“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD (Amos 4:6).
Blessings.
Whenever we think of blessings, we always think in terms of addition. Blessings are things we get. We rarely think of blessings as those things we don’t get.
God declares, “I gave you empty stomachs…I gave you lack of bread.”
That doesn’t sound like a blessing. That sounds like a curse!
Why would God give Israel empty stomachs and lack of bread?
So they can return to the LORD.
Sometimes, God gives us empty stomachs and lack of bread so that we can turn to the LORD. Sometimes, we forget that what we need is, not material things, but God.
So, sometimes, it is a gift not to have.
Why? God is more concerned with your spiritual and eternal welfare and maturity than he is with your comfort.
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Christians often wonder what God’s will for their life is. Many Christians say that if God would only make his will clear to them they would surely obey. Many claim that the reason for the lack of obedience is, not so much because of the lack of desire to be obedient, but because the will of God is often so confusing.
If only God would just spell it out for us.
Well, if you are a Christian, let me clear this up for you.
I know without a shadow of doubt what God’s will for you is.
Yup. Without a shadow of doubt.
Our text makes it crystal clear: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Just in case you missed it, let’s break it down:
It is God’s will…you see that, God’s word says, “It is God’s will.”
So, what is God’s will? That you should be sanctified.
Sanctify means becoming holy.
It is God’s will that we become more like Christ today and everyday.
It is God’s will that we resemble Christ more today than yesterday.
It is God’s will that his holiness be more evident in our lives than it was yesterday.
So, then, how do we go about being sanctified?
Great question. Sanctification happens as we submit to the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit has 100% control over our lives. That almost never happens. Sanctification happens when the will of the Holy Spirit has even the slightest greater influence over our thoughts and actions than our will.
Sanctification happens when:
Me – 49.9999999999999999999% control over thoughts and actions
Holy Spirit – 50.00000000000000001% control over thoughts and actions
As long as we live on this side of eternity, our flesh will constantly battle God’s Holy Spirit. But as long as the Holy Spirit has even the slightest greater influence, sanctification is taking place. We are becoming more like Christ.
This is God’s will – that you be sanctified. Got it?
“Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” (Psalm 147:1).
God never calls us to praise him in a vacuum. Praise is the result of all that God has already done and what God promises.
The phrase, “Praise the LORD,” is hallelujah in the Hebrew. This was and is both a call to praise as well as a declaration of praise.
The remainder of Psalm 147 tells the reason for praising the LORD. I invite you to read the Psalm on your own and highlight and underline all that God promises and all that God has already done for us.
Praxis: Faith in Action 