Devotionals by Stuart and Jill Briscoe
No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18
When the scriptures say, “This is God’s will for you,” we need have no doubts that what is being said is indeed God’s will for us!
Are you in the habit of saying thank you no matter what? Another version of the Bible says: “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV). Notice the verse doesn’t tell us that it’s God’s will for us to give thanks for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. Paul was writing to the Thessalonians, who were suffering difficult things in difficult times. Yet he told them to give thanks!
In the middle of a nightmare, we can give thanks that “weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). In the pain of bereavement, we can thank God for the comfort of his “rod” and “staff” in our “dark valley of death” (Psalm 23:4). When others reject us for our beliefs, we can thank God that he accepts us fully and unreservedly, and we can be thankful for friends who believe as we do. In all things there will be something for which we can praise and thank God. When we can’t praise him for what, in his sovereign will, he has allowed, we can praise him for who he is in the middle of it.
Dare we thank God for such things? Yes! No matter what happens, give thanks!
For Further Study: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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About Telling the Truth
About Stuart and Jill Briscoe
Jill Briscoe was born in England and found Christ when she was 18 years old. She never looked back. Upon graduating from Cambridge University, she began working as a teacher by day and had a vigorous street ministry to the youths of Liverpool by night.
She met Stuart at a youth conference and they married in 1958. In the 50 years since, Jill has become a highly sought-after Bible teacher and author who travels around the world ministering to under-resourced churches and speaking at international seminars and conferences. Since 2000, she and Stuart, who was formerly senior pastor of Elmbrook Church for 30 years, have had the joy of equipping and encouraging believers across the globe in their roles as ministers-at-large for Elmbrook.
Jill has authored more than 40 books including devotionals, study guides, poetry and children's books. Her vivid, relational teaching style touches the emotions and stirs the heart. She serves as Executive Editor of Just Between Us, a magazine of encouragement for ministry wives and women in leadership, and served on the board of World Relief and Christianity Today, Inc., for over 20 years.
Jill and Stuart call suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin their home. When they are not traveling, they spend time with their three children, David, Judy and Peter, and thirteen grandchildren.
Contact Telling the Truth with Stuart and Jill Briscoe
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