08.07.2008

1 Thessalonians 5:21,22
Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

Psalm 119:125
I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

Proverbs 3:21
My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight.

Hello,
Although there is still almost a whole month left of summer, the season seems to have flown by me. I hope that you’ve been learning a lot this summer and that God has been continuing to teach you, stretch you, and grow you more and more into the likeness of Christ. Due to being very fair skinned, I’ve spent a lot of my own time indoors to keep from getting sun burned. My summer has mostly been uneventful outside of learning how to be a wife! But through learning how to be a wife, and dealing with issues related to full time ministry, God certainly has been trying to stretch and grow me as well. There is much that I need to learn about having a God-centered attitude towards unfavorable circumstances, as well as about the freedom of forgiveness and dependency on God. Nearly seven years into my walk with Christ, and I am still learning a lot about what it means to follow the Lord faithfully. I’m still learning about the Bible despite how many times I read it, and continually being convicted of things I thought I was over. If you’re further along the road than I am, you might be able to say the same thing.

In Thessalonians, Paul exhorts the young believers to “test everything,” while holding onto good and avoiding evil. If I were to guess, I’d say that this passage not only speaks to young believers but also those who are well seasoned in their faith. There are always situations that come up in which we need to discern whether something is either from God or something we should or should not do according to God’s Word. For example, I live in a large city and there are a lot of weird things that can go on that you don’t normally find outside the city. Right before starting our morning bible study in a coffee shop, two friends and I were approached by a man who seemed to have an interest in Jesus but everything about him gave a bad “vibe.” He also was talking a lot of nonsense about government conspiracy, gave his name to plug into Google and left. Later on I looked his name up on Google and found out that the man thinks that he’s a prophet and the one that will bring World Peace. While this is likely an obvious not-from-God situation (because only Jesus is the one that can bring about world peace), other situations are more subtle. There are plenty of times when my own thoughts are against me and make me out to be a failure to God. What does the Bible say about that kind of thing? 1 John contradicts those thoughts in one sentence: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

So there are many physical and non-physical things that we ought to test. “Is this from God? Is this something God would have me do? What does Scripture say about this?” I would encourage you to think about and consider the issues or events, attitudes or thoughts/words, or activities in your own life that might need to be tested against what God has to say about it. As mentioned previously, seven years into this journey and I still need to ask myself those kinds of questions because it’s good be thinking about our lives in view of how Christ asks us to live. Some of these things don’t necessarily have to be negative, since it is also helpful in confirming God’s direction and guidance! It’s also a matter of not simply praying or thinking about it, but also reading and investigating the Bible; there’s so much in there that the Holy Spirit continually reveals bits and pieces along the way. So be encouraged, “test everything,” and continue to walk in grace.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne