“Test all things; hold fast what is good”.
1Thessalonians 5:21
Apostle Paul and John caution their readers to test everything. 1John4:1says that believers have to test prophesies and the spirits of prophecy to see whether the message and the messenger are indeed from God. They both had the desire to guard and protect believers from false teachings as they knew of the existence of false teachers .Testing everything and holding fast to what is good is an important discipline for every believer in all times like the people of Berea. (Acts 17:11)
True prophets are led by God ‘s spirit and proclaim messages that align with scripture. Believers are not to despise these prophecies ( 2peter 1:20-21).True prophets faithfully proclaim God’s word.We must not quench the Holy Spirit or despise true prophecies
If we quench the Holy Spirit we cannot distinguish true and false prophecies
1Thessalonians 5:19
We should cling to good and abstain from every form of evil, if we do so we will grow in our faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
We do not drink a glass of Juice without testing.We drink it fully if it is good, otherwise we throw it away.similarly in life,we have to check if a particular action is good for us and we have to move from what is acceptable to God, to what is good and pleasing in His sight and to what is perfect.
Jesus allowed Thomas to place his fingers in His wounds to prove the authenticity of His ressurection .We are given ten thousand promises in scriptures. We need to test and experience the truth of these promises in the course of our life time.We test it by trusting, and holding on to the promises,claiming it in prayer and waiting for its fulfillment with praise and patience.
To hold on to the faith,we have to pay a great cost, make sacrifices and willing to face hardships and hurdles.We should be willing to endure suffering and pain to keep persevering. Faith has two dimensions. One is to cling on to what is good and overcome the clutches of evil and the second one is it requires the forethought like the maiden who made sure she had enough oil in her lamp till the Master arrived. It requires the filling and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
We require the belief also that whatever happens to us we will get the victory at the end
Prayer
Father God give us the grace to distinguish between good and evil.pour out your spirit upon us and anoint us
We ask in Jesus name
Amen
Sol.Gigi Jacob