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1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 The Body of Christ Should Look Like Christ

7/23/2016

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By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Today’s Bible devotional is a reprint from August 30th 2015
What does loving one another look like? What should the body of Christ look like? I would venture to say the body of Christ should look like Jesus. Our traits as individuals and as a whole should be conformed to His image. His Holy Spirit in us should be evident and fully functioning among us. Our love should be apparent. And we shouldn’t resemble the world.
The world doesn’t like to submit to authority or recognize the people who work so hard behind the scenes. They want to show up to a church without being part of the church. They want to be served and not serve themselves. They expect the pastor to give them a nice little message, listen to their whining, give them what they need, and then ignore them for the next 6 days. But the people who do that, though they may come to church are not of the church they are still of the world. There is no unity with the body. Verses 12-13 read,
“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”
Paul urges us to respect the people who work among us. We are to regard their work, note it, and give the workers reverence. There shouldn’t be anyone whose work is going unappreciated, but too often there is. Too often the person who cleans the meeting place, who opens her home for fellowship, or who makes the calls to the visitors and absent are overlooked. But when everyone in the church is serving, then most of us will remember to appreciate all the others, and the burden on everyone is lightened. We are all expected to serve. Our gifts were given to us for a reason. Ephesians 4:11-16 says it like this,
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
We are also to give deference to those who are over us, submitting to their wisdom, maturity, and leadership as they guide us toward completion. Hebrews 13:17 says,
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
In submitting to, respecting, and esteeming one another and the contributions each of us makes to the body, we have peace among us. We don’t need to be jealous, envious, or disrespectful of each other. We are in it together, sharing the same Spirit and the same mission. We want the best for each other. We are family, we are interwoven together, each thread is needed and adds to the beauty of the tapestry.
We cannot in love, let someone waste their gifts or remain a new born who never experiences the fullness of Christ during this life. Verse 14-15 puts it this way,
“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”
Our unified walk as the body of Christ does not stop at the church doors. We are good to one another, but we also must be good to the world. We should be beneficent, that is intentionally doing good in a concrete way. We deliberately ensure we are not being maleficent, which is to cause harm. Nonmaleficence should be just as premeditated as beneficence.
Hebrews 13:15-16 reads,
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
It is an act of worship and praise to be charitable and kind. It is glorifying Christ, which is reflecting Jesus, being like Jesus to do good for people. Verses 16-18 say,
“Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
When do we rejoice? When do we pray? When do we thank God and what do we thank Him for? Always, continually, and all the time, for everything. The Holy Spirit wants to shine through us. He wants to glorify Jesus in us. He wants to fill us to overflowing and show us He can’t be exhausted. Verses 19-22 read,
“Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.”
He cannot be exhausted, but He can be quenched, that is stifled, smothered, and left to smolder instead of burn bright. How do we do that? We do it by not rejoicing, praying, and thanking God. We do it by not recognizing that our circumstances have the purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ. (Romans 8:26-30). We stifle the Holy Spirit of God when we disregard His work, or we accept all works that might be from God are and do not discern Godly from worldly. (1 John 4:1-6). We douse His fire in us when we take part in the desires of the flesh instead of the desires of The Spirit.
The muffled and subdued Spirit will not produce the fruit that makes it evident we are sons and daughters of Abba God. Galatians 5:16-26 reads,
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
The fruit of The Spirit is the image of Christ. As we walk, we become more and more mature, showing more and more the character of Jesus. One day we will be instantly perfected but that doesn’t mean we do not strive toward that goal now. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Philippians 3:12-14). We trust the Lord to complete us and keep us. Verses 23-24 read,
“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. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
God does this great work in us. He perfects us. He doesn’t and won’t do it against our will. We have to be in a relationship with Him. We have to want it. And so we pray, we love, we walk, and we strive, not in a futile struggle, but in the peaceful rest of Jesus’ grace. Verses 25-28 close the letter.
“Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
​
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1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 The Encouragement of Jesus’ Return

7/22/2016

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Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed! Revelation 16:15 Photo by Lani Campbell
Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed! Revelation 16:15 Photo by Lani Campbell
​1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Our world is becoming ever increasingly chaotic and violent. The violence, the wickedness, and the chaos are nothing new but now it is being broadcast across televisions, tablets, computers, and phones almost as it happens. We are bombarded with horrific images and sickening stories of terrible and heartbreaking events all day and every day. It seems each day we wake up to a new tragedy and by the time night falls we’ve heard about another catastrophe.
For many of us the dreadful condition of this world makes us look to the hope of Jesus Christ. We hold onto Him and our future of eternity with Him in New Jerusalem. And for many people, whether they understand the end times or only know the distorted myths of the end times we believe that The Day of the Lord is near. The church in Thessalonica believed that Jesus was coming back any day. That is for the most part a great attitude for us to have. We should be ready and living as if he is coming back any minute, because we don’t know the time, we only know the seasons and the signs.  While the Thessalonians should have been living with the expectation of Jesus’ return, Paul wanted to clarify some things for them. So he wrote to them to elucidate the truth about Jesus second coming. Verses 13-15 reads,
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
 
Paul uses the word asleep to refer to those who have physically died. This language though confusing to us now, was clear to the people in the church of that day, it was early Christianese and described that for the Christian physical death is a temporary state similar to falling asleep. We will wake up one day and we will rise with Christ to eternal life. All of those of us who are still alive, won’t miss out either, we’ll be right behind our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and ancestors going to spend eternity united with one another and Christ in the paradise of New Jerusalem. As we all rise up together, Jesus will descend to meet us in the air. Can you picture it? Try as I might, I don’t think my imagination can capture anything close to what it will be like. Verses 16-18 describe it,
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
At the voice of an archangel and the blast of the shofar Christ will descend and the dead in Christ will rise first, all those we love and miss, all those we never knew, all those we’ve heard about and would love to know will rise first and then we will be caught up with them in the clouds. We’ll meet the Lord together and from then on we will be perfectly united with Him. Truly I cannot even fathom what it will be like, but I know it will be wonderful. There is a reason we have named this event the rapture. Who could imagine a more blissful, ecstatic, joyful happening?
When we are tired, when we suffer, when we don’t know why we keep going on this earth, we are to encourage each other with the description of this day. That means we have to love and trust each other enough to share when we are hurting, suffering, and tired. I know so many of you are exhausted and not sure how you will go on even one more day. I know so many of you are hurting and need some hope. My beloved brothers and sisters, consider this day. We may still be alive when Jesus comes to take us home, or we may have passed on by then. But it is coming. It is not a fairytale. It is not something any man made up to make himself rich. In fact the men who wrote these scriptures all were imprisoned and tortured for writing them. Many were martyred for declaring these words to be true. They wrote what the Holy Spirit told them to write and they were glad to lay down their lives for the sake of the Gospel. That is how we know this is real. Different men in different locations all were told the same things. The many visions they were given coincide with one another. That is how we know it’s true.
When is He coming? Will it be today? Tomorrow? Next year? In three years? Or in three thousand years? Jesus said He would come back but He didn’t say when. In John 14:1-3 Jesus encouraged the disciples with this promise,
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
 
He told them how to get there by following Him. John 14:6-7 reads,
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
 
But He could not say when. Matthew 24:36 reads,
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
 
Matthew 24 does give us many signs to help know when the time is coming close and I suggest you read it. When you do, it may sound a lot like the world we live in today. Don’t let that frighten you. Don’t let it make you believe every false prophet who stands up. Let it inspire more research so you will be more aware of the signs, the times, and the events, so you will be ready and can help get others ready as well. This is what Paul had to say about it in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 1-3.
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
 
This gives a very scary and dark scenario but the Christian has nothing to be afraid of. We want to be aware for those who are not saved that their fate is not only dark it is terrifying. But while The Day of the Lord will terrible for the lost it will be heaven, literal Heaven for believers. For the lost the day will come on so suddenly they won’t know up from down. For Christians we are aware of what’s happening, we have the signs, we are aware of what season we are in. Like a pregnant woman going into labor should not be shocked that her pregnancy has reached its end, so we should not be surprised that our days on earth have reached their terminus. Verses 4-8 encourages believers to be aware and ready.
But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
 
A pregnant woman prepares. She makes a place for her baby to sleep. She packs a bag for the birthing center and talks with professionals about her birth plan. She makes sure every knows what to do when the time comes. Though she does not know the exact day or hour, she has an idea of the week and she is ready in case it is earlier than she thought. So we don’t know exactly when Jesus is coming but we stay prepared, ready, and alert.
What does it mean to be ready? We are practicing righteousness, we are exercising faith and love. We are walking in salvation. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a couple of parables. One is known as the Ten Virgins. They are brides waiting for their bridegroom to come and take them to the wedding feast. Some stay awake with their lamps ready, wicks trimmed, bowls full of oil, and lit. Some fall asleep and run short of oil, while they are gone buying more, the Bridegroom comes and they miss Him (Matthew 25:1-12). That story is about being dressed properly in salvation and walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit (the oil and light of the lamp).
Later in Matthew 25 Jesus talks about the final judgement and explains to us what it is we ought to be doing do be ready for Him. Matthew 25:31-46 in The Message reads,
31-33 “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
34-36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
41-43 “Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because--
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’
44 “Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’
45 “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’
46 “Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”
 
The Lord has great plans for us both on this earth and on the New Earth. His plans for us now involve feeding His sheep. But His plans for us then involve something totally different! Luke 12:35-40 reads,
“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
 
Read verses 37-38 again,
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 
 
Can you imagine it? Jesus doing that for us? Of course you can if you know who Jesus is. He did it for the Disciples before His last Passover with them as He taught them what love really is. John 13:3-5 reads,
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
 
We have so much joy awaiting us. Jesus will comfort us, He will wipe away every tear, there will be no more death, and no more grieving (Revelation21:14). We are intended, designed, and ordained for eternal union with the Lord. Verses 9-11 read,
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
 
So I will leave you with that today. Be awake, be ready. Be about your Father’s business. Encourage one another and one another up, just as you are doing. 
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1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 Please God More and More

7/21/2016

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And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment Philippians 1:9
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment Philippians 1:9
​1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
What is a life pleasing to God? As followers of Christ for? We desire to please God, but what is it that pleases Him? Today’s devotional answers that question. I’ve got good news, it is not a difficult thing to please God, who loves you so much. And wat God wants is not a secret. Verses 1-2 read,
Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
 
What is it that God wants? He wants us to walk in His commandments. Leviticus 26:3-4 reads,
If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
This passage goes on to talk about all the great things God will do for us if we would only walk in His commandments. Before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He left the apostles and disciples instructions for what He wanted from them and from us, He gave us what we call the Great Commission. A commission is an assignment, an official job or directive to be carried out. Our commission is recorded in Matthew 28:18-20.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
 
This is the job we have been given. Some of us do this, some of us don’t. Most of us leave this job to a few of us. Maybe we don’t feel qualified to go make disciples, maybe we don’t know what or how to teach them because we don’t know what Jesus commanded us to do. So let’s look at some of what Jesus commanded and taught us. Clearly we can’t cover everything in a morning devotional. But I trust you read your Bible every day and you will continue to read Jesus instructions for your life. The gospel of John is a great place to begin and Matthew chapters 5-7 are a great place to study. This is what we call the Sermon on the Mount and it can teach you things that will knock your world upside down. So this morning I will look at just a few of Jesus’ commandments for us. First we will read what Jesus said was the greatest commandment. He said there were actually two commandments to be obeyed because they are like one another, meaning that obeying one means we need to obey both. Matthew 22:37-40
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
He said that all the law and prophets, the entirety of Scripture was dependent on these two commandments. If we keep these two commandments we are pleasing God and we are walking in God’s commandments. I know though there are people who can get hung up on loving your neighbor. Who is your neighbor? (He answered this question in the parable of the Good Samaritan) They get caught up on the loving yourself part and elevate that above everything else the commandment says. Jesus know people would do that too. So He simplified the command for us. He took out he question of who our neighbor is, He took out the question of what it means to love. In John 15:12-17 Jesus said,
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Some of the other commandments Jesus gave us that help us to be disciples and teach others to be disciples are to take the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:18-20). Pray (Matthew 21:13). Wait for His return (Matthew 24:42-44). And take care of the church, and the poor and those in need (John 21:15-16, Matthew 21:31-40). But above all of these commandments we are commanded to love as Jesus loves.
Following these commandments does more than we can imagine. They are key to making disciples of others but they also further our walk with God and please Him in a way that goes beyond our obedience. Verses 3-8 read,
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
 
It is God’s will for us to be sanctified. That means we become more and more righteous like Jesus, holy and noticeably different from the world. To not become more like Jesus, to stay where we are is to transgress, that is do wrong against our brothers and sisters. And who in the world will care to be like someone who is no different than they are?
How are we sanctified? How do we know if we are progressing forward in our walk with Jesus? How is your self-control? Is it better than it was yesterday? Can you leave that chocolate, cigarette, sex, or whatever your vice is, alone? Can you say no to it and mean it? Your self-control and ability not to give in to your passions and stomach are a thermometer of your maturity (sanctification) in Christ. We should always be moving forward. Verse one said we ought to be doing so more and more. Another thermometer of our sanctification is how we are keeping Jesus commandment to love one another. Verses 9-10 read,
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more,
 
Paul urges us to love one another more and more. Remember love is not just a mushy gushy feeling. You can tell me you love me all you want but unless there is some tangible evidence, unless there is some action on your part, your “love” means nothing to me. So are we loving more and more? Are we laying down our lives more and more? Are we giving, providing, bearing one another’s burdens, and supporting one another more and more? James 2:14-17 describes it this way,
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
 
Our tangible love, our ever-increasing sanctification, our faith is exhibited in the lives we lead. People shouldn’t look at our lives and think we are the same as they are Partying in the world or that we concerned with filling or lusts, desperate to fill our stomachs, or worried about anything. They should look at us and see quiet goodness, people who love another so that we have no unmet needs, people who are rejoicing in the Lord. Verses 11-12 read,
and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
 
This is what pleases God. Are we becoming more and more like Jesus every day? Are we loving one another more and more every day? Are we living quiet respectful lives which give people in the world nothing to accuse us of? If not, then right now, right here is the perfect time and place to start becoming more and more.
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1 Thessalonians 3 Your Life is a Testimony and an Encouragement

