Month: May 2024

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Jehovah Sabaoth

You can trust God

Psalm 46 One of my favorite titles of Yahweh or Jehovah is this because it reminds me that He is the General of the Lord’s armies and He will fight for those He calls His own…and that includes me. Can you say that too? You can if you know Him, not just know of Him but know Him. So what is it that encourages you and I from the words of this Psalm? 

Jehovah. Sabaoth is our refuge in times of trouble, whether big or small. He is the one standing as Joshua saw Him with a drawn sword. [Josh 5:13]He asked him if he was for them or against them and the man replied: “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army.” [Josh 5:14]This is the God we serve and he is battle ready to serve and to be our strength and protection. “For this reason we do not fear…” [ Ps. 46:2]. 

Today, whatever you are facing, call upon the man, the commander of the Lord’s army, Jehovah Sabaoth, to be with you in the battles you are facing. Trust him as Prov 3:5-6 says with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. 

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The Believer’s Tool Belt

2 Thess 3 Prayer Needed

How often do you speak with others who are seeking prayer? It is an overarching theme for believers and a necessary element to our walk with the Lord. We have prayer meetings, we begin our services with prayer, we pray over our meals and we pray in our family circles. Paul writes to the Thessalonian church asking for prayer that the message he is preaching may bear fruit and it be done quickly and be honored. He knew one fact about these new believers, they were faithful to pray. How about us when someone near and dear to us comes seeking prayer? Do they trust us to fulfill that need or like many of us, we say but only do it at the moment? We have been given the privilege of speaking to the Lord God Almighty, the King of the Universe, for those who come seeking our advice or help. 

The second thing Paul seeks prayer for are those who would seek to not just undermine the truth but actively work against it. They are in need of spiritual protection, a hedge of fire around them [Zech 2:5] because they are facing the onslaught of the enemy’s reach. 

As the days grow spiritually cold, we have several tools in our belt so we can grow and mature in our walk for Christ. Two that are needed are prayer and faithfulness. How is your prayer walk today? 

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Are you ready?

Jesus is coming !

2 Thess 2 Worrywart or Trusting

What would you have  done if you knew someone you had taught had the wrong ideas and truth and worse, they were sharing it with others. Paul had only a short time in Thessalonica and so he redeemed the time by teaching these new converts the basics of the faith. Somewhere along the way, these new converts misunderstood or had forgotten what he said about the end times. We can do the same if we are not careful. So shortly after his first letter to them, he sent a second to correct their understanding because they were thinking they had missed the rapture and it tore at their heartstrings. 

In this second letter he told them to recall what he had said about this time. He began by asking them to note that the man of lawlessness had not been revealed. In addition Paul asked them a question: is there a man sitting in the position of the most holy place and proclaiming himself God? Paul reminded them that until they can see and can answer affirmatively, it has not happened. 

Do you worry about the end times? Are you looking for the Christ to return? What signs are you using to keep calm and be joyful in the work of the Lord? 

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Works, Purified or Fried?

Pray for a pure heart

2Thess 1 I love you! These words radiate across the centuries from the hand of Paul. How he, Silvanus, and Timothy loved the Thessalonians. Even today as we read these words we are transported back in time to this city where the believers faced afflictions and persecution similar to those who come into Christianity today. Threatened with death, loss of jobs and sometimes family connections they hung tough. As we saw in reading 1Thessalonians, the fruits of Paul’s labors are even seen today.  

Paul begins his letter to these precious Thessalonians, We ought to give thanks and we do so. Why? Their faith is greatly enlarged, their love for one another has grown even greater, and their perseverance and faith in the midst of their trials is an example to the entire Macedonian continent.  

Then Paul inserts an odd verse…your suffering is evidence of God’s righteous judgment to make you worthy of the kingdom of God. We stop, we ponder, we ask …is suffering a part of every believer’s walk that will make them worthy? Is suffering a “given” no matter what century you live in? What is Paul saying? He is saying, precious friends, you are like the gold taken by the miners which comes forth with unwanted elements. Yet you are, of all minerals, the most malleable and ductile. Your tensile strength is the strongest of all. Yet, one cannot see your beauty until you have been through the refining process and your dross is removed.  And just like the gold from the smelter’s furnace, when you are pure, you will “Brighten” (suddenly emitting a bright flash of light and immediately solidifying).  As you are being refined, it is our prayer that by God’s power your desire for goodness and every work of faith be accomplished so that He alone receives the glory. How grateful we are for these precious saints even today. Father, give us a heart to face our refining fire so we too will brighten for you!  

This post was written by a dear friend long long ago.

