[Biblemat] S) TOWARD A DEEPER DEVOTION TO GOD

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my files.
Use to the glory of God.

TOWARD A DEEPER DEVOTION TO GOD (THREE BASIC EX-
HORTATIONS).

       Pursuing a deeper devotion to God can be a frustrating exer-
cise in that we can get lost in the details.  Most of us have so
many areas in which we need to grow and there are so many
practices that we need to engage in for our spiritual good, the 
whole project can seem daunting.  We can lose sight of the fore-
st while tending to the individual trees.

       When we've lost our way, however, growing in godliness is
like many other endeavors: we need to get back to the basics.
And when it comes to the basics of spiritual growth, there is no
more fundamental text than 1 Thes. 5:16-18.  Here Paul lays down three 
exhortations of such primary importance that one
commentator has called them "the standing orders of the Christ-
ian church."

Rejoice Always: -- Most Christians understand that there is a dif-
ference between happiness and joy, and that we can experience
joy even in teh midst of pain.  Speaking of our hope, Peter wrote,
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need
be, you have been grieved by various trials" (1 Pet. 1:6).  But
when we're hurting, it's hard to remember what we know about
the joy of the Christian.  So we need to train our minds to return
to the joy that is always ours in Christ.  In fact, we need to rejoice
so regularly that joy is never very far away from our conscious
thoughts.  There is a strength and peace that come from joy that
can't come from any other source, and there is nothing we can
do that is any more conducive to spiritual growth than joy.

Pray Without Ceasing: -- To pray "without ceasing" certainly doesn't mean 
that we never do anything but pray.  It means that
we pray very often, living a life that is characterized by frequent
prayer rathen than one in which prayer is a rarity.  There is even
a sense in which we can learn to live in a prayerful attitude even
when we're not praying per se.  Like joy, prayer can be some-
thing that continually hovers on the edges of our thoughts.  As
somebody said, prayer can be the atmosphere in which we live.

       But praying without ceasing can also mean that we pray with 
perseverance and don't give up.  In Lk. 18:1, we are told of
Jesus, "Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always outht
to pray and not lose heart."  Unceasing prayer is the kind that
keeps praying when others would quit, adn that's the kind that
will help us learn a deeper devotion to God.

Give Thanks In Everything: -- There are many things that are evil
and although we might give thanks for the outcome of these
things, they are not things in themselves that we would give thanks for.  To 
give thanks "in everything" is as the ESV renders
it, to give thanks "in all circumstances."  Daniel is an example
here.  On the day it became illegal to pray, we are told tht he "went home, 
And in his upper room, with his windows open to-
ward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed 
and gave thanks before his God, as was his
custom since early days" (Dan. 6:10).  Many of us might have
prayed on such a day, perhaps, but would we have given thanks?  Daniel did, 
and like him, we need to learn the habit of
giving thanks even on dark and difficult days.

       Why are these three exhortations so powerful and valuable?
I believe it is because they are "perspective adjusters," that is,
when we do them, we find our sense of proportion, priority, and
relative importance returning.  When, even in the midst of hard-
ship, we discipline ourselves to rejoice, we have our sights lifted
above our immediate difficulties to the coming triumph of God
over every difficulty.  When, although we don't feel like it, we en-
gage in prayer, we can't help but have our sense of priorities re-
freshed.  And when, despite hindrances and heartaches, we give thanks for 
what is still right and good in our Father's world,
we are reminded that problems are never the whole story at any
given moment.  Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks are like having a very 
dirty pair of eyeglasses cleaned: afterwards, we 
can see so clearly that we're amazed to see again the things that
we had lost sight of.

       So my brothers and sisters, let us rejoice always.  Let us
pray without ceasing.  And let us give thanks in the midst of 
every circumstance.  These are the ABC's of spiritual growth.
Returning to them regularly can keep us from getting lost in the
details of daily living.     ------- Gary Henry in Truth Magazine, Vol.
52, No. 3, March 2008.   </HTML>
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