7/20/2016

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Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11
​1 Thessalonians 3
Today, I am going to return to Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica and our regular routine of devotionals until at least we finish this book.
Your life is a testimony. Do you know what that means? When we talk about your life being a testimony it means that the way you live, respond, and behave, and what you choose to do affects people around you and shows your faith more clearly than merely your words. Do you know how much your life lived as a testimony can encourage the brothers and sisters around you? I have experienced that, especially lately.
Paul wanted very much to visit the church and see how himself how they were doing, but he was unable to so he sent Timothy. Verses 1-5 read,
Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
Timothy’s life had a great impact on people. His faith and perseverance was a great comfort to Paul. He knew he could trust this man because Timothy proved his trust worthiness in how he lived. Paul described Timothy as “our brother.” He meant that clearly Timothy’s life was a testimony to Jesus Christ. No one could question his salvation. He meant that they were united and together with the church a family with God as Father. Ephesians 4:23-25 reminds us we are new and belong to one another.
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 
 
Paul called Timothy “God’s coworker” not just his partner or a fellow worker to the church but God’s coworker. When we are pursuing God’s will, when we are fulfilling the great commission, we are working with The LORD. God’s will is for our sanctification, that all people be saved, and that we have a genuine relationship with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 2 Peter 3:9, Hosea 6:6). We are going about our Father’s business. Have you ever considered yourself that way? We are family and we are partners and collaborators with God! And Timothy’s life proved that unity of Spirit and purpose.
It is not only our lives lived as individuals that encourages others, but our lives lived as the church that encourages. Verses 6-10 read,
But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
 
Both as individuals and the body we need to remember one another. Not simply think of others but act on those thoughts, reach out, make a phone call, drop an email, send a text or a message, or visit. Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica and the Thessalonians sent their regards and thoughts to Paul. While I was recently absent and unable to do these devotionals I had people reach out to me and it was so encouraging to know I was loved and cared about. People called me, visited me and wrote me messages to check on me. there were times when those texts, calls or visits came at times when I desperately needed the comfort. You, my brothers and sisters and coworkers with God answered the call of the Holy Spirit and I thank you. This is something I hope and strive to do and I hope that we all try to do more intentionally.
Standing fast in the Lord as the Thessalonians did can also be a comfort and encouragement to people. First, let me clarify what standing fast in the Lord means. It means to firmly remain, to hold your position, or persevere and refuse to be defeated. So it means we are not giving into temptation, letting difficulty and pain overwhelm us, or allowing circumstances to falter us. How can that be an encouragement to others? 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 says,
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.
When I see your faith remain in the face of hardship, I see what the Lord is doing for you and in you and that reminds me of what He can do for me. I met someone recently who went through a horrific ordeal. She was of course shaken and hurt but she was still faithful. While I was supposed to be comforting her, she was encouraging me and she had no idea. Her faith bolstered mine and mine bolstered hers. I know so many people who are suffering terribly, yet they stand fast. They are models for me to follow. They are inspirations to keep walking the walk myself.
We give thanks for each other. As we pray throughout the day, we remember one another and give thanks to God for each other. This is one way we pray for each other but it is another way that God increases our joy and strengthens our faith. As I thank God for each of you, I am reminded I am not alone. I am part of a body, part of the church, and a member of a family.
Why do we do this? Verses 11-13 read,
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 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.
 
The more we live as a testimony to Christ, the more our love will grow for each other and the world. We will grow the Kingdom of God that way. People will take note of that awesome love which is so different from anything the world knows and they will want to be a part of it. John 13:34-35 says it this way,
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Not only that but as our love abounds, we become more conformed to the image of Christ, which means we become sanctified, purified like Jesus and we will be ready for that wonderful day when Jesus returns. 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5 reads,
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
 
Believer, are you living your life as a testimony? Are you living as a member of this family and a coworker of God? Are you standing fast? Is your love growing day by day? 
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1 Thessalonians 2 Evangelism: a Way of Life

7/1/2016

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I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 2 Corinthians 12:15
I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 2 Corinthians 12:15
​1 Thessalonians 2
Sharing Christ with people is more than telling someone a preplanned or memorized speech. Although if you do even that, I commend you for your effort to share the Gospel. We share Christ with people by the way we live our lives, offer ourselves, and love people. It is important that we understand the Gospel, are able to present it and defend it, but it is more important that we are able to live it.
When Paul went to Thessalonica, he did more than enter the city square and give a spiel. He showed up and represented Jesus Christ. This chapter describes how he did that and offers us guidance in sharing Jesus with whomever the Lord puts in our path. Verses 1-2 describe how Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica.
For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.
 
The Lord had ordained them to go to the city, they knew that it was not going to be fruitless. They went with a purpose, to share God’s Word. Paul live his life with that purpose. And that is never futile, even when we don’t see the results. Isaiah 55:10-11 says it like this,
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
 
It was not an easy task either. Paul said they had been shamefully treated at Philippi and went to Thessalonica anyway and didn’t have it any easier there. Paul and Silas had been thrown in jail in Philippi. Even through all the trouble there, people including Lydia and their prison guard had accepted Christ (Acts 16). In Thessalonica, many people were converted but the Jewish people became outraged and threated Paul and Silas’ life to the point where they had to be sent out of the city in the middle of the night to save their lives and the lives of the believers (Acts 17:1-10). But that conflict made the sincerity and zeal for the Gospel of Christ that much more apparent. Nothing would deter Paul from getting the truth to the lost.
Nothing has to deter us from sharing Jesus with anyone. What excuses do we use? It might be uncomfortable? The person may not want to hear it? They or we are busy? Jesus laid down His life in agony so you could be saved. Paul and every other apostle suffered prison and torture so people could be saved. All the apostles except for John were martyred in horrific fashion for the sake of the Gospel. Do you think maybe you and I can handle a person thinking we’re stupid or annoying in order to give them a chance to know the hope of Jesus and the love of their Father?
Verses 3-6 read,
For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 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. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
 
Paul and Silas didn’t share the Gospel for their own glory. They didn’t do it so they would look good. Paul wasn’t saying to himself, “I want to be known as the greatest Christian of all time.” It is likely that Paul never even knew the great impact he had on Christianity. He certainly wasn’t being rewarded or made rich from his efforts.
I’ve seen so many people who have ministries and I wonder if they are doing that work to glorify the Lord or themselves. Although, God will use them for His purposes and doubtlessly there are people saved and helped through them, it seems to me that because they have become about themselves instead of Jesus. For some people ministry becomes about how great they are not about how great God is. If I can see that, I think that the deceived of the world see it too and they are not interested in hearing from a person who wants to glorify himself.
I picture a scene from Evita in which Eva Perón is building orphanages and giving charity to the needy of Argentina but it is all in her name, for her fame, and the sake of husband Juan Perón. The people receiving that charity were made to feel humiliated in order for Eva Perón to feel exalted. When we put ourselves in Jesus’ place of honor instead of exhibiting His humility we are not presenting the true Christ.
Presenting the Gospel is at its heart presenting Jesus. We should be the image of Christ to those around us. That means we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and expressing Him in His fruit and the picture of love read about in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
The fruit of the Spirit is described in Galatians 5:22-23,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
 
And the portrayal of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a reads,
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.
 
Verses 7-8 describe what this meant to Paul,
 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
Paul and Silas did more than preach and speak. They lived among the people, they formed a relationship with them. They shared themselves. They earnestly loved them. As they lived, they exemplified Christ. They didn’t behave in the flesh, they lived in the Spirit. Verses 9-12 read,
 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
There was no asking people to stop living one way, while they lived another. They lived in a way that no one could charge them with wrong. There was no way someone could accuse them of wanting money, lying, stealing, slothfulness, greedy, or immoral. They lived out the fruit of the Spirit and love and in that way they could exhort and encourage the new believers to walk in Christ.
Paul practiced what he preached. That is how and why the Thessalonians who accepted Christ could accept Him. They could believe the Gospel because they saw it being lived out. They could grow in Christ even when they had to send Paul and Silas to Berea because they could look at the churches around them and follow their example. They could see the difference between a Spirit-filled follower of Christ and the Pharisees of Judaism who hated Jesus.  Verses 13-16 read,
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!
 
Paul didn’t simply make sure they were saved and abandon them. He kept tabs on them, he sent Timothy to check on them and he wrote them letters. He planned to come see them again. He maintained a relationship with them to ensure they were staying on the path of truth and not falling for the lies that would certainly be coming their way. Verses 17-20 read,
 
But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.
 
Love is why we share Christ. Jesus’ glory and the glory of the kingdom of God is why we share the Gospel. The hope of eternity is why we follow Jesus and invite as many who will follow with us.
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1 Thessalonians 1 Genuine Encouragement Has Tangible Effects

6/30/2016

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But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13
​1 Thessalonians 1
Today, we will begin reading 1 Thessalonians. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Thessalonica in Macedonia to encourage and exhort them after hearing Timothy’s report of the church from his visit (Acts 18:5). Verse 1 reads,
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
 
The letter was from Paul, Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy, who at the writing of this letter had been working with Paul about a year or so. Paul addresses the church and reminds them they are the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are supposed to remind each other who we are. We are the church, we are not the world. We are only the church because the Lord has saved us and made us the church. Paul also told the church he prayed for them. Verses 2-3 read,
We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
As the church we should be praying for one another and we should encourage each other by that. Paul told them he prayed for them and was thankful to God for them. He could see the work of God active in their lives. He could see the evidence of their faith, the work of their love and the persistence of their hope. Those evidences are tangible. Do people know about your faith, love, and hope because it is apparent in the way you live your life and affect the kingdom or do they know about it because you tell them? Saying I love you is very different from actually loving. Saying you have faith is not the same as exercising that faith. James described it this way in James 2:15-17,
 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
 
As Paul taught this church, he gave them the positive reinforcements they needed to know they were on the right track. So we as a united church ought to do for one another. If we follow Paul’s example we can let each other know, “I’m praying for you, brother. Your hard work is not going unnoticed. I am inspired by your faith.” What does it mean for you, when you hear encouragement like that? Imagine what genuine assurance does for others as well.
We are the church, not by accident, not by chance but by the will of God. Verses 4-7 read,
 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
 
Do you know how special it is to be among God’s chosen? Believer, we are not among the world any longer. We heard the Gospel, we believed it, and we accepted it. We are not like the world or in the world, we are in the church and so we should look and behave like Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Those who are more mature should be training the less mature. We should be supporting one another in our walk in Christ.
As we live that way together making disciples of each other, we grow and the word spreads. People outside the local church take note and we encourage more believers. The word also spreads to others. The world takes note, they see the Gospel lived out, they hear it and they have a chance to accept God’s election on their lives and believe. Verses 8-10 read,
For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
 
Genuine love, faith, and hope lived out among us has an impact. When we palpably and substantially love each other, when we care enough to encourage and exhort one another it doesn’t stay within our little groups, it spreads exponentially.
Jesus is returning one day. I believe it is going to be soon. But regardless how little or much time there is, there are too many people who have not heard the Father’s call, known the love of Jesus or seen the work of the Holy Spirit. We can change that by intentionally and sincerely living out our faith, love, and hope.
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1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 Love Another, Deliberately and Well

8/30/2015

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 on Photo of The Church of Life Prayer Lounge at Waves of Glory, Orlando, Florida
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 on Photo of The Church of Life Prayer Lounge at Waves of Glory, Orlando, Florida
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

What does loving one another look like? What should the body of Christ look like? I would venture to say the body of Christ should look like Jesus. Our traits as individuals and as a whole should be conformed to His image. His Holy Spirit in us should be evident and fully functioning among us. Our love should be apparent. And we shouldn’t resemble the world.

The world doesn’t like to submit to authority or recognize the people who work so hard behind the scenes. They want to show up to a church without being part of the church. They want to be served and not serve themselves. They expect the pastor to give them a nice little message, listen to their whining, give them what they need, and then ignore them for the next 6 days. But the people who do that, though they may come to church are not of the church they are still of the world. There is no unity with the body. Verses 12-13 read,

“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”

Paul urges us to respect the people who work among us. We are to regard their work, note it, and give the workers reverence. There shouldn’t be anyone whose work is going unappreciated, but too often there is. Too often the person who cleans the meeting place, who opens her home for fellowship, or who makes the calls to the visitors and absent are overlooked. But when everyone in the church is serving, then most of us will remember to appreciate all the others, and the burden on everyone is lightened. We are all expected to serve. Our gifts were given to us for a reason. Ephesians 4:11-16 says it like this,

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

We are also to give deference to those who are over us, submitting to their wisdom, maturity, and leadership as they guide us toward completion. Hebrews 13:17 says,

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

In submitting to, respecting, and esteeming one another and the contributions each of us makes to the body, we have peace among us. We don’t need to be jealous, envious, or disrespectful of each other. We are in it together, sharing the same Spirit and the same mission. We want the best for each other. We are family, we are interwoven together, each thread is needed and adds to the beauty of the tapestry.

We cannot in love, let someone waste their gifts or remain a new born who never experiences the fullness of Christ during this life. Verse 14-15 puts it this way,

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”

Our unified walk as the body of Christ does not stop at the church doors. We are good to one another, but we also must be good to the world. We should be beneficent, that is intentionally doing good in a concrete way. We deliberately ensure we are not being maleficent, which is to cause harm. Nonmaleficence should be just as premeditated as beneficence.

Hebrews 13:15-16 reads,

“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

It is an act of worship and praise to be charitable and kind. It is glorifying Christ, that is reflecting Jesus, being like Jesus to do good for people. Verses 16-18 say,

“Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

When do we rejoice? When do we pray? When do we thank God and what do we thank Him for? Always, continually, and all the time, for everything. The Holy Spirit wants to shine through us. He wants to glorify Jesus in us. He wants to fill us to overflowing and show us He can’t be exhausted. Verses 19-22 read,

“Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.”

He cannot be exhausted, but He can be quenched, that is stifled, smothered, and left to smolder instead of burn bright. How do we do that? We do it by not rejoicing, praying, and thanking God. We do it by not recognizing that our circumstances have the purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ. (Romans 8:26-30). We stifle the Holy Spirit of God when we disregard His work, or we accept all works that might be from God are and do not discern Godly from worldly. (1 John 4:1-6). We douse His fire in us when we take part in the desires of the flesh instead of the desires of The Spirit.

The muffled and subdued Spirit will not produce the fruit that makes it evident we are sons and daughters of Abba God. Galatians 5:16-26 reads,

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

The fruit of The Spirit is the image of Christ. As we walk, we become more and more mature, showing more and more the character of Jesus. One day we will be instantly perfected but that doesn’t mean we do not strive toward that goal now. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Philippians 3:12-14). We trust the Lord to complete us and keep us. Verses 23-24 read,

“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. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”

God does this great work in us. He perfects us. He doesn’t and won’t do it against our will. We have to be in a relationship with Him. We have to want it. And so we pray, we love, we walk, and we strive, not in a futile struggle, but in the peaceful rest of Jesus’ grace. Verses 25-28 close the letter.

“Brothers, pray for us.

26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

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1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 Are You Holy or Worldly?

8/28/2015

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1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

I am not a legalist. I believe that we do not have to follow a list of rules and rituals to follow Jesus. But we are called to a more noble life, and a higher walk. We are the sons and daughters of The Lord God Almighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords! We shouldn’t look or act like the rest of the world. We are aware of how much God loves us and our gratitude makes us want to please our Father and Lord. Verse 1 reads,

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”

We are saved by faith and covered by grace. (Ephesians 2:6-9). But that freedom doesn’t change the fact that we do have a higher calling and our lives should reflect that calling. Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to walk in conformity to Jesus. Verses 2-8 read,

“For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

When we choose to live like the world and let our flesh rule our behavior we ignore, disrespect, and quench The Holy Spirit. He makes it possible for us to live good Jesus glorifying lives. In Leviticus 20:7-8 The Lord said,

“Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”

God separated us out from the world and made us holy, not so we could look and act like the world but so that we could reflect who He is to the world. He called us out and said we are peculiar, we are not typical, we are God’s own people. (1 Peter 2:9 KJV). The world might even think we’re odd. If they don’t notice our differences maybe we’re not being holy as God is holy.

In 1 Peter 2:9-10 Peter urges us not to behave like the world.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

What is it besides our self-control and abstinence from degrading our bodies that sets us apart as believers? We honor not only our own bodies as the Temple of God but we honor the body of Christ, our fellow believers because our brothers and sisters are also the temple of God. Verses 9-12 read,

“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”

Our love for one another makes us stand out from the world. Our love glorifies Jesus. Our love as exercised in charity, kindness, and edification of one another tells people we are different. Our lives lived as holy, that is set aside and sacred, calls people to Jesus. It is a testimony to God’s awesomeness that we are changed and different from the rest of the world.

Believer, is your life a testimony to God’s awesome power? Or do you look and act like the world? Do you treat your body and the body of Christ with reverence, care, and love? 

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1 Thessalonians 3 You are not Meant to Walk Alone

8/27/2015

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Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 On photo of Merri and Me by Donna Campbell
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 On photo of Merri and Me by Donna Campbell
1 Thessalonians 3

Believer, you are not meant to go it alone. Following Christ and walking in the Spirit is meant to be done with other believers. New Christians especially need to become a member of a faith community. We have a duty to those people who we have led to Jesus to disciple them. We have a responsibility to ourselves and our fellow believers to be together in a community to teach one another, edify one another, and over all love one another.

When Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, he was torn up about not being able to go to them and disciple them. He understood the need for teaching, guidance, and mentoring of believer to believer. Paul knew it was important to send someone to the churches he had planted. And though he couldn’t go himself, he sent Timothy.

Why do we need fellowship of believers? There are a few reasons. The first is we suffer. Verses 1-4 read,

“Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”

When we suffer, whether physical illness, oppression, spiritual battle or anything else, fellowship with other Spirit-filled people comforts us and lets us see the bigger picture. Our suffering doesn’t (or at least shouldn’t) bring others down and cause them to suffer as well. Camaraderie lightens our burden helps us get through it, and teaches us and our church.

When you are going it alone and you suffer, there is no one there to give you the wisdom of The Holy Spirit when you can’t hear him through your pain. There is no one to share the load with you. A new believer can become so discouraged that he doesn’t let the Word of God take root in his heart. He can choose to reject Jesus because he doesn’t understand that we all suffer or why he was being attacked. The person led to Christ yesterday but not given a church body is left an orphan who has a slim chance of maturing to the image of Christ. Verse 5 reads,

“For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.”

The church at Thessalonica needed mentoring and so do every one of us. Paul needed Christian partners and so do we. Paul sent Timothy to the Thessalonians to ensure they were maturing, and probably to set up a system of leadership in the church and ensure they would continue to grow in Christ. When Timothy returned to Paul, he had good news. Verses 6-8 read,

“But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.”

We need each other to teach one another, to get to know God more and more. Verses 9-10 read,

“For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?”

Proverbs 27:17 says it this way,

“Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another.”

