's not in the peripheral vision, prayer starts getting thin.

Let me tell you how that works. When things get hard, we get so involved in the problem. And I'm speaking from my own experience. We get so involved in the problem, we've got to solve the problem, we've got to do something about this. Anxiety overcomes you and you forget to pray. when I and I'll I openly admit this I have to fight worry I have to fight it I know I do right God's been gracious it's not so much it's not so hard as it used to be but I know my temptation is okay I start turning it over in my mind I start thinking about it what are we going to do what are we should we do how do you solve this problem and you know what prayer doesn't come to the top.

I have a dear wife who says, honey, why don't you pray about that? Oh, yeah. Good point. When you get anxious, you don't naturally turn to prayer. When things start getting tough, you don't typically go to prayer. We spend less time in prayer rather than unceasing prayer.

And so, God's got to be in a peripheral vision. You've got to be saying, it's all about God. This day belongs to God. This time together belongs to God. This work belongs to God. My vacation belongs to God, how am I going to pray about that?

I love what Matthew Henry said. The meaning is not that men should do nothing but pray, but that nothing else we do should hinder prayer in its proper season. See? It's not that men should do nothing but pray, but nothing should interfere with the fact that when you need to pray, you pray. The last thing he says is you must give thanks. What's thanks?

Well, that's a no-brainer. It's an expression of gratitude to God for what he's done. When someone does something kind to you and they hand you a gift, what do you say? If you're brought up right, you say, thank you. Right? That was kind of you.

Thank you much. But he says we're to give thanks in all circumstances, even in adversity. When your marriage goes sour and work is killing you, when school is a drudge and when life is boring and tasteless? I'm still supposed to give thanks? Yes. Yes.

How is that possible? How is that possible I think one of the where we have to start is this You have to be convinced that no matter what going on there always room for thanks There always room for giving thanksgiving to God, no matter what your situation. You also, again, need to think of the character of God. Can you thank him for who he is? Someone who is struggling recently shared a verse with me.

This person's struggling, and the person shared this verse with me in Psalm 40, verse 11. As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me. Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me. No matter what's going on, I can say, God, thank you that you will not restrain your mercy and that your steadfast love will preserve me.

I'm not alone. You're here. And you've made that promise. You can think of the character of God. When I'm tempted to worry, I have to go back to Philippians 4. Let me show you something.

This is a verse that God used in my life to help me a great deal. Philippians chapter 4. My children all know this text. We taught this to them. when they were scared. It's the pray right, think right, do right passage. Philippians 4, 6-9.

I'm only going to look at verses 6 and 7 here. But notice what it says. Do not be anxious about anything. I'll never forget. Do you see what that is? I'll never forget.

This is a while ago, and we had exercised discipline, and the person that we had disciplined was threatening us with a lawsuit. And I remember being in my backyard just churning in my head. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What if we go to court? What if all this happens?

And so I can still remember the spot. I'm in the backyard, and this verse comes to me. Do not be anxious about anything. Anything? You mean I shouldn't be anxious about going to court? No God says no Do not be anxious about anything That not the key here The key is this Look at what he says in verse 6.

But in everything, by prayer and supplication, note this, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Do you know why that's there? You can never worry and be thankful. Worriers are ungrateful people. You know why they worry? They want a different reality.

Life's not going the way they want. And so they want to change it. And so they're not thankful for what God's giving them right now. And it's interesting that he says, if you're anxious, pray what? With thanksgiving. Here's how that helped me.

I learned that when the pressure was on and I was getting anxious, I needed to get alone with God and I needed to pray. And I need to pray, God, help me in this situation. Help me know what to do. Lord, deliver us from that. Lord, help us in this. Lord, I need the words to say when this comes.

But then what? And I thank you right now that these things are going on. because I know that you intend through all of this to make me a better son of yours, a better husband, a better dad, a better pastor. You're not beating me up. You're teaching me. I could give thanks for that. I could thank him for that.

I could thank him for the good things that were going on. The point is that I found that there was nothing so intense that I could not go to God and thank him. I can thank him for what he's going to do in those circumstances. Once more, how is it possible to give thanks? Remember God's promises. Remember his promises.

No matter how intense, no matter how deep, God is in the middle of it and he's working for good. So it God will for us to rejoice pray and give thanks all the time That should be our character The last thing I want to just say to you just a minute or two here is know what hinders you from obeying. Let me give you three reasons why we tend not to do those things.

