At the beginning of the new year, everyone is making his new annual plan. As children of God, remember to walk in God's will. But what's the will? Zhou Lianmei, a teacher of Chongyi Church, shares the message of "God's will in Christ Jesus" on February 14, the first Sunday after the Spring Festival.
"God set a will in Christ Jesus, that is to 'be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances'." Says Zhou, citing the instruction Paul had for the church of the Thessalonians to encourage the congregation to be joyful, pray and give thanks.
Be Joyful Always
Everyone wants to rejoice, but we can't determine whether we're joyful or not. Joy is a precious gift from God. It's impossible to rejoice when we look at ourselves, the situation or the world. Paul says, when we abide in Jesus Christ's love, the joy is in us. As children of God, we have a destiny in Jesus Christ: walking on the joyful road by trusting in Him. And the joy comes from a savoir who laid down His life willingly for us.
It's not easy to be joyful always because the devil always wants to steal our joy in Jesus Christ and lies to believers. Our heavenly father is the happiest when we rejoice in the Lord, on the contrary, the devil becomes the happiest when we are worried and panicky. "The battle is in our hearts." Says Zhou.
The secret of rejoicing always is in the Lord. At that time Paul who was in prison, with no freedom yet told the believers outside the jail to rejoice always, who had joy of being with the Lord. When we can't rejoice, it tells that our trust goes wrong. Real Christians should have hearts of joy, wherever they go, people can feel their joy and peace from Christ.
Pray Continually
Christians should live a life of prayer. Pray continually. Although the body sleeps, our spirit is awake. Praying is a spiritual battle. Before being crucified, Jesus went with his disciples to pray in Gethsemane, while the disciples fell asleep because of tiredness. When we pray, we're easy to become tired, speechless or have our mind elsewhere, not enjoying the fellowship with the Lord. It's hard to overcome it with men's will. We need to surrender in front of God, when we cry out in the Lord's man, He will release us.
In our life span, we should decide all things in the Lord. Paul's life was repeating a word "all". He prayed at all times on all occasions.
Praying makes us realize our weakness and unworthiness. When we kneel down, we're full of thanks. In the love of the cross, we're willing to surrender. Zhou reminds that kneel down to pray when you can't understand your situation for His thoughts are higher than your thoughts and His ways than your ways. Then you will feel grateful.
Zhou Lianmei, wife of Pastor Gu Yuese, is one of the teachers in Chongyi Church. Rev Gu Yuese was removed on Jan 18th, followed by an investigation because of ecnomical issue.