We need each other because our corporate prayer, worship, and studying blesses The Lord and blesses us. We can see what Jesus is doing in our lives and the lives of one another. Our thanksgiving, worship, praise and prayers increase exponentially. As our love for God increases so does our love for each other. It all multiplies by leaps and bounds when we are in it together.  Verses 11-13 read,

“Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 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.”

We are waiting for Jesus to return, we are waiting for New Jerusalem, but we have eternal life now. One day we will be perfected, but now we walk in increasing glory of Jesus. We do that together, not alone. The Holy Spirit is in us, making us a union that cannot be easily broken. When we are together He is that much more among us.

When a person is walking alone there is no one to comfort, encourage, edify or work with. If he has a question he can ask God but will He recognize the answer? Or will the father of lies answer first and lead the person further away from Jesus. Who will keep him accountable?

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1 Thessalonians 2 How to Share the Gospel even if You're not an Evangelist

8/26/2015

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1 Thessalonians 2

I know that many believers are afraid to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people. Or at least many are very anxious about it. I understand that trepidation. But whether not we are gifted with evangelism, it is still a command of Jesus to us, and it is a core purpose and manifestation of love and our response to our own salvation. Matthew 28:18-20 reads,

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

But many of us, leave evangelism to the two people in our church who are gifted. We say we don’t know how. Many of us associate evangelism with knocking on doors and asking, “If you were to die tonight, where would you go?” Many of us associate sharing the Gospel with men on street corners carrying signs that read, “Repent Today!” But evangelism, truly witnessing to the lost is not like that at all. And as believers we not only have the compulsion to share the love of Jesus with the world, we have the ability and the authority to do so. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He didn’t leave us. He said He would be with us until the end of the age. His Holy Spirit came to us, indwelt us and fills us. (John 14:15-17). He makes it possible for us to testify to the awesome love of The Father. Verses 1-4 read,

“For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 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.”

The Lord entrusted us, He commended us with the wonderful Truth. This is a secret and a mystery to the lost, but it is not supposed to remain an enigmatic secret. Ephesians 3:4-13 says,

“When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.”

We don’t share the gospel because we want to impress the church. We don’t testify to the Lordship of Jesus Christ to please men. We do it because The Lord loves us so deeply and we want to please Him by giving Him what He wants, which is for everyone to come to know Him. (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). And sharing the Gospel does not always mean walking up to people at the bus stop and having a pre-scripted conversation ending in leading them in the ‘sinner’s prayer.’ Sharing the Gospel is done when people see how we respond to suffering. Witnessing is done in our relationships and conversations when we deliberately bring the conversation to Jesus. Evangelism is done through our acts of love and faith to people. Verses 5-8 say,

“For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”

When we share the gospel we are not selling something. We don’t have to cajole people to like us. We don’t need to persuade anyone with sweet-talk. We are genuinely loving, kind, and giving as The Holy Spirit has made us to be. (Galatians 5:22-24). If we love The Lord then like Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, we desire people to come to Jesus just like God does. (1 John 4:7-21). We love Him and our desires align with The Spirit of God and not with our selfish flesh. (Philippians 2:12-13).

We witness by our attitude and love toward one another. (John 13:34-35). We mentor believers and make them disciples by our love toward one another. Verses 9-12 read,

“For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

When we witness, we don’t have to be fearful. We do not have to worry about not knowing how or what to say. The Holy Spirit will do the work. He saves, not us. The Holy Spirit emboldens us and even gives us the words to say. (Acts 4:23-31, Matthew 10:19-20). Verse 13 says,

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

There is persecution for believers today and it will only get worse as time gets closer to The Day of Judgement. But that is all the more reason to spread the Gospel, people need Jesus or they will burn in Hell. We will face opposition because Satan hates people, he is our enemy and he schemes and plans to keep people from the fullness of God. (1 Peter 5:8). As, the body of Christ in a world of people who do not know Jesus we need one another and we need to remain faithful witnesses and keepers of The Gospel. The enemy and his followers will experience the wrath of God. We can snatch the lost out of his hands and lead them to Jesus. Verses 14-16 read,

“For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!”

Do we love one another as Jesus loves us? Do we love people as Jesus loves them? If we do, we can’t let them walk to Hell without giving them a chance to know Jesus. If we do we can’t leave the newly born again as orphans without a way to know their Father more. We are responsible for dispensing the Gospel. Verses 17-20 read,

“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.”

First of all, love people with the Love of God. Be bold and courageous, not fearful. Trust and obey the Lord. This is not a job for 1% of the church. This is a job for 100% of the church. We were given our gifts for a reason, which is the building up of the church. (Ephesians 4:11-16). How will people know Jesus of they never hear about Him. Romans 10:13-17 reads,

“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

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    Donna Campbell

    As I read the Bible every day, I take what God teaches me, what He says, and write it out. I then share that with you. It gives me a deeper understanding of the Word and I hope that it will encourage you as it does me, to put your love and faith into action.

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