Author: David Short

1 Timothy 1:5

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

Encouraging Words

God has not called us to be His children just to abandon us and leave us to the wolves of this world. We are the sheep of His flock and He will protect us from the evil one and any harm that he would attempt to do to us. And if like the one lost sheep, we walk away from our Lord, He will pursue us until we are safely with the flock again. Lord, have mercy! Love, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Personal Challenge

People who choose to follow Christ will often get to a place where they desire to know what God’s will is for them. I have been there. Here is a passage that helps us to know that a little better, even though it may not be the guidance that we are looking for. His will for all of us is that we live our lives always rejoicing in Him, no matter what the circumstances are. He wants us to give thanks in everything, no matter how good or bad it appears to be. He wants us to pray without ceasing so that we can stay connected to Him, our lifeline. Glory be to God!

Joshua 22:5

But be very careful to do the commandments and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to adhere to Him, and to serve Him with all your mind and with all your soul.

Personal Challenge

We have been blessed to have been born into the new covenant of our Lord. A covenant that is based upon the work of Jesus Christ, which fulfilled the law of the old covenant and destroyed the hold that death had on us. We can still learn and be blessed by the teachings in the time of the old covenant. Here, Joshua is blessing the 2 1/2 tribes of Israel as they head back to their homes on the other side of the Jordan river. They, just as we, are charged to obey and do the commandments of our God to love the Lord our God, to walk in His ways, to adhere to Him, and to serve Him will all our mind and soul. This still applies to us today. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

Personal Challenge

Jesus and His apostles knew that there would be challenges within the church. These challenges would come from both without and within the body. Paul exhorts the Christians in Thessalonica, as well as us today, to take care of the body of Christ, the church. We are to warn those who are unruly and trying to disrupt the church. We are to comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, and be patient with all. We do not put up with any one rendering evil to another and focus on pursuing what is good for our brothers and sisters. This can be a challenge in the church of today, which may be as divided as the world around them. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy./

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

Personal Challenge

Throughout the history of mankind we have perverted the understanding of life and death in so many ways. There is no such place as purgatory. There is no such thing as us being divided into two different natures, one spiritual and one physical, where the spiritual floats around after death looking aimlessly for a place to rest. The hope that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ and the work that He did to destroy death is the only hope that we should hold on to and proclaim. There is no sorrow in this hope. We are one nature, the human nature that God created us to be. We have a body, soul, and spirit. We have the breath of life from God within us. And when we die, we fall asleep in our Lord. We leave our bodies behind until that day that Jesus returns and we are with Him in spirit. This is why He proclaimed to the thief on the cross beside Him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Glory be to God!

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

Encouraging Words

Paul’s prayer for us is that the Lord might make our love for each other abound in our lives. He desires this for us because he knows that through this love applied toward others, our hearts might be blameless before our God. Glory be to God!

1 Thessalonians 2:3-4

For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.

Personal Challenge

I have run into so many people who claim to be followers of Christ who have very questionable exhortations about Christianity and their faith practice. Some are zealots for what they believe and have no problem biting those who disagree as a viper bites its prey. We must remember that only God knows the true nature of everyone’s heart and will judge accordingly in that day of final judgment. We must all, at least those of us who claim to be followers of Christ, watch our hearts and make sure that they remain filled with Jesus and His love, mercy, and grace. If we are truly His followers then our lives will be different than the rest of the world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!