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Listen up and Learn

Are we listening

Prov11 Righteousness vs Unrighteousness

Solomon was a wise king in many areas and he was observant to the world conditions around him. He noted the truth that he wrote in these two verses: When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, 
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, 
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down. [Prov 11:10-11]

It would behoove our leaders to listen to these wise words for God to bless our nation, especially vs 11! 

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From the grave to heaven

1Thess 3 Be encouraged

The Left Behind series authored by Tim LaHaye offered truths about the end times and especially about our loved ones who have gone on to eternity.

Think now back to the first century when this teaching had been usurped by those who sought to teach that we could not be assured of our peace in regards to the afterlife. 

We have just celebrated our Lord’s death and resurrection which is always an encouragement to all who believe in the Lord. However,  in the first century there were many Judaizers or false teachers that roamed about presenting false teachings about the death of our blessed sisters and brothers. It seems that Paul encountered these people with their false teaching that caused many of the Thessalonians to be fearful that they had missed the second coming of the Lord. They thought that their loved ones had gone on ahead of them and they were left behind. 

Paul sent this letter to assure the believers that they too would meet Christ.

Some may meet him at the rapture, some will meet him in heaven upon their death. One certainty is this: when we die our bodies are placed in a grave waiting for the Lord to return and when he does our grave bodies will be reunited with our spiritual bodies. Then he will take each one to heaven with him. Encourage one another with these words. 

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Sharing the Gospel Message

The simple gospel message

1Thess 2 Paul and his team were persecuted in Philippi, but that did not stop them from sharing the gospel message. He may have been cast out of that city, but God saved some of those seekers who became the little church there. Paul had to leave and went to Thessalonica and it was there that the jealous Jews followed him there to keep the gospel hidden. Today, there are many who want the gospel hidden and men to remain unsaved. As it was then, so it is today. The reason is found in 2 Cor 4:4 “the god of this world has blinded men so that they might not see the glorious image of Jesus Christ.” 

Paul tells the Thessalonians that when he came there to share he presented the gospel message as a child might or as a nursing mother or as a doting father. Paul became all things to win some. How do you seek to share the gospel message when there are evil workers seeking to undermine the truth? 

Jesus said to go and make disciples and we are to be about that business today. Are we going? Are we making disciples? What is keeping us from fulfilling that command? 

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Questions about our…

1 Thessalonians 1 Prayer Life

How is your prayer life today? Is it full of needs that are keeping you from being focused on the needs of others? Do your prayers sound pious but in fact are unworthy to fit into the palace of heaven? Are you pure as you pray or is there some nagging sin that keeps your fellowship with God just on the surface level? These are questions it seems that need answers otherwise our words are like balloons that are floating into the clouds but not to heaven. 

Paul loves each church he has ministered to and the Thessalonians church has a special place in his heart. Listen to his prayer: “We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”[I Thess 1:4] His heart was overjoyed because, like him, they had been chosen before the foundation of the world to be God’s special treasure. It is therefore, fitting that Paul and his companions praying with him,pray for these precious saints’ work produced by faith and labor motivated by love and endurance is rewarded by the Father and Jesus Christ. 

So how about you and I today? How is our prayer life? 

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Hungry?Thirsty?

how are your waiting skills

Ps 42 Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount and said, blessed is he who hungers and thirsts for righteousness for he will be satisfied. The psalmist has a similar idea in this psalm,only he just refers to thirst. Thirst is one of the greatest and most deadly of needs. Without water one ceases to exist. The psalmist says he will wait on the Lord which brings us to the second principle; waiting. We can be hungry and we can be thirsty, but will we choose to wait on God’s timing to provide both? What am I hungering for? What am I thirsty for? 

The Israelites are a perfect example. They were thirsty in the wilderness but instead of waiting on God, they murmured before Him. They were hungry but instead of waiting on God’s provision they murmured. God was angry at them at their lack of trusting Him for His provision.  

Am I murmuring before God for His lack of provision all because I am not willing to wait on His timing? What am I thirsty for? Is it for the living water that God can provide or do I seek the water of that which only satisfies for now and not for the rest of my days? 

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A Teacher’s Goal

Colossians 1 “We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ.” [Col 1:9] Each week several of us meet to discuss the book we are studying. This should be our goal, and it falls upon me more than they. Jesus said if any of you would cause one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better to have a millstone hung around his neck and thrown into the sea. That has been before me all the years I have taught as a warning sign. My goal has been and will be as long as I teach; to present everyone who sits under me mature. As i look at the roster of those who have gone before me, I see them standing before Christ mature and whole. 

What is your goal as you speak and live before others? 

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