Gatorade Thirst Quencher

When you saw the title of today's post what sports drink did you think of? I could be wrong but I am pretty sure it's gatorade. It's also Samuel Adams, which I probably shouldn't say on here. Gatorade thirst quencher, that's the one!  Gatorade is meant to quench your thirst when you are performing physical activity at an extremely high level. "Quench," means to satisfy ones thirst by drinking. I don't know about you but when I drink gatorade I always want more. You can't just drink one bottle when you have more than one. Most of the of the time you are still thirsty. Why in the world am I talking about gatorade thirst quencher? There is a verse that I read 1 Thessalonians 5 that says, "Do not quench the Spirit." With that, I want to take the whole passage that the verse came from and encourage you to do certain things for Christ that don't just satisfy your needs, but fulfill them. True fulfillment only can come from God, and by doing some of things more often, I believe that you can put yourself the right track to spiritual fulfillment.

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanity you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
(1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 ) 

That passage is so powerful and there are so many things in there that you can take away and do to get on the path to fulfillment.  I wouldn't even call it a path to fulfillment, I believe that if you are obedient towards God then you are fulfilled. If you are so close to be obedient then you just quench the Spirit. Which isn't a bad thing, but we can do so much better.

Here are some of the things that you can do:

1. Acknowledge those who work hard among you, and who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.

Think of all the people in your life who you know that work hard and who care for you? I am sure that a lot of people come to mind. Don't let the work that they do go unnoticed. So some love and appreciation. Tell them that you have noticed that they are working really hard. Thank them for caring for you. In a selfish "love yourself" world it's sometimes rare to find someone who is selfless. Let those people know that you appreciate the love they have more you. It can go a long way. By letting those who work hard and those who care for you know that you are thankful for them it encourages them more than you could ever imagine. Showing those who love you love is loving one another which is being obedient to Christ, which then leads to fulfillment.

2. Live in peach with each other.

Living in peace with each other directly relates to loving others as well. You live in peace by loving every one. Try showing love to someone you might not like. Instead of talking bad about someone behind their back, say something positive to them when you see them. I love other people and have a heart for other people but sometimes it's difficult to live in peace with everyone. Especially because we are all different. I encourage you to give it your all and to live in peace with each other.

3. Warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

If there is one thing on this list that I need to work on the most it is warning those who are idle and disruptive. I do such a bad job with this. It's a difficult thing to sit someone down and tell them that what they are doing is wrong and not pleasing towards the Lord. It's difficult because you don't want to make that person feel like you think you are better than them. It's also difficult because those are tough conversations to have. You might possibly loose friends from having conversations like that, but you tried and that is what matters in the long wrong. You showed them love and that you cared for them and that is what God wants. Do you ever encourage the disheartened and help the weak? We all know those people who we have seen that look like they are just having a terrible day. Say what's up to them, have a conversation. I think even the fact that you noticed that they are having bad day will encourage and lift them up.

4. Be patient with everyone

This is pretty self-explanatory. Be patient with everyone that you come in contact and your day will be better. I can promise you that. It's tough sometimes because we like to worry about ourselves but try taking the attention of yourself and show patience to other people.

5. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 

Wrong for wrong. How easy it is to pay pack somebody with wrong after they did wrong to you. We think... treat others how they treat you right? Always have a love first and listen first attitude. What you say comes from your heart. If someone does wrong to you, don't get mad, love them still. If someone does wrong to your friends and they talk to you about it, encourage them to do good and to do the right thing.

6. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 

Simply put. If you do these tings you will please God. It's as simple as that.

7. Do not quench the Spirit.

This point can be summed up by the entire post. You cannot just have a desire for satisfaction. Satisfaction is a great feeling, but you are still left with a feeling of wanting more. Desire fulfillment. When you experience fulfillment, there is nothing else that you want or need.

8. Hold on to what is good and reject every kind of evil. 

"Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Seek God in a word that wants you to focus on yourself. There is a reason for everything and a reasons that we are all here. Hold on to the good.



I want to close with this. "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."