“Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider his ways and be wise. 7. It has not commander, no overseer or ruler, 8. Yet it stores in provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”
Solomon uses the ant as an example for people who refuse to work. (That what is meant by “sluggard.”?) We can all learn from the activity of the ant, and this text makes a good case. What does the text tell us about what we can learn from the ant? The first lesson is that of purposeful industry. Ants are always at work, they are never still. (Perhaps there is no such thing as a lazy ant.) Ants are always busy with a purpose. They are not just running around on the ground, they are busy carrying what appears to be assigned tasks. One lesson we need to learn from the ant is that “busyness” is not what gets the job done. Busyness in churches does not mean that the church is carrying out the great commission, or its ministry to the needs of the world. Paul is a good example for us in this matter. He was always busy, but the result was numbers of people won to the Lord, and new churches. Churches need to be busy with studying the word of God, busy sharing the word of God with the world, and busy living the word of God in their daily lives. The second lesson is about perseverance, or “keeping on keeping on.” I have seen ants carry objects much bigger than themselves. They had a real struggle, but they kept going until they got to the hill. (There is no record of an ant ever giving up. lol I will admit that witnessing and ministering to the world can be discouraging, sometimes it seems that the job is too big for us, but we need to be convicted by the leadership of the Holy Spirit and not giving up on what God has called us to do. I must confess that as a pastor there were times that I had to deal with the temptation to give up. The rewards are great when we do not give up. If you are being tempted to give up on your church, or your life, just don’t quit. Follow the example of the ant and keep going. No one has ever succeeded by giving up! The third lesson is about unity. Each ant does his job in cooperation with other ants until they have the food stored. I don’t know if the ants ever have a problem with lack of cooperation, I do know that Christians can get sidetracked by peripheral issues. I guess that ants get irritated with each other, but even with they did, the work of storing food is so important they will not be sidetracked. We need to remember that sharing Jesus with the world through the different ways that we can go about it should not be sidetracked. Such things as ego struggles should not paralyze us and keep us from the important work that we have been called to do. I think that you will agree that this is three important lessons. Bro. Joe.
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“I can do all things through He who is strengthening me.”
I will explain the translation, or interpretation, of this text later in the article. This is a verse that we quote frequently, and for good reason. Serving as the chaplain of the Westwood football team, we quoted this verse at almost every practice and before all games. What I want to do is to break this verse down and see what it says to “me.” (Meaning me and everyone else.) “I” – “I” is one of our most favorite words. We use it rather frequently, and think it even more often. It is “I” that God is dealing with. You are uniquely you, and Jesus loves you as uniquely you, and He wants to use you as uniquely you. He will grow you into a better you, but He will take you where you are and lead you to where He wants you to be. “Can”- The next word in our translation is another important word in our vocabulary. We need to learn to say “I can.” I remember that little story about the little train engine that my elementary teachers told us about. It was about a little train that could not climb the hill because he didn’t think he could. When he learned to say “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” that he actually made it up the hill. We need to learn the word “can” in the place of “can’t.” “Do” – This is another important word in our vocabulary. When we “do” things, as a general rule we are headed in the right direction. Of course that depends on what we are doing, but in the context of this verse it is talking about uplifting, loving, ministering things. We need to be careful about what we do, which is the purpose of this text. So let’s move on. “All things” – It is at this point that we must consider what we are going to do. We probably will not do this perfectly, but we need to make sure that the “all things” that we do are in line with what Christ would have us do, and would move us beyond “I” to “them” or “us.” “Through He” or “through the one” The “One” or “He” who Paul is writing about here is Christ. If Christ is the One who helps us do “all things” we can be sure that we are on the right track. We are made out of human flesh, so we will slip at times, but that is when we pick up and go again, because the “One” that we are trusting will enable us to do better. “Who Is Strengthening me.” The Greek text actually reads like this: "I can do all things through the one, or the person, who is strengthening me." Paul does not specifically use the name “Jesus” or “Christ” but we know from the context that it is Christ about whom he is writing. In other words, I can’t “ do all things” that I want to do on my own strength, but “I can do all things through Christ who is strengthening me to do His will.” Jesus is in the process of strengthening us day by day.. This verse is easy to memorize, so memorize it and pray it every day! Take it into your heart. Bro. Joe “To everything there is a season, and time to every purpose under the heaven….4. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…7. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak….12. I know there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.”
I think, Solomon is telling us, in today’s vernacular: It is what it is, accept it - as if we have a choice. We can plan our lives, and attempt to avoid all the pitfalls, but the good will come as well as the pitfalls. We just need to meet life head on and live it to its fullest. In verse 1 we are told that there is a season for everything, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” The word that stood out to me here was the word “purpose.” It is for sure that life will not always be as we want it, but if we realize that God has a purpose for our lives, that is, that He is involved in our lives, we will be able to meet the good and the bad with faith and courage. If we realize that God is in the equation, we will be more careful how we live. Verse 4 tells us that there is: “A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.” The way this is worded we are led to understand that we do not have choice in the matter. Indeed, there will be times that we will weep and mourn. We like to think that those times will not come, but inevitably they will come. My point here is that if we see God working His purpose in our lives, we will not “lose it,” so to speak, but will meet those times head on. This also tells us to go ahead and weep and not try to keep a “stiff upper lip,” but to accept the time of weeping and mourning as part of our lives. But there is also a “time to laugh” and a “time to dance.” When those times come, we should really laugh and really dance. The bad times in life should not keep us from really enjoying the good times to laugh and to dance. Again, if we see God’s purpose at work in our lives, we will be able to fully rejoice. Verse 7b tells us that there is “a time to keep silence and time to speak.” This is one piece of advice that we should all take. I would word it this way: “There is a time to shut up, and a time to speak up.” Real godly wisdom is to know the difference between the two times. As one who has spoken out of turn a few times in my life, I can say that the better part of wisdom is to shut up until there is really something to say. Again, we can lean to God’s purpose for our lives. Some wise person said that God gave us two ears and one mouth. This means that we should listen twice as much as we talk. I can imagine that you, like me, have had times in your life when you wish that you had followed this admonition. Finally, verses 12-13 tell us: “I know that there is not good in them, but for a (person) to rejoice, and do good in his/her life. And also that every (person) should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” God has gifted us with the capacity to enjoy life in all of its ups and downs, and to rejoice. That, too, is part of God’s purpose for your life and mine. Let’s do it. Amen Bro. Joe “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Think of this: Wouldn’t it be good if we Christians kept on keeping on in the good that we should do for Christ and never quit? Jude wrote to the recipients of his letter to “earnestly contend for the faith.” “Earnest” is a good word. What it means is to really care about something and be dedicated to doing it. We should certainly be earnest in our endeavors to serve Christ and win people to Him. I think that what we would say today instead be earnest, is “hang in there.” We need to just keep on keeping on in living for Jesus, serving Him and spreading the faith. We don’t know a lot about Jude, except that he was probably the brother of Jesus, but we can know that he was earnest about his faith and that he hung in there in the living and practice of the faith. The Bible is filled with good examples of people who hung in there in their service to the Lord. Moses comes to mind. Think of what he had to face every day in his leadership of the Hebrew people out of Egypt and across the desert. If anyone ever had reason to quit, Moses would have been the one. Of course, Paul comes to mind who wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7 as his martyrdom approached: “ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Notice the italicized words: “finished” and “kept.” These are the word of a person who has hung in there and served in all kinds of situations – good and bad. Throughout church history there have been people who hung in there and kept the work going through good times and bad. Let’s look at few reasons today why people quit and do not earnestly contend for the faith: First, I think of “feelings.” I have almost come to the conclusion that in the estimation of many church members, their feelings are the most important things in the world. If someone “hurts their feelings” they fell perfectly justified in quitting and going their own way. There are people that require us to walk gently around them, lest we hurt their feelings. It’s not worth the time that it takes to mollycoddle someone’s feelings. Second I think of power. Sometimes in church we are about as bad as Republicans and Democrats. We can’t get anything done for the kingdom because people had rather argue about how to go about it than to go about it. Actually, it is called a “party spirit.” Paul dealt with it in the church Corinth and told them to stop it. If what we are doing isn’t moving us forward, it’s probably moving us backward. The real power in any Christian work is Jesus Christ, Who is to have first place in all that we do. Third, I think of the attitude of “let the preacher do it.” (Or “let the music director, youth leader or a deacon do it.”) God has gifted every Christian with spiritual gifts to keep his work going on an even keel. He has gifted leaders and followers, but they all have a work to do in his service. Fourth, I think of the fact that some think that certain Christian work is beneath their dignity, or their great talents. If the cross was not beneath the dignity of Jesus, and if washing His disciple’s feet was not beneath His dignity, then there is no service beneath our dignity. Let’s make up our minds that we are going to “earnestly contend for the faith,” and hang in there in our service for the Lord. Bro. Joe “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6. to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7. to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
First, I need to explain what “this very reason” is all about. In the preceding verses, Peter assured the recipients of his letter that because of Jesus, and because of His presence in their lives, they were “partakers of the divine nature.” Which in our vernacular means that they were saved. Because they were saved, they needed to add these things to their lives. Keep in mind these things were not added to make them saved, they should be added because they were saved, and because adding these things in verses 5-7 would make them more effective servants of Jesus Christ. Virtue was to be added to faith. Virtue is defined by obviously living the Christian life by our deeds and our words. It is also sometimes translated as power. It means to utilize the faith that we have in Jesus, to live the life that He wants us to live, and to use the spiritual power that this brings into our lives. To virtue knowledge was to be added. This knowledge is revealed knowledge that we get from scripture and from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. To knowledge self-control was to be added. Our faith, virtue and knowledge should enable us to refrain from what we should not do, and to do what we should do. In a nutshell, that is self-control. To these should be added perseverance, which means to keep on keeping on in spite of all of the pitfalls of life. All of the above qualities should result in godliness. Godliness means to live a Christ like life. True godliness does not make us self-righteous, but humbles us because we know that we do not deserve the life that Christ has given us by grace. The next two things to be added will show the result of adding virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance and godliness. To all of the above, we are to add brotherly kindness. The things added to our lives will not make us self-righteous and mean like the Pharisees; rather they will make us kind. We will have brotherly love towards people. This brotherly kindness will be extended to our fellow Christians. Anyone who has ever been a member a church knows that brotherly kindness needs to be shared among Christians. All too often, it is the missing ingredient in a church. If we are not kind to each other, people who are in not in church will not be attracted to us. But this brotherly kindness should extend beyond the borders of the church and reach out into the world. This means that we should be kind at home, at work, at play, at the places where we shop; which means that we will practice brotherly kindness wherever we are. Ask yourself if you are a kind person. You might really be working on adding virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance and godliness, but if these do not result in brotherly kindness, you have more work to do to show genuine Christian faith. Brotherly kindness leads to Christ like living. Sometimes brotherly kindness will lead us to confront negative things in people’s lives in order to help them do better. Brotherly kindness will certainly make us more effective in this area. To brotherly kindness, we should add love. Here is that word again that regular readers of this blog will be familiar with, that is agape (ah-gah-pay). We are to practice brotherly love in order to be kind, and we are to practice Christ like love in order to effectively lead the Christian life. All of the things that we should add should result in the kind of love that God showed in John 3:16. Lost people will not be attracted to our virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance and godliness without brotherly kindness and love. These two things are often the missing ingredients that take away from our witness to the world. We need to take stock of our lives and be sure that we are adding the things to our lives that will make us more effective servants and more effective witnesses of Jesus Christ. Bro. Joe “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse (many different kinds of) temptations; 3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. 4. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect (mature) and entire, wanting nothing.”
Gosh, what a title: “Count it all Joy.” Let me see: When should we “count it all joy”? We could say that we would count it all joy when everything is going our way. For example, we got a raise at our job; we got a big refund from our tax returns; our favorite team won the national championship; our children all made all “A’s” in all of their classes, etc. etc. etc. By now, if you have read today’s text, you know that none of these were used by James to tell us when we should “count it all joy.” When does James say that we should “count it all joy”? Here goes: “Count it all joy when you fall into all kinds of temptations (or trials)". I think that in this context, “trials” is the best translation. This is counter to everything that we associate with joy. When James wrote about trials, he probably meant something different from what we would consider trials. To us a trial is for the electricity to go off and leave us without television, heat or light. To James a trial could have meant a death threat. But whether the trial be profoundly serious or of a minor nature, James’s meaning is the same. It is a difficult lesson for us to learn, but trials of all kinds are good for us, and we should count it all joy that we have them. (This would not preach well to those churches who love to hear how being a Christian solves all of our problems.) The Greek word "hupomeno” has several renderings that basically mean the same thing, but there are different shades or tones of the word. The NIV translates the word as “perseverance.” Another way to translate it is as “endurance.” “Patience” the way we normally usually use it means being able to wait without getting upset or impatient. (I think of the word often when I get caught at a long red light.) But the word has a deeper meaning than that. To persevere, endure, means to trust the process to Jesus, and know that He is working something in the trial that we are enduring. It doesn’t mean that we will not be ready for the trial to be over, but that we will learn from it while we are going through it. Verse 4 tells us what should be the result of patiently enduring trials: “But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” The NIV translates the verse: “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” First, being patient in trials helps us to grow spiritually. Patience in trials leads to spiritual maturity, which is the meaning of the word "perfect" in this context. The Greek word “teleios,” which is translated “perfect” in this verse means to bring to fulfilment. When we endure our trials without griping and complaining, we come to fulfillment in our spiritual growth. When we patiently endure all things that we face in life, we have a sense of fulfillment in our lives. It makes life better at work, at home, at church – wherever. When we endure patiently, we tend to be more secure in our faith. We also tend to be more secure in our feelings about ourselves, and in our relationships with other people. In fact, at lot of trials that require patience has to do with our dealings with other people. (This could be another blog, so I’ll stop this line of thought here.) What we need to do now is to reflect and meditate on what James wrote here. I am aware that I fall short in this area quite often and need to work on it. You will probably find some areas in your life where you could stand improvement. At any rate, we should learn from this text and grow spiritually in the process. Bro. Joe “Our soul waits for the Lord: He is our help and our shield.”
We citizens of the USA are not known for our great patience. All you have to do is drive for a few miles on Interstate 75 and you will get an illustration of our impatience. Everybody seems to be in a great hurry to get God only knows where. I’m not very big on waiting myself. My family gets a lot of laughs on daddy and granddaddy with my “beat the crowd” mentality when we go out to eat. But one lesson I have learned, however, is to be patient with God and wait on Him. There is no “beating the crowd” with Him. If you serve God, you serve at His timing because. After all, He is God. The first thing that might answer the title question is that He is God and we really have to wait on Him, but the Bible tells us in various places of advantages of waiting on the Lord. You probably already know what Isaiah 40:31 tells us about waiting on the Lord. Here it is, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” I have found this to be true in my own life and ministry. Any time that I have gotten ahead of God, I have paid a price for it. The Lord Jesus will let us get out on our own sometimes, but He does this to show what we can do in the flesh – which isn’t a whole lot. Psalm 27:14 has the answer as to how our strength is renewed: “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” It is true that God wants to use our time, talents and treasures, but we must use them in His strength, and to have that we have wait on Him. Psalm 37:7 speaks to the importance of waiting on God: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself.” Waiting on God brings rest and serenity into our lives. In fact, Jesus made a statement that I frequently quote in speaking and writing from Matthew 11:30, “Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” This does not mean that we come to Jesus and wait on Him that we can sit down and do nothing. The rest that He gives us is rest in our hearts and minds. What I have learned, but not yet as good as I would like, is that Jesus meant what