Join me in reading through the Bible in One Year! We will follow a reading plan together and go beyond just reading the Bible, to studying it. We will post about the passage and learn from each other as we grow in our walk with the Lord.
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Showing posts with label 1 Thessalonians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1 Thessalonians. Show all posts
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
This verse has always been a bit of a struggle for me. Trusting God through difficult circumstances is hard enough, but thanking Him for them? That seems impossible.
And yet, “with God, all things are possible.” So we need to thank Him in all circumstances. He works in mysterious ways, ways that we could never understand. Maybe that difficult circumstance you’re going through is leading you into great things. Or maybe, it’s not even for you, but for someone else to come to know Christ through you. You never know what God will make happen in your life. He is always “working things together for the good of those who love Him.” So trust Him and thank Him in all circumstances. He is good.
1 Thessalonians 3:2a-3a We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through.
I remind that we need to strengthen each other, encourage each other in our faith, and keep each other from being shaken by our troubles. Being a part of a faith community is important! But we can't just be passive members, we must be the hands and feet of Jesus to each other.
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12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
I want a strong heart, to be blameless and holy! Notice the phrase in there "as a result". As a result of what? As a result of love. When our love for others overflows with the love of God, not only do others benefit from the love we show them, but so do we.
1 Thessalonians 2:13-
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
The bible is not only words read in church or a good book for us to read, it is the Word of God. It is a word of real & living power. Do we believe that? This verse says that, for those who believe, it is at work. If we are truly seeking to learn, we are promised to be changed.
Sometimes I feel like I’m so far from the person I’d like to be. I make the same mistakes over & over again & feel like I’m no better today than I was yesterday or will be tomorrow...
Am I relying on my own abilities or believing in the power of God. He has given us his word & we have direct access to him in prayer. If we are going to change, it won’t be in our own strength but through the power of God.
Lord, help me to read the bible, not as a book, but as your living word with the power to change.
1 Thessalonians 6 says, "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." In our lives we need to be more like Thessalonians and receive the word with affection and desire, and have a joy and passion to grow in our faith, and be imitators of the Lord.
Isaiah 51:1-3 stood out for me today as a reminder that God is faithful!! I found this Bible study on the passage here. A great reminder to listen, remember God's past faithfulness and trust that God can use one person (who loves HIM) to accomplish His plans.
(Isa 51:1-3) Listen: the LORD's past faithfulness is a promise of future blessing.
Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him. For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
a. Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness: The LORD here speaks to His people; but His people have had trouble listening to Him. So three times in this chapter, the exhortation is given: Listen to Me.
b. Look to the rock from which you were hewn … Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you: God counsels His people to look at His work in His people in days past. This is one of the great glories of God's Word to us; it tells us how God has dealt with His people, and gives us faith and guidance for His work in our lives - if we will listen to Him.
i. As Isaiah speaks to them here, God's people were in a discouraged place. They felt defeated, and the prophet tells them to look to God's work in and through His people in days past.
ii. "Once a Christian gets eaten up with discouragement and unbelief it takes a great deal to shake him out of it. Those two emotions are the masterstrokes of Satan. So long as the child of God maintains an attitude of praise and trust in the Lord, then he is invincible. Once the devil gets him discouraged, that poor man in really going to take a knocking!" (Redpath)
c. For I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him: Abraham was one man, from one simple family. Yet God called him alone, and increased him. This should remind His people today that God does not need many people to do a great work. He can bless and increase one man alone. Isaiah wanted God's people - in view here are the returning exiles from Babylon, and those of Israel's ultimate regathering - to not be discouraged of their small numbers, but realize that just as He did great things with Abraham and Sarah, He can do great things through them.
d. Remembering Abraham and Sarah should give them hope for this promise: For the LORD will comfort Zion … He will make her wilderness like Eden … Joy and gladness will be found in it. The promise seems too good to be true, but by faithfully remembering God's work in people like Abraham and Sarah, they would have the faith to believe God's promise to them today.
i. This shows how we can benefit through God's work in the lives of others. When we hear of what God has done and is doing in the lives of others, it can build our faith for God's work in our own lives.
ii. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD reminds us that though these promises had a near fulfillment in the return from Babylon's captivity, their ultimate fulfillment is in a regathered, blessed, and saved Israel in the millennium.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Though in the intensity of grief these words could seem trite, in truth they are a lifeline to grasp onto. I do not know how people can face death without the hope that we have. That is a grief too large to comprehend. I am so very thankful that we have this hope, this assurance.
“I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.” - Isaiah 45:7
God creates our paths, He plans our lives. He blesses us with good times and bad times. He knows what He is doing and He is in ultimate control over our lives. How comforting is that, knowing that our Creator, who cares and loves for us so much, is the One who plans our paths and is in control of our lives. Yet, for some reason, our small, foolish selves, want to go our own way and make our own paths. Really? Do we really think our sinful, small, human selves can create a better plan that the all-knowing, all-powerful, Creator of the universe? It sounds pretty silly when you think about it.
Let’s make a point to follow what the Lord has planned for us today, and stop questioning the things that God has for us.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe.
This is what our attitude is to be towards the Bible. We must receive it as God's literal voice to us and apply it to our lives!
The Bible IS God's revelation of Himself to us. How we perceive the Bible is critical to the way we live out our faith.
And again - constantly thanking God, constantly praying. Prayer is vital to our faith and yet it is something that so many Christians, myself included, struggle to do well, or to do consistently. Let's make it a priority today and every day!
In these times of chaos and uncertainty, what a comfort these verses are:
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.
This is, of course, easier said than done. However, to know that God is with us no matter what our circumstance is comforting. Our reactions during times of chaos may lead others to seek out the peace that believers have knowing that God is in control.
May we strive to receive a message this this:
6 and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit. 7 As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith[c] in God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything,
In times of trial, may we seek to be imitators of Christ, put Him first despite opposition, an example in words and deeds to those around us, and spread the message of hope to all.
There were so many things that stood out to me today, but I am going to focus on the section in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, that is titled "The Hope of the Resurrection" in my Bible.
First, in 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with Him the believers who have died.
This gives us the hope and reassurance that we will see our loved ones again. I have a grandpa and two siblings that I have never met, but I have hope and reassurance through Christ that I will see them again. And these verses prove that.
Second, in 5:8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armour of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
Be on guard because we don't know the day of Christ's return. While we are waiting, we will be "protected by the armour of faith and love". That is incredibly reassuring that God gave that to us. As well as "our confidence of our salvation" as our helmet. That's right, protecting your head is the confidence of your salvation. How confident are you in your faith? How much protection do you really have?
And lastly, 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Christ is risen from the dead, and He is coming back for us! Encourage fellow believers with these words of hope!
We continue reading, today, of Paul’s journey & his teachings.
What hit me today while reading was Paul’s urgency in spreading God’s word & that being his life's mission.
I can't say that I spend my days continually spreading the message of God or thinking of who or where I need to minister next. I mean, I try to live as an example of God in me, but “evangelism” isn't first on my mind.
Why not?
This is actually something that has been on my mind lately. I think that we can get so caught up in living & enjoying today that we fail to remember that happiness/pleasure shouldn't necessarily be our primary aim in life. (I say this cautiously because I do believe that God wants us to find enjoyment in his blessings too.) We live without eternity on our minds. While we know that one day God will come, the world will end & we will go to heaven, it isn't part of our day to day reality. I think that we forget the urgency that Paul had to reach everyone because in some ways it feels like it's not even real.
1 Thessalonians 1-
8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell 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 rescues us from the coming wrath.
Acts 17-
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
God promises us in his word that he is coming back at which point he will judge the world. It is a reality. I think it's a good reminder today & maybe an opportunity for us to stop & consider those in our lives & around us who don't know Christ & to place in us an urgency to reach them.
What an awesome experience this would have been for Moses and the Israelites, in chapter 19, when they reached the Sinai desert.
The Lord spoke directly to Moses up on the mountain there and Moses passed on God's instructions to the Israelites. We would assume that this experience alone would stick with those who were present those days, and be a reminder to everyone of God's power and presence, and would erase any doubt the Israelites had that God was with them. God tells them that they are his special people, what a privilege to hear this and be a part of this. Yet later in chapter 20 we read how the Israelites, after witnessing God's power, are fearful and scared, and even ask that Moses speak to them instead of God.
One interesting verse in in chapter 20 verse 26, where it says to not build steps leading up to the alter because when people look up to the alter they shouldn't be able to see under your clothes. At first I thought this was funny, and still do, but then I got serious for a moment and understood that we need to dress and act appropriately.
I found 1 Thessalonians 5 to be a very encouraging chapter. It starts with warnings to be ready for Jesus' return and goes on in verses 7 and 8 to show us how to behave. Verse 8 mentions self control, which to me is one of the most important parts of our relationship with God. It's a reminder to me that I need to live the way God wants all the time, using self control, even when no one is watching.
What stood out for me in the Exodus passage was all the complaining and lack of faith in God that the Israelites continued to display. After witnessing first hand the miracle of being delivered from the Egyptians, they still had little faith in God.
While walking in the wilderness they began to grumble. They were hungry and thirsty and they were not quiet about it. (I found it interesting that they did not try to figure anything out on their own - they brought all their issues to Moses.) Moses brought their concerns to God and He listened.
Even after God delivered them meat in the evening and bread in the morning, some still showed unbelief in receiving this blessing every day by taking more than they could eat, only to have it spoil by the following day before they could eat it.
It is important to remember that we are where we are because God has brought us there. When we grumble, it shows a lack of faith in not being able to understand the good hand of God. It may not always be enjoyable, but we need to be "walking in the wilderness" in a way that pleases God. The Israelites had only been following God in the wilderness for a little over a month, so their faith was quite immature at this point so God was gracious to their grumblings.
The letter Paul wrote is geared towards further instructions for Christian living. His instructions included areas of sexual morals (vs 3-7), love for our brothers (vs 9-10), being diligent in our daily work (vs 11), and respect for our church leaders (vs 12-13). Good advice for at that time, and relevant for today too!
I love reading the passage about the crossing of the Red Sea. It is hard to imagine such an amazing sight - being surrounded by walls of water, likely being able to see the fish swimming on either side, while walking through on dry land. What's amazing is that God does this miracle for the people despite their doubt. How often don't we view our circumstances through our finite eyes, forgetting that no matter where we are, God has brought us to this place?
For our Thessalonians passage I'm using the SOAP method.....
S - Scripture
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 11 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.
O - Observation
Paul concludes this section of his letter to the Thessalonians with a pastoral prayer. He prays that he will be able to revisit them, that they will abound in love for each other, and that they will be blamelessly holy at Jesus' second coming.
A - Application
There are several ways we can apply this to our lives. First, it is a great list of things to pray for our fellow believers. Often we want to pray for people but we don't exactly know what to pray for. This is a great start - fellowship, love, and sanctification.
Second, v13 is rather key. God is the One who will produce holiness in us. Yes, we are to be holy, but it is only through His strength that it is possible. We cannot do it on our own, and as soon as we start to rely on our own power, we fail.
P - Prayer
Dear God, thank you Paul's example of prayer. Please bring to mind people that we should be praying for. May those who follow this blog experience the blessing of the fellowship of the saints and our love for one another. Purify their hearts and keep their hearts blameless in holiness before You. We know it is only through your power that we can become more like Jesus. Thank you for your Spirit's work in our lives and hearts. May we continue to allow Him to work in every area of our lives. Amen.
One thing I've never really noticed before was right in Exodus 12:1-2, and was put this way in my ESV Study Bible.... The events of the plagues and exodus are so significant for Israel's identity as an emerging nation that the month they come out of Egypt will become for them the first month of the year.
Their entire calendar revolves around this event - it was truly momentous!
The sacrifice of blood, a slain lamb, was required in order for the angel of death to pass over a home. The same is true today - the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and His blood covers us in order that we may be spared eternal separation from Him. And it is only fitting that Jesus died at the exact same time that the Passover lambs were slain.
I found out Thessalonians passage extremely convicting and totally applicable to our lives today. In this short passage I found myself asking....
Am I willing to suffer and be treated shamefully for the sake of the gospel? (v2)
Do I have boldness to declare the gospel of God - in peace never mind in the midst of conflict? (v2)
Do I ever have wrong motives or methods? (v3)
Do I speak to please man or to please God? (v4)
Do I ever employ flattery to get what I want? (v5)
Am I ever greedy? (v5)
Do I ever seek glory for myself? (v6)
Am I gentle and selfless? (v7)
Am I not only affectionate but willing to give of myself for others? (v8)
Do I work tirelessly so as not to be a burden on anyone? (v9)
Do I proclaim the gospel, even while working? (v9)
Am I holy, righteous, and blameless in conduct? (v10)
Do I challenge and encourage fellow believers? (v12)
Do I hold fellow believers accountable in love? (v12)
Do I continually thank God? (v13)
Do I accept the entire Word of God as truth, not just the parts I want to be true? (v13)
Do I allow His Word to work in my heart and in my life? (v13)
Do I purposefully find those who can mentor me, or whom I can imitate as I strive to live a godly life? (v14)
Do I serve God no matter what obstacles are put in my path? (v15-16)
Do I care about people who I haven't seen in awhile? (v17)
In what, or in whom do I put my hope and joy? (v19)
Despite the number of times Pharaoh goes through the cycle of sin, oppression, regret, and deliverance, God will not be mocked. God deals another detrimental blow to the Egyptian religious and economic systems. By God's grace, Israel is delivered from temporal judgment and destruction. The Lamb of God delivers us from sin, death, and the devil through His atoning blood. The magicians collapse under the Lord's chastisement; both people and animals are smitten by painful skin abscesses. The Lord again distinguishes His people in this plague by sparing the Israelites and their animals. The blessings God gives us should extend beyond us to bless even our animals! If the Lord shows such mercy to sheep, how much more shall He show mercy toward you? His Gospel rescues us from sin, death, and the devil.These three preparatory plagues will be exponentially greater than the previous one and will prepare Pharaoh for the final plague of judgment. God did not destroy Pharaoh with just one act of judgment in order that Pharaoh might glorify God, and the name of the Lord might be declared to the ends of His kingdom. Pharaoh mocks God with false repentance, but the Lord is unmoved. Sinners cannot bargain with God by conceding some of their sins or by amending behaviors. God sees through it all. Like the thief on the cross, we do not appeal to mockery but instead call on God's mercy. Jesus is always ready to forgive.
The plague of darkness removes any ability to move freely, as was possible with the first several plagues. Sinners mock God's Word and in so doing deceive themselves. The Egyptians would soon be exposed to the destroyer and the death of the firstborn as a testimony that the Lord is patient and slow to anger, but at the proper time, judgment will come. Thanks be to God that by the vicarious sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are His children through Holy Baptism, forgiven, cleansed, and protected from the final judgment.
God's final judgment is about to come upon Pharaoh and Egypt. The hardened king will see that God's patience has come to an end and His wrath is imminent. The 10th plague will bring judgment upon sin and its wages (Rm 6:23). In our stead, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, took upon Himself the full punishment for all our sin so that we will not die an eternal death.
As a good shepherd, Paul wants to keep in touch with the flock of God. Labor in God's kingdom is not a one-man job. We must not forget to visit and follow up with those who are in Christ Jesus. We must work in God's kingdom by joining hands with other brothers and sisters. God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ sustain the Church and carry it in the palm of Their hand. The Thessalonians become model Christians in words and deeds due to the impact of the Gospel in their lives and the fruit of the Spirit demonstrated in their faith, love, and hope. Compared to the Thessalonians, we are much poorer in our faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope. Even without hardship or persecution, we are slow to confess our faith and live it out in love. The Lord knows each one of us and our specific situation. His Spirit has created faith in us and gives us power and full conviction. Despite our weaknesses and failings, His unfailing love and forgiveness will sustain us to be His witnesses.
Warning ahead - this post is personal... God highlighted a passage today that was just for me.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 "Do not quench the Spirit". (ESV)
In all honesty, this has been something I've been struggling with lately. I've been at a point where I truly have been running from God. It's been difficult for me to pray, focus on the Bible readings and honestly, the only thing that's been bringing me back to the bible on a regular basis is this blog. I feel unworthy of even posting here weekly, but know that this is the line keeping me from running altogether!! There is no particular catalyst for my struggles, other than I have been feeling like am literally quenching the Holy Spirit in my life. Enter today's Bible reading and this verse! - "Do not quench the Spirit". So what's a girl to do as a next step of study of this passage?? Go see what our buddy John MacArthur has to say. The beginning of this sermon is interesting because he states his case against psychologists and therapists in the church and we should rely on the Holy Spirit instead - which is an interesting topic of discussion. But further on in this message there was quite a lot that stood out for me.
What does the Holy Spirit want to do in me that I can quench? Very simply stated, He wants to move you along a path to ever increasing holiness. Did you understand that? He wants to move you along a path to ever increasing holiness. What does holy mean? Separate. He wants to separate you further and further from sin and the further you get away from sin the closer you get to God. It's just a process of separation. He wants to produce in you the decreasing frequency of sin, the decreasing frequency of sin, the decreasing power of temptation, the decreasing preoccupation with the world, the decreasing victimization to the flesh and increase your longings for God. That's the progress of sanctification. That's a movement toward holiness. That is His work.
I struggle with being so far off the mark of holiness that often I feel like "why even bother". There's much work to do in the life of this sin-filled girl that I feel overwhelmed by all the work He has to do in me.
So, the Holy Spirit wants to move you from where you are to being like Christ...along a path of ever increasing holiness, that's sanctification. It's just a separation process, further and further separation. That's what He wants to do. Holiness was like a seed planted at the time of your salvation that grows. And as it grows it bears more and more and more and more fruit and that's the working of the Holy Spirit. John Owen the great Puritan writer had some rich insight. He said this, "Sanctification is an immediate work of the Spirit of God on the souls of believers, purifying and cleansing of their natures from the pollution and uncleanness of sin, renewing in them the image of God and thereby enabling them from a spiritual and habitual principle of grace to yield obedience unto God according unto the tenure and terms of the New Covenant by virtue of the life and death of Jesus Christ." It's a work of the Spirit on your soul purging, purifying, cleansing from the pollution of sin as you move more and more toward the image of God. Or more briefly he said it this way, it is the universal renovation of our natures by the Holy Spirit into the image of Jesus Christ. Now, that's what the Spirit desires to do. Psychology can't do that. Human wisdom can't do that. Nothing can do that but the Holy Spirit. The only agency that can do it is the Holy Spirit. You can quench the Spirit in the progress of that sanctification by substituting ecstatic experiences, emotions, feelings, methodology, therapeutic methodology, gimmickry, formulas, whatever...pragmatism, mystical intuitive self- authenticating experience psychology, emotions, feelings, all of that will never do what the Spirit is to do and alone can do.
I am realizing that much of my faith is built on feelings. I depend on "feeling close to God" as my measure of faith and closeness to him. That is not truth. What MacArthur has to say in another part of his message has hit home for me this morning.
You do not come to the truth of God by having a feeling. You do not come to the truth of God by having an emotion. You do not say, as so many people say, "Well I just know what I believe." That has no correlation with truth, necessarily. You cannot know the truth of God which makes you grow which is the very food of your life which sanctifies you, which moves you in that separation process closer to holiness, more like Christ, you cannot know it through external observation and you cannot know it through internal intuition. It's not available. The only way you can know it, verse 10, "For to us God revealed it through...whom?...the Spirit." The Spirit of God not only wrote the Scripture, He illuminates the Scripture and He quickens it to us. There is no legitimate experience, spiritual experience, no legitimate Christian spiritual experience that is not an emotional response at one end of the scale or the other to truth revealed in the word and quickened to the heart by the Spirit. For example, if you are in a time of unusual abnormal what I would call transcendent joy, you're overwhelmed with joy, you're exhilarated, you're singing psalms and hymns and perhaps shedding tears of joy, you are overwhelmed with the sense of well being. Your emotions have reached the peak, as it were, in rejoicing that you're saved. The reason is not because some intuitive thing flowed up from within you, but because you know the truth that relates to your responses and the Spirit of God has quickened those truths to your mind and that has exhilarated your emotions. That does not happen in a vacuum. And the kind of emotional experiences that are nothing more than emotions in a vacuum are not truly Christian spiritual experiences. On the other hand, looking at the other end of the scale, if you have times of deep sadness and sorrow and crying and tears, it is because you know there's something in your life that is not right and the Spirit has quickened that to you and your emotions have run to their limits trying to deal with the quickening of the Spirit of God along those lines of conviction. And so, the Spirit of God wrote the Word. The Spirit of God as the unction interprets the Word as we faithfully study it, and the Spirit of God quickens the Word which produces in us everything from deep anguish over sin to transcendent joy and praise because of the exhilaration of truth. This is His work and this is how He moves us along. And it's the Word at the heart of it all. In Psalm 19 it says that the Word transforms the whole person. The Word makes the simple person wise. The Word rejoices the heart. The Word enlightens the eyes. The Word endures forever. The Word produces comprehensive righteousness. It does it all. It is given that it might teach us, instruct us, correct us, train us that we might be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. The Spirit then moves into the Word as the author, moves into the Word as the interpreter, moves through the Word as the applier and quickens our heart. That's what He's doing to move us away from sin toward holiness by quickening the Word to us. That's His work. But you can quench it. How? Fail to study the Word to show yourself approved unto God. Mishandle the Scripture, don't rightly divide it. Don't receive it with humility, as James 1:21 says. You can quench the Spirit by not applying it in your life so that you become a hearer and not a doer. You can quench it by not hiding it in your heart, by not searching it diligently, by not desiring it and you can quench it by not letting it dwell in you richly, as Paul said in Colossians 3. (all emphasis mine)
My heart is humbled and my eyes are opened. Can I ask for you guys to pray for me in this area? I am not good at being transparent, I want everyone to think I've got it all together, but this is one area where I don't, but I desire to keep striving. Somewhere, I lost the desire to pour myself into the Word, I've lost the desire to pour myself into prayer. I really do appreciate all of you and the wisdom you bring to my life everyday. Thank you.
Father God. Thank you for the Holy Spirit. Forgive me for quenching your work in my life. Give me the desire and the discipline to allow Your Word to change my whole being. Take me beyond being a "hearer" and turn me into a "doer". Thank you for this amazing group of women with whom we share you as our common denominator. Thank you for their faithfulness to You and for bringing them into my life. Amen.
One main thing jumped out at me in both passages today, but one quick peak at Psalm 116:8-9 For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
I didn't look up this verse at all, to know exactly what the original text said - but to me this is a reminder that our eternal life with the Lord does not start with death, it starts the moment we receive Christ as our Saviour and our Lord. And while we still walk this earth, we will walk it in the power of Him who saved us, in the strength of Him who died and rose again. We will live for Him, guided by Him, in order to glorify His name in the land of the living.
Which actually relates to my main thoughts quite well.
Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
1 Thessalonians 4:13, 16, 17 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope...For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Our lives are precious to God. And He knows the moment of our physical death. But our physical death is not the end. Not for the Christian. And so, though we grieve at the death of a loved one, we do not grieve without hope. We know that we will see them again. We KNOW. And we cling to that truth.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When our nephew Baret was so ill in a coma and we did not know whether he would live or die, the girls asked about Baret and were sad for him, wondering if he was scared. I told them that he was in a coma which was kind of like sleeping and that for Baret, the outcome was going to be good either way. Either he would wake up to see his mom and dad again, or he would wake up to see Jesus. He would be happy either way. Of course, we wanted him to wake up here, for our sake. And God performed a miracle, and Baret did wake up here and we praise Him for that.
When Christians do die, it is often referred to as sleep in the Bible. A very apt description really, because our physical bodies are "sleeping", our spiritual self is with Christ, our physical self is sleeping, waiting for Christ to return and resurrect our physical bodies to be reunited with our spiritual souls.
Once we become Christians, we are always in Christ. We live in Christ, we die in Christ, we spiritually live in Christ while our physical bodies sleep in Christ, we rise with Christ and we will live forever with Christ. When Christ returns, those who have already died will rise first, and then those who are still alive at the time of Christ's return will be caught up together with them as He takes us up to heaven.
John MacArthur speaks on this passage beautifully in What Happens To Christians Who Die Part 1 and Part 2. Through the years I've had funerals, continue to have funerals of unbelieving people or funerals of believing people where unbelievers are in the family and the hopelessness is terrifying. The terrible sense of finality, no reunion, no future, nevermore the touch of the hand, the sound of the voice, never again, finality. To be so consumed in life with a person and then have the curtain drop so totally absolutely and finally is a cause for deep despair. The greater the love the greater the pain and it is the pain of hopelessness.
To grieve without hope would be devastating.
But, as Christians, we DO have hope, in fact we have confident assurance....
I don't want your grief to be that dead-end grief, that grief that comes to people because there's no contemplation of reunion. I don't want you to think that Christians ever say a final goodbye because they don't. That's a great thought, isn't it? You never say goodbye to a believer for the last time. There will always be another time....
Reunion is here, beloved, it is. It is also in the very terminology of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1 when it's called "our gathering together to Him." As we are brought to Him we are gathered together to each other. There will be reunion. There will be a gathering together. And he says you don't need to fear and you don't need to grieve about it like people who are looking at a dead end.
We need to get that somehow deeply embedded in our hearts, don't we? That is our confident hope. Partings here are just brief. (emphasis mine)
We believe Jesus paid the penalty for our sin with His death on the cross. We believe in the power of His resurrection, which means we believe in His power to resurrect us when He returns. And God has revealed that there will be a reunion, a gathering together where the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then those who are still alive will join them to meet the Lord and be with Him forever.
And then we will finally, truly, be home. As Christians, our souls yearn for heaven. And that yearning only grows the more precious family and friends go home before us. I already have my dad and two babies waiting for me, not to mention grandparents and other extended family. While we remain here on earth we will be homesick, but we do not grieve without hope. We do grieve, but with the confident hope of a future reunion. And what a precious hope that is!
Homesick by Mercy Me
You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry Is how long must I wait to be with you
I close my eyes and I see your face If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow I've never been more homesick than now
Help me Lord, cause I don't understand your ways The reason why, I wonder if I'll ever know But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same Cause I'm still here so far away from home
I close my eyes and I see your face If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow I've never been more homesick than now
In Christ, there are no goodbyes And in Christ, there is no end So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have To see you again To see you again
And I close my eyes and I see your face If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
The verses in 1 Thessalonians that jumped out at me were... Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13
And of course, Apple has an app for that MacArthur has a sermon for that. I highly recommend you read it, or listen to it, in it's entirety. I'm going to post it in pieces for you here (all emphasis mine)
Paul, when praying for the Thessalonians, was praying that their faith would be strengthened (that's why he wanted to come, to supply what was lacking in their faith), that their love would increase, that their hearts would be steadfast to resist temptation due to a purifying hope.
Macarthur......
Faith is the ability to trust the truth...Now if I'm going to trust the truth, I have to...know the truth. And to bring someone's faith to perfection, completeness, wholeness, is not a mystical call, it's not a mystical thing. It doesn't involve calling people to a higher trust. It isn't believe harder...I've heard people say that...you need to believe harder, you're not believing hard enough. You have to believe more. You need to...believe with more strength....What do you mean believe harder? I either believe or I don't believe. I can't believe harder. Yet you hear that.
No. That's not the idea. If I'm going to perfect your faith and if faith is trusting in the truth, then I need to expand your comprehension of....the truth. And as I expand your comprehension of the truth, your faith is enlarged because now you can live your life in trust on a larger foundation of truth......
If we are to live by faith and faith means believing God, the more I know about God the more I believe, right? The more I believe the more I have capacity to live on that belief....
that's the only way that I can enlarge your faith is to enlarge what you can believe in, not the degree to which you can believe. You either believe or you don't believe. And when the man said, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief," he wasn't saying, "Help me believe harder," he was saying, "Help me know what I don't know, help me know more so I can believe. I believe what I know but I can't believe what I don't know, so give me the rest." That's why the mandate of the church is to feed the Word of God to people so you enlarge the foundation of their faith. Greater and greater trust in the Lord is dependent on greater and greater understanding of who he is. His Word.
And then what happens is as you get this larger and larger base of truth, God begins to show you in your life that truth at work. And as you combine the biblical confidence with the personal experience of God working through that truth, then your faith really grows. For example, the Bible says, "God answers prayer." I believe it. Add to that the fact that I prayed and God answered it and I really believe it, right? So my experience of God at work in my life, consistent with the revelation of God as a foundation is what makes my faith grow. Faith lays hold of the truth of God, of Christ and builds its life on it.
So Paul wanted to perfect their faith with the Word of God. That's why he wants to be there....
How do I know if my faith is growing? Let me give you a little list of things, just quickly. Number one, my knowledge of the Word of God is growing...my knowledge of the Word of God is growing and if it is, my faith is growing. Two, I find a greater confidence in God. Three, I have a higher trust in His sovereignty. Four, there is a definite increase in obedience. As I apprehend more truth and trust more truth, I live more truth...that's obedience. Here's another one, I find joy in my trials. What does that mean? That means I have a large faith. Why? See, I know that my trial produces perfection. Since I trust that truth, I have the faith to go through that trial joyously, right? See, as I know the truth and trust the truth, I find a growing faith. Those are the things that indicate your faith is growing. You know more of the Word. You have a greater confidence in God. You trust in His sovereignty. There's an increase in obedience. You have joy in your trials....
Love then becomes the evidence of growing faith. The more I trust God, the more God is the object of my life, the more I walk by faith and not by sight, the more I am then demonstrating my love for God, the more I am demonstrating love for God, the more that love overflows to those around me. It all begins with truth. Faith embraces that truth. It moves the limits of that truth and it embraces that truth and then as I know more about God my Savior, more about Jesus my Lord, as I trust Him more and as I love Him more, the spill over of that extends to others. As I grow in my faith I learn to trust God more perfectly. I learn to love Him more perfectly. And my heart moves toward Him. And as my love for God grows, my love for everybody else grows too. I become rooted and grounded in love. I experience its breath and length and height and depth and the very love of Christ that passes knowledge fills me with the fullness of God by which I love others....
You start with truth, it moves to faith, it moves to love, it moves to hope. If your foundation of truth is broad and your faith is great and your love is increasing and abounding... in order that the Lord may establish your hearts.....he wants to establish your hearts because it's the heart that is the seat of motive, purpose, desire, thought. Everything comes out of the heart. It's not what goes in a man that defiles him, it's what comes out of him, out of his heart. And the reason the Lord wants you to have a strong foundation of faith and love is so you have a firm, strong, immovable, resolute heart that can stand against temptation....so that you're unblamable in holiness...
If I really know some day I'm going to face God and the day I'm going to face God is going to be the day of the coming of Jesus when He comes to reward His people...if there's coming a time when Jesus returns for us to take us to himself, and at that time we will be called to the judgment seat of Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 5, and there at the judgment seat of Christ our works will be scrutinized by the judge, then if I know that's coming that ought to motivate me now, right? So that becomes a purifying hope....
The goal is not lowered because of our inability. Here's a neat thing MacArthur points out. Is Paul's prayer answered? He prayed for their faith and love to increase, right? Well, a few months later he wrote them again, and this is what he said....
2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
Isn't that awesome?!
I'd like to end with MacArthur's prayer from his sermon, and this is my prayer for you and I, for all participants and readers of this blog....
Our dear Father, indeed we do pray for this [group of believers] even as Paul prayed, that they may complete what is lacking in their faith, that they may increase and abound in love for one another, that they may have a purifying hope, anticipating that they shall stand before God at the coming of the Lord Jesus and along with all the saints may they long to be unblamable in holiness at that event. Father, this I pray knowing full well that the power resides with You, thanking You for the model of the Apostle Paul, a testimony of those to whom he ministered. And, Father, believing that even as You granted the answer to his prayer, even enlarging the faith of those believers, enlarging their love and purifying them through hope, that You would do the same for us. And we'll thank You in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Tomorrow's passage: Psalm 116-118, 1 Thessalonians 4
I'm going to focus strictly on Psalm 106 today. As I read through it a couple of times, I found myself longing for a shepherd who would lead his flock in a prayer like this ~ a prayer of repentance and praise for God's loving mercy and restoring grace.
We need it in our nations. More importantly, we need it in our homes and churches.
I couldn't help but think about the U.S. presidents of the past who occasionally called for a "national day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer." Some of their proclamations read very similarly to this Psalm, cataloguing sins like pride and forsaking God to pursue selfish desires. They beg God for forgiveness and restoration, recalling His goodness and blessing in the past and petitioning for His favour to be restored once more.
While our calendars may still include a National Day of Prayer and some leaders still acknowledge the value of this annual observance, we don't see the reverence for the supremacy of God, the expression of sorrow over sin, the recognition that repentance is required for restoration, or the desire for God to once again be central to our homes, churches and governments anymore.
I think now, more than ever, we need to pray for our government officials. I remember reading somewhere, sometime (don't remember either, of course!) the reminder that we not only need to pray for our leaders to be wise and just, but we need to intercede for them and pray they will come to a saving knowledge of God. We may beg and plead for it with tears in our eyes when we pray for family members or friends, but I'll confess, I rarely even think about it when I pray for our elected and appointed officials. Shoot, I have to confess I rarely pray for them at all, let alone begging for their salvation.
But truly, if we want to be led by God-fearing, publicly-elected leaders, we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, opening their eyes to their desperate need for a Saviour. Let's face it, the likelihood of a Christian being elected is slim for several reasons, but the potential for an elected official to come to Christ is limitless! As is the power of prayer.
In a way, I feel like I've just gone off on a serious tangent, but at the same time... wouldn't you love to hear Psalm 106 paraphrased and proclaimed from Parliament Hill or the Oval Office by our national leaders?
