2 Thessalonians 1 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 and 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12.

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

How easy it is to get bogged down with fear that we aren’t going to make it. We mess up so much and we have been so blistered by the concept that one mistake can blast us to hell. Some of us just want to throw our hands up in the air and give up.

But Paul encourages us. We are not alone. God will sanctify us. He is setting us apart. He is growing us. He is working in us. He will keep us blameless. He is faithful. We can trust Him to do it.

We just need to hang on to Him. Don’t give up today. Hang on to God today. He is working on you. He will do it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your in put by clicking the following link: Post a comment.

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12.

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

I spend too many days worried about what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade. A friend calls it crazy-making and that is an accurate description. I can make myself utterly crazy with fears and worries about what might happen in the future with my finances, my family, my work.

What helps the most is remembering that I might not even see tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade. The Lord’s coming will be like a thief in the night. It might well be like a thief tonight. Why ruin today worrying about a tomorrow I may never even see?

I’m not saying I don’t give consideration and make plans for the potential future. It would be ungodly to spend all the money I have now and not save some to be able to eat tomorrow. However, there is no need to let tomorrow ruin today. Today I need to simply get closer to Jesus because by the end of today, that may well be all that matters.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4:18.

“…and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).

Here is the struggle. I want to love others, but they have hurt me. I want to love others, but they do wrong. I want to love others, but the fact is most of us are so unlovable. What do we do about that? We recognize that the kind of love we need to have for each other is the kind of love God has for us. We recognize that the strength for that kind of love can only come from the One who already has that kind of love.

If I am filled with God’s love, then His love will spill out into my relationship with others. I need to pray that God will fill me with His love today. I need to pray that God will strengthen me to love as He does today. And notice why. This text says it is through loving others God’s way that my heart is established as blameless in holiness. My heart is not established a blameless in holiness simply because I can declare and follow a pattern regarding the work of the church. My heart is established when the love of God flows from my life toward others just as He has loved me.

That is a tall order. It can only be done by the strength of God.

Father, grant me the strength to love today. Let me love others as you have loved me. Fill me with your love and love others through me. Thank you for your love. I love you.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS: What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:20.

“…and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

What an interesting perspective on Jesus and the wrath to come. Most of the time, I think of the wrath to come as something Jesus is going to bring on me because of my sinful actions. But Paul grants us a different perspective. The picture here is not that Jesus brings wrath. Rather, wrath is where I’m heading all on my own. Jesus doesn’t have to bring that wrath, I’m walking headlong into it.

Instead of bringing wrath, Jesus is bringing deliverance from wrath. He is bringing peace, safety, reward. He is not bringing wrath to punish my way, rather, my way just leads to wrath. He is bringing forgiveness so that I don’t have to face the wrath I deserve. He is showing me a new way so I can avoid wrath. Why would I go any way but His, if He is offering that victory and deliverance?

My way is leading to wrath. I think today, I’ll choose Jesus’ way. I’m sure it will work.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:19.

Yesterday I learned about being willing to test my own heart to see if I’m in the faith. Today, I think it is interesting that Paul wrote, “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity of any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

I’m certainly no Greek scholar and I rarely try to make any arguments or points from the original language for that matter, because I think it is so easy to make mistakes in that way. However, I can’t help but notice the parallels between this verse and the one that stood out to me yesterday. In 2 Corinthians 3:5, the statement was to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith. In this one, Paul says God tested them and found them trustworthy. The words for test are similar. The words for “the faith” and “entrusted” are similar. I’m not saying these verse go together. I’m really just explaining why the verse jumped out at me today.

Yesterday, I learned I should be willing to test myself. This one talks about God’s testing. Interestingly, the root Greek word translated “approved” and “tests” in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 is the same as the root word for the word “search” found in Psalm 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart!”

Anyway, all of that is just interesting background to Paul’s point that really impacted me today.

Why do I speak? To please men or to please God? This can easily be a problem for me. Sometimes I spend more time trying to impress men than just doing the right thing with my preaching. No doubt, this can be a gray area because I also think it is important to the very best I can do in order to glorify God by honoring Him through my effort. However, when I’m truly honest, I have to say that sometimes my motivation is not, “I have to work really hard on the presentation because that shows honor to God.” Sometimes my motivation is, “I have to work really hard on this because I want people to think I’m an awesome preacher.”

Where this becomes really dangerous is when the desire to please men shifts from just trying to do an outstanding job of presentation, to actually changing God’s message because I fear people might not like it. I think it is just as wrong to preach the truth from a motivation of trying to impress men, but I commit two wrongs when my desire to impress men also causes me to change God’s message.

What does Paul remind me today? God is the one who is searching my heart. The grievous ways in my heart are defined by God’s will, not by what is pleasing to man. I need to ask Him to search my heart and remove every grievous way because I want to please Him, not in order to impress men with my spirituality or my ability.

So, I got the double whammy two days in a row. I need to be willing to test myself and I need to remember that it is God who tests me. He is working to approve me and help me grow. I need to recognize the hardships, the refining fires (however they come) are not simply meant to see if I have a bad motivation but to highlight any improper motivation and help me remove that.

My prayer, “God, please keep the refining fires coming. Left to myself, I will strive to impress and please men. Please, search my heart and see what grievous ways are there. Bring them to the top so they may be easily removed. Thank you for testing me.”

***Question: How do you thank God for His tests?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC