A Wrong Focus For Reading and Meditation: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-23 5:14 And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all. 5:15 See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all. 5:16 Rejoice always; 5:17 pray without ceasing; 5:18 in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward. 5:19 Quench not the Spirit; 5:20 despise not prophesyings; 5:21 prove all things; hold fast that which is good; 5:22 abstain from every form of evil. 5:23 And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will." (v. 18). Someone has said that a neurotic is a person who focuses more on what he lacks than on what he possesses. Many of us live on he borders of neurosis because we fail to recognize the blessings of God in our lives and the way in which He is working all things out for good. Someone wrote to me, "For weeks I had been going about concentrating on the difficulties in my life, and I had become deeply depressed. Then something you said in Every Day with Jesus caused me to look at the good things that were happening to me, and instantly the depression lifted." This letter doesn't surprise me, for I have come to see that life works like this: If we focus on our difficulties, we get depressed; if we focus on God's mercies, we will be uplifted. It's so easy to concentrate on the negative things in our lives. So many of our waking hours are spent thinking about what is going wrong--business problems, disagreements, broken possessions--that we use up emotional energy which could be put to better use. Some people complain because God put thorns on roses; others thank Him for putting roses on thorns. How much time do we focus on what is going right---usually the 80 percent taken for granted areas? Express Gratitude A great thinker once said, " Man is not made happy by what he has but by what he is thankful for." Whether it be material possessions, success, friendship, or love, every factor which might bring us greater happiness only makes us actually happier as we appreciate it. It's so simple. Someone gives you a gift, and as you thank them for it, they are gratified. Thankfulness rewards the giver, but it rewards the receiver too. To receive without being thankful is to miss the joy of appreciation which is the real gift. A gift unappreciated is, in one sense, ungiven. Father God, I know You are trying to teach me that I am fulfilled not by what I possess but by what I am thankful for. Burn this truth deeper and deeper into my spirit. For Jesus' sake. Amen If we focus on God's mercies, we will be uplifted. |
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