[Satan] will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie

2 Thessalonians 2

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, ¹⁰ and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.

 This is a reminder to me that Satan is not only real but a real threat.  The threat is everywhere and we must be awake and sober as Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:6

⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.

Moreover, we have encouragement in our God through faith and love:

[L]et us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (verse 8)

My Prayer: Lord, I know that You love me and You have blessed me and protected me.  You are a great God.  Yet I know there are many areas of my life where I am weak and I know I am a work in progress - that You are not done with me yet.  So I ask that You forgive me for my weakness and I also ask that You continue Your work in me.  Take me, purify me and refine me so that my faith and love in You will serve as Paul writes to be a "breastplate, and [my] hope of salvation as a helmet".

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up

1 Thessalonians 5

I know that one of the key areas where I can use refinement is coaching and encouragement.  I am a critical person - of myself and of others.  Paul's admonishment to the church in Thessalonica strikes me to the heart:

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.

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¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

  

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

 The urging to be patient with everyone is certainly expressed throughout the Bible.  Yet it continues to be a lesson with which I struggle.

My Prayer: Christ Jesus, Lord of Lords, You are patient with me as you have blessed me even though I am not patient.  I know this is just one measure of Your great love for me.  You are a great and loving God and the only God for me.  Please forgive me for my impatience and my anger.  Purify me of these sins and transform my heart and my life so that I can be sanctified and be holy.  I want to be more like You so that I can more fully serve and glorify You.

We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 2

We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.

This is as simple a way as I can think possible for us to understand our role as God's children.  We are to learn truth, and to live truth, which also includes speaking truth.  Truth is of course, the Way or Jesus Christ and his teachings as espoused in the Bible.

This is of course will very likely put us in harms way - potentially physical harm depending on the circumstances but most likely emotional harm.  Paul tell us later in 1 Thessalonians 3 that "For you know quite well that we are destined for them [trials]."

The questions then become
- am I learning truth (in my heart)
- am I living a life of truth
- am I speaking truth

On all of these counts there is of course room for growth but in particular I feel God is calling me to more fully live (act) and speak truth. 

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 22:-25

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am humbled by Your perfect life and even more so that You love me and that You bless me.  I am so undeserving particularly in light of my own laziness, disobedience, and arrogance.  I think that I am actually pleasing You when I am not.  Forgive me for this and help me more fully give me life away to You.

Your faith in God has become known everywhere

1 Thessalonians 1

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷ And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 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.

I am - in fits and starts - working towards a greater role in my church assisting with an effort to focus on spiritual formation.  I have often moved towards greater service in this way - in fits and starts.  I KNOW I feel led, yet the fits and starts come from Satan and I am beginning to realize this  I seek the faith in God as demonstrated by those to whom Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians.

My Prayer : Lord, I know You are a great God because You have loved and blessed me even though I sin and I disappoint you.  This is grace beyond reason.  I love you Lord and I badly need You.  Please forgive me for my sin - of laziness and lack of effort and faith, and also of service.   Help me truly focus my eyes on You and to fully put my faith in You by listening to You and then following You.

For in him we live and move and have our being

Acts 17

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

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²² Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 

As I read this I am struck by similarities with today's world - in that it is also filled with other Gods.  I am not immune to this as I often seek idols in my work, money, status, etc.  The question for me is whether I am able to not only put aside these idols and fully seek Christ AND whether I am as Paul does publicly proclaim the Good News and engage others to bring them to Christ?

²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’  As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

My Prayer: Lord, I know that You created the heavens and earth and everything in between and I also know that You have blessed me beyond what I deserve.  I am not worthy of such love yet You love me just the same.  Please forgive me for seeking other idols whether they be money, stuff, status, etc.  Help me fully love You and fully give my life away to You. 

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority

Hebrews 13

¹⁷ Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. 

The question for me is how this applies to our Christian leaders and our lay leaders.  Clearly this applies to our Christian leaders because they are appointed to watch over us as a shepherd watches over his sheep.  At the time, we ARE to submit to authority of our lay leaders - for example our workplace leaders and our elected civil leaders.  The only key difference being we should not submit if we ourselves are asked to openly sin.  Our first loyalty and authority to whom we should submit is Jesus Christ himself and his words which are explicitly provided in scripture.

While I often do find it challenging to submit to the authority of my Christian leaders, my greatest challenge lies with submission to lay leaders, particularly in the workplace.

I must not only obey verse 17 but also scripture that commands us to love and serve ALL:

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 8-11)

My Prayer: Lord, Your example of love is the gold standard of which I must follow. Your love as demonstrated in the bible and for me personally is clear and for this I am grateful and humbled because I am broken and feel undeserving of such grace and love.  Forgive me for my lack of effort, love and trust as I have not fully given my life away to you.  Help me do this Lord.

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters

Hebrews 13

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. ³ Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.  (verses 1-3)

Verse 2 and 3 help clarify what is expected from us. Hospitality, compassion, and service are key hallmarks of love as defined by the author here and by Jesus.

What is key for me is take emphasis off myself...and only then can I begin to truly love both Jesus and ALL his children.

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

My Prayer: Lord, YOU are love!  One need not go any further for the ultimate benchmark of love and even then YOUR love is without limits and beyond our imagination!  How great is Your love and especially that You love me given how broken and disobedient I am.  Please forgive me for my laziness and my lack of trust in You for all matters.  Purify me Lord and transform both my heart and my life - rid me of my sin and help me truly deny myself and fully devote myself to You.