He said in that verse and if I turn my worries over to Him, He will lead me through the issue if He doesn’t lead me around it. You will find the same to be true in your life. It is certain that we do not live in a peaceful and quiet world, but we do have a Savior that will help us to be peaceful and quiet. Psalm 40:1-2 is another passage from Psalms that reveals to us why we should wait on the Lord: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He heard my prayer and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Waiting on the Lord brings stability in our lives. I love the word picture that is given by, “He set my feet on a rock.” We know that this is not literal, but it means that when we wait on the Lord, we are standing on solid ground. The hymn says it this way, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” When we try to find stability in the world, we discover that stability is hard to come by there. There is too much “sinking sand” in the world. As soon as one problem is solved, another one arises. I have found in my life that I can handle these “sinking sands” because I stand on the solid rock. We can use David himself as an example of this. As long as David depended on the strength and wisdom of God, His life went smoothly. That does not mean that David never had problems then, but that he stood firmer in his life and in his kingship. When David committed adultery, had Uriah killed and tried to lie his way out of it, David’s life was never the same. He was forgiven and reestablished himself on the “solid rock,” but he definitely lived to regret his decision not to stand on the rock. I hope that I have shown you why you should wait on the Lord, and that you will commit yourself to do it. Bro. Joe “Stand Fast in the Lord” Philippians 4:1
“Therefore my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” The words “stand fast” are frequently seen in Paul’s writings. It was important that Christians not let the world around them keep them from living a life that would be pleasing to the Lord. The people to whom Paul wrote lived in a predominantly pagan society, which meant that there were many temptations to sin. Today’s society is not unlike the society in which the Philippians, etc. lived; therefore, it is important for us to “stand fast.” Today we might say “stand firm,” or “stand pat.” However we say it, it means to not be swayed by the sins of the world around and to remember who it is that we serve. So, how are we to “stand fast”? We are to “stand fast in the Lord.” This means that we are not to stand fast in our own opinions or prejudices. In our human flesh we do not have the power to stand on our own, we need to stand fast in the Lord, and to obey His will for us. We need to remember that we do not just represent ourselves, but we represent the Lord. The world needs to see the Lord’s people living like His people. Standing fast in the Lord means that we stand fast in His power. When Peter and John encountered the beggar at the Beautiful Gate of the temple in Jerusalem, the beggar wanted them to give him some money. Peter told the man that he did not have silver or gold, but that what he had he would give him. In the name of Jesus Christ, the man got up from his beggar's spot and began to run and leap and praise God. When the people marveled, Peter wanted to make sure that the people realized that it was not his own power that healed the man, but that it was the power of Jesus. Here is what Peter told the people: “And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness, we had made this man to walk.” He went on to tell them that the man was healed by the power of Jesus, whom they had denied. Peter stood fast in the Lord and not in his own power. We have the power of God on which we can stand, and we need to make sure that people know that it is the Lord’s power and not our own. Standing fast in the Lord means that we stand fast in His love. As we confront a pagan society, we need to remember that the kingdom of God is built on love and not on hatred. It is one thing to be angry about the direction of the society in which we live, it is quite another to confront it. When Jesus looked at the waywardness of the people of His day, He was moved with compassion toward them. He saw them as “sheep without a shepherd.” Compassion is love in action. Jesus stood firm in His commitment to die for the people, and He did that out of love. It is important for us to remember that Jesus told us: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love for one another.” (John 13:35) People see Jesus through the love that we have for them. This does not mean that we have to compromise Christian principles when we confront society, but it means that we oppose our sinful society in the love and compassion of Jesus. It is at this point that we need to remember to “hate the sin and love the sinner.” At lot people scoff at this, but it is possible and is how we should confront the world. Standing fast in the Lord means that we stand fast in His presence. We need to remember that Jesus promised that He would never forsake us. To seal this promise, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. When we stand fast, we are not standing alone. We have the constant presence of the Holy Spirit to comfort, strengthen and assure us. It does seem sometimes that we are standing alone when we stand in the righteousness of God, but we are not alone. So, “stand fast in the Lord.” Bro. Joe “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away?”
We usually think of Jesus’ twelve disciples as the only people who followed Him. They were appointed as apostles, but He had more followers than "the Twelve." A lot of people followed Jesus because of His miracles, and because they were fascinated with His teaching. But when it became clear that following Him would call for complete devotion, many turned away from Him and went on about their mundane lives. There are many people today who are fascinated with Jesus, but when it becomes clear to them that Jesus will make demands on their lives, they turn away without being saved. I want to explore reasons why I think people turn away from Jesus before they give their lives to Him. People today turn away from Jesus for much the same reason that the people in the text turned back, i.e., Jesus was not what they wanted Him to be. Jesus is who the Bible says He is. I hear and read many things about Jesus today that are not true. There is some idea afloat out there that Jesus does not really care how people live, or what people believe. These people have divorced Jesus from the rest of the Bible. People want to accept Jesus and do away with Paul. Jesus teaches us to be humble and to love all people, but He does not expect us to agree with people who have rejected Him and His calling on their lives. When it became clear to these people in the text that Jesus was not just a miracle worker, and that He would make some demands on their lives, they turned back from following Him. Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for our sins. He came to call out people to serve Him and , if need be, at some cost to themselves. Jesus is who and what He is, and we can’t make Him be what we want Him to be. People turn away from Jesus because He does not always do what they tell Him to do. Some people seem to think that praying in the name of Jesus is simply a formula for success. It is true that we have abundant and victorious life because of Jesus, but our every wish is not His command. It is thought today that all Jesus wants is for us to be happy. I’m not going to say that Jesus is against our being happy, but He wants to make a difference in what makes us happy. Let’s turn to the “beatitudes” in Matthew 5 for an example. In verse 10, Jesus said: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Blessed” also means “happy.” This does not tell us that if we follow Jesus, we will not have any problems. It is not just that Jesus is happy when we are happy, but that we should also be happy when He is happy. Jesus will answer all of our prayers, but at times He will tell us what He told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 after Paul asked for healing from his thorn in the flesh: “And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” People turn away from Jesus because He is not popular with the world. The name of Jesus is almost a lightning rod in some places today. It is like people want to remove His name from the public conscience. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:18-19: “If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. 19. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” The Jesus of people’s imagination might be popular, but the Jesus who makes demands on people’s lives is not popular, and we will not be popular in the world at large if we follow Him. I don’t mean to turn you away from following Jesus, but to remind you that if you follow Jesus, it must be for the right reasons. Bro. Joe “We are bound to thank God always for you, brothers, as it is meet, because that your faith grows exceedingly, and the charity (love) of everyone of you all each other abounds. 4. So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure.”
When Paul expressed his thankfulness for the Thessalonian church, he listed three of their great qualities for which he was thankful – faith, love, and patience (perseverance). These are qualities that we should desire to have in these trying days. It is not as dangerous to be a Christian in our day as it was in the Paul’s day, but we still need these qualities if we are to live for Jesus and be effective witnesses for Him. Besides, who knows what we might face in the future? Paul was thankful for their faith. Faith is all-important in the life of a Christian. According to Ephesians 2:8, it is by God’s “grace through faith, that we are saved.” But faith is not something that we use to be saved and then go about our way, living as we wish. Faith becomes part and parcel with our lifestyles. We are saved by faith and we are sustained by faith. We face each day with faith in the Lord Jesus that He is going to enable us to face and endure whatever a day might bring. There are two other words in the New Testament that go along with faith – believe and trust. When we believe in Jesus as our Savior, He saves us and indwells us with the Holy Spirit. From that point on, we trust Him to help us in all of the events of our lives. I can’t say that I never have doubts, but I can say that it is a great comfort to know that I can trust that Jesus will help me meet whatever I have to meet with on any given day. Paul was thankful that their love for each other was increasing. The Greek word for love used here, is not the kind of love that we have for friends, or even for our loved ones. It is God’s kind of love, which is sacrificial and is active in our lives. The Greek word is agape. It is the kind of love mentioned in John 3:16 and in the great love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. It is the word for love that Jesus used in John 11:35: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have for each other.” The church’s first witness to the world is the love that we have for each other. What is the world to think when they see us fussing and feuding, fussing over who is in control of our church? It was ultimately important that the Thessalonians love each other if they were to witness to their pagan world. It is no different for us. The world needs to see our love for each other increasing. Think of your own church. Think of your own attitude toward your fellow church members. Do you love them? Perhaps we all need to check our “love quotient” and determine whether or not our love is increasing. Our world is as much in need of Christ’s love as the world of Paul’s day. The only way the world will see that love is when they see it in us. Paul was thankful for their patience, or perseverance. The Greek word used for “patience” here means not just waiting patiently, but enduring while we wait. At this time, we do not have to endure the heavy persecution that the Thessalonians had to face, but we do have to face the daily annoyances and problems of life. Whatever it is that we have to face, we need to persevere in our faith and love. In other words, we should not let the problems of life cause us to throw up our hands and quit. Check these qualities in your life. Pray that you will grow in faith, increase in love and persevere in the trials of life. . Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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