1 Thes 5:14-18 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
The apostle Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians contains clear and powerful exhortations concerning the will of God for believers. These exhortations express the specific will of God in relationships with others, with ourselves, and with the Lord. Packed into these short verses are patterns of life and behavior which receive His blessing in all these relationships.
“Warn them that are unruly”; people who are idle, undisciplined, pleasure seeking, need to know the danger they are in.
“Comfort the feebleminded”; comfort people who are disheartened; come alongside them with brotherly affection and encouraging words, and pray for them.
“Support the weak”; our natural tendency is to despise and neglect weaker people, to stay away from them since they have nothing to offer us, and can damage our reputation. Yeshua (Jesus) says no, find them, and lift them up however you can.
“Be patient toward all men”; realizing how patient God is with you, and that “patient” is the first thing that love is, [1 Cor. 13:4]. It means waiting in love and hope, with prayer, for people to see what they need to see, do what they need to do, change how they need to change.
“See that none render evil for evil;” do not allow evil men in this world to corrupt your own behavior and character. This is a constant temptation throughout life because evil people are everywhere, including the church.
“Follow that which is good”; being and doing good of every kind is our lifelong mandate as believers; there are millions of ways to obey it. This is God’s will for us toward all men – even those who don’t deserve it!
“Rejoice evermore”; Yeshua has rescued your eternity from unspeakable misery and pain to everlasting joy and pleasure. The constant reality of your life is undergirded by an ecstatic future forever. You can afford to be quite happy about it.
“Pray without ceasing”; ‘impossible’, you say. Given the fact that your relationship with the Lord is wide open to communication with Him 24/7, why not continually include Him in your words and thoughts?
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”; gratitude is a life saver, apart from being the most appropriate response to having been created, redeemed, and blessed by our loving Lord. Thankfulness in all things turns you into the beautiful soul your were intended to be. Gratitude in the midst of suffering is a special perfume for the Lord.
The will of God is not so hard to figure out when we read these simple statements. Just obeying these exhortations is enough to do for a lifetime. Wherever the Lord calls you, He calls you to this lifestyle. God’s Holy Spirit inspired these words, and He alone gives the power to carry them out. Our part is to believe and act, He will fill us as we do.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Psalm 2 is a divine announcement — a heavenly decree that demands the world’s attention. It begins with a question: “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?” (Ps. 2:1). The nations rise up, not against injustice or tyranny, but against the rule of God’s Meshiach (Messiah). That Anointed is Yeshua — the Son whom the Father has set on His holy hill in Zion (Ps. 2:6). The psalm strips away all pretense and exposes the heart of human rebellion: it is a refusal to be ruled by His Messiah.
Psalm 1 opens with a sobering warning about the quiet, deadly slide into sin. The man without God doesn’t become a scorner overnight — he drifts there gradually. First, he walks in ungodly counsel, entertaining worldly thoughts. Then, he stands in the path of sinners, embracing their way of life. Finally, he sits in the seat of the scornful, hardened in heart and mocking what is sacred. This progression — from a man without God to scorner — reveals how small compromises grow into full rebellion, dulling the conscience and deadening the soul.
Last night marked the beginning of Shavuot–a feast that many Christians recognize as Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit was poured out in Acts 2. But the roots of Shavuot stretch back much further. Long before that upper room encounter–about 1,500 years earlier–Shavuot was the day God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, writing His commandments on tablets of stone.
In a world trembling with uncertainty–political unrest, economic turmoil, natural disasters–God is speaking again. Not in whispers, but with the shaking that reorders lives, redefines kingdoms, and removes everything that cannot stand in the presence of His glory. He is preparing us for a kingdom that cannot be moved. But in the midst of the shaking, there is rest — a deep, unshakable rest reserved for the people of God. Not rest as the world gives — temporary relief or distraction — but the kind that anchors the soul in the storm, the kind that is rooted in Yeshua (Jesus), our rest.
Just as a bird needs both wings to fly, a victorious life requires both faith and obedience. In Joshua, God calls Joshua to lead Israel into the Promised Land, not just with bold confidence but with complete dependence on His Word. Faith believes what God says; obedience acts upon it. One without the other stalls the journey. This moment wasn’t just about crossing into the promise land — it was about stepping into covenant reality, where trust in God’s promise was matched by surrender to God’s command.
The Book of Joshua offers more than a military history; it reveals the spiritual dynamics behind every victory and defeat in the life of a believer.
After Moses’ death, God commissioned Joshua to lead Israel into Canaan—a real place that carried profound spiritual meaning. Canaan was not a picture of heaven, for it was filled with enemies, obstacles, and the ongoing need for faith and obedience. Instead, it symbolized the believer’s journey: a life marked by conflict and conquest, failure and faithfulness, struggle and surrender. Just as Joshua was told to rise and cross the Jordan, every follower of Christ is called to move beyond mere spiritual survival into a victorious, Spirit-empowered walk—a life that embraces the fullness of God’s promises with courage, rest, and purpose.