The first is this. We forget the passages on tribulation and trial. We just forget them. We don't even think of them. When life gets hard, we forget. Not only this, but we rejoice in our sufferings.

We don't remember it. We're so intent on, that's unfair. You've treated me badly. There should be justice here. We get so intent on that. We get so intent on our sorrow.

We get so intent on our hurt that we just forget. We don't think of those passages applying to us. Now, if someone says persecution is coming to our country, we say that's okay because Romans 5 says we need to think of those passages in the nitty-gritty of life. So the first reason we don't obey is we forget those passages. We don't even think of them.

Here's the second reason. We give our trust, we give our allegiances to other things than God. Turn over to Jeremiah 17. Key passage for me at least in terms of helping me understand this. Jeremiah chapter 17 watch what this prophet tells us in verses 5 through 8 here's what he says thus says the Lord cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength whose heart turns away from the Lord he's like a shrub in the desert and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man whose trust is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to bear fruit. Do you see that?

You've got a shrub and you've got a fruitful tree. And by the way, both of them are in the desert. I know he says that the one is like a tree planted by the water, but the heat's on the tree too. Heat on the shrub, heat on the tree. Difficulty. What's the thing that makes the difference between being a shrub and a fruitful tree?

What's the difference? What does he say? It's not the circumstances, it's the faith. One trusts in the Lord, and because he trusts in the Lord, there is the fruit of joy and thanks and prayer. Even though the heat is on. Why?

Because he's trusting in the Lord. The shrub is trusting in the arm of man. So when hardship comes, here's why we don't produce fruit. We're not trusting God. You know what we're doing? Here's what we do.

When the hard times come, we work hard at manipulating everything so we can have comfort. I want comfort more. I'm going to trust in my ability to produce comfort more than trusting that what God is doing is better I want to trust in me and I'm not trusting in God and because of that when the heat's on we don't produce the fruit we've given our allegiance to something else something else means more to me at that moment than God which brings me to my third point as to why we don't obey these commands like we should.

Psalm 73, 25 and 26. Psalm 73, 25 and 26. Whom have I in heaven but you And earth has nothing I desire besides you Wow Think about that. Whom have I in heaven but you, and earth has nothing I desire besides you? My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is my strength and my portion forever. Here's the point. for us too often God is not enough God is not enough whom have I in heaven but you and earth has nothing I desire beside you Lord there's nothing on earth I want more than you and so when the Lord starts taking away some things from us and he's weaning us away he starts bringing adversity into our life and taking things out of our life, here's what we find.

Because when He takes it out, who do I have left? God. But God, that's not enough. I need more. Am I satisfied in God? Listen, I'm not telling...

I am not speaking to you as a decorated veteran here, okay? I'm speaking to you as a fellow traveler. These verses ring in my head. And I say, God, is that true of me? And when he starts taking things away from me that better be I need to be satisfied with God too Now I want you to think for a moment about this last week and I want you to look at the week ahead Look back a week, look forward a week.

Do that right now. What's been going on and what's continuing that's difficult in your life? What's been particularly difficult from this last week that's stretching into the week following? Think about that for a moment. right now think about what God has just said I don't want you walking out of here now thinking yep that's true I want you to think about something right now that's particularly difficult for you I want you to think about what God has just said you have to rejoice you have to pray you have to give thanks how are you going to do it how are you going to do it?

What should you call to mind so that you can obey that command? You need to think about that. Take seriously what God has said here today. How are you going to rejoice? What are you going to do so that you can take pleasure in what God is doing? How can you pray?

How are you going to be able to give thanks? Listen you have a Father who loves you in Christ You have a Father who loves you You have His Son who sacrificed Himself for you. You have the Holy Spirit who can energize this in you. The first place you need to go is to go to God and say, God, help me. Help me obey. Father, thank you for your Word.

I pray, Father, that what I've said today is not a burdensome list of duties, but that which would inspire us, stir us, motivate us to do these things. Lord God, You are the One who gave His Son on our behalf. and you and the Son have sent us your Spirit, would you please help us now to leave here determined by your grace and by the help of the Holy Spirit to rejoice, to pray, and to give thanks. Set us apart with these things we pray.

Help us not to be satisfied until we're doing these. Help each one of us now this day to magnify Your name in these areas. God help us, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.