1 Thes 5:16 Always rejoice,
17 Unceasingly pray,
18 In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This morning I pray-read this verse with my brother and sister-in-law, and I really enjoyed so much light:

• Always rejoice, in everything give thanks: First, I saw that God is the Always in whom we rejoice, and He is the Everything in whom we give thanks. Our rejoicing or giving thanks is not based on outward conditions that are joyful or worthy of thanks; no, our outward situation goes up and down. Nor is it based on our inward condition, whether we are sad, worried, anxious; it is not even based on whether we are victorious, defeated, sinful, holy, or unholy. None of these things, outward or inward, is presented as the basis of our rejoicing or thanksgiving. God alone is the Always, the One who never changes. He is always joy itself, always thanks itself. In Him, we have an eternal fountain of joy. Whenever I tap into Him, I touch the Always Joyful One in whom I can rejoice, regardless my inward or outward situation.

  As for His being the Everything, Christ is all and in all (Col 3:11). In many situations in themselves, I cannot find a basis of thanksgiving. I do not believe the Lord is asking us to rotely give thanks for the sake of giving thanks. I believe He is saying here that we must see that He is in all things, and that in all these things we must give thanks because of Him who is in these things. So, as soon as I see Christ in any situation, I will spontaneously be able to give thanks.

Last night and tonight, in two separate meetings, we read Luke 5. I was so deeply touched by the relationship between the consciousness of sin in this chapter and the experience of jubilee in chapter 4. Tonight we also read most of Life-Study of Luke chapter 13. Here is a quote from pp. 107-108:

The cases 5:1—6:11 portray the spiritual condition of every fallen human being. Before we were saved, we were occupied. We were also lepers, sinful people, in need of cleansing. In addition, we were paralytics, those unable to walk or do anything according to God. Therefore, we were in need of the Lord’s healing.

No matter what a person’s occupation may be, when he is called by the Lord and released, he immediately realizes that he is sinful. When people are busy with their occupation, they may think that they are very good. But when they are released from their occupation to follow the Lord, they realize that they are sinful. Furthermore, after they are cleansed, they realize that they are paralyzed with respect to God and the things of God. They are not able to walk in God’s way. But after they are healed, they come to see that they are “tax collectors,” despised persons considered to be of no value. Eventually, they understand that they are under the bondage of certain regulations and are in need of both satisfaction and liberation.

After we are freed from our occupation, cleansed from our leprosy, and healed of our paralysis, we become in the Lord a person of value, for now we have Him as the new clothing to cover us outwardly and as the new wine to fill us inwardly (Luke 5:36-39). Following this, we are released from the binding regulations. As a result, we become persons fully saved by the Man-Savior.

Here's an excerpt from the Life-Study of Luke message 12 (page 98):

A person who has not lost anything would not look forward to the year of jubilee. In fact, to such a one, the jubilee might be a suffering. But the one who has lost everything, including his land and himself, would surely look forward to the year of jubilee. When the year of jubilee came, he would rejoice at being released and recovering the right to his portion of the land.

The experience of jubilee is only for those who realize that they are captives of sin, of the world and of Satan:

Every fallen human being has lost the right to enjoy God as the tree of life and the right to enjoy Christ as the good land. Furthermore, every fallen one has sold himself to sin, the world, and Satan. In Romans 7:14 Paul said of himself, “I am fleshly, sold under sin.” Even Paul had become a slave to sin.

Only this realization makes the New Testament jubilee, the age of grace, a real joy and jubilation to us. Lord, make me daily so conscious of the burden of my sin, that I might daily by so thankful and joyful in the release that You have proclaimed over me.