This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

I was reading 1 Thessalonians 5:16 last night and there were two things that really struck me about this verse.

First, both this verse, 5:16 and James 5:16 talk about prayer at some point. Thought that was interesting and most sureably not a coincidence:)

The other is what it says in the verse...

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16

The part that I wan to point is the the part that says, "this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". There you have, that is God's will for you and for me as Christ-followers, to be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.

Now...another thing that struck me was the word "joyful". Last Thursday in eXodus we were discussing the book we're reading, "Celebration of Discipline" and we were talking about joy and what that is compared to "happiness". In my book I had written, "Happiness is based on circumstances and joy is based on truth." I was reading the commentary on 1 Thess. 5:16 and it was referring to the "be joyful always" part and said, "...the Christian's joy is not dependent on circumstances. It comes from what Christ has done, and it is constant."

Our joy is not based on circumstances or anything that we can do or have done. It is based on what Christ has done for us. Kind of like us being forgiven and accepted into His Holy Kingdom. Look at the end of that commentary as well. It says that it is constant. WOW!

So...there you have it, this has proven true...if you really sit down to study even one verse you can get so much out of it. I feel like I got a whole sermon out of this one verse.

It is well with my soul.