Be like the Thessalonians

Did you know that the Thessalonians had a great witness for Christ?  I didn’t until I read 1 Thessalonians 1 today.  Just check out what Paul has to say about them in 1 Thes. 1:6-10

You lived as imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.  And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.  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, 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, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

How is that for a testimony?  The were a model for all believers in Macedonia and Achaia, but not only that, their faith in God was known everywhere.  Paul didn’t even have to tell others about them because their lives spoke for themselves.  They were followers of Jesus Christ and it had changed their lives.

How did they do it?

The reason this was all happening is revealed to us in 1 Thes. 1:4-6.  First, God had chosen them. (v4)  Secondly, Paul had lived among them and been an example by his life of how to live for Christ. (v5)  Lastly, we see that the Thessalonian people didn’t just watch Paul’s lifestyle, they imitated it! (v6)

What were the results?

Here is the list of results that I found in this chapter.  Perhaps you will find more than me:

• Work produced by faith
• Labor out of love
• Endurance inspired by hope in Christ
• Joy in the Gospel in the face of severe suffering
• A testimony so great that everyone had heard and told of it!

Now I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of stuff I want to see in my life and in my family!  When I read a chapter like this, it get’s me excited and thinking about how to see this fruit in my own life!  Here is the statement I came up with to challenge myself:

Challenge: If I want my family to have a Thessalonian-like testimony then I’d better start living and leading like Paul!  The reason there was growth in these people was that God was working and Paul was leading.

Why don’t you read the text and see what challenge you come up with for yourself?

Application, Application, Application

We can’t let this lesson end at the challenge statement.  Otherwise there isn’t much to build off of going forward!  I know that application of God’s Word has been so significant in my life, but it can be really hard to actually do it.  That’s why I want to have some public accountability of how I’m going to strive to apply this lesson.  Here is the list of all the ways I can apply this, although I don’t expect to work on them all at once:

Ways I can lead well

1. Set the example – If I’m not living by God’s standards, how can I expect someone else to?
   a. Being like Christ – Man of the Word, obedient, humble, servant (Think Phil. 2:5-11)
2. Be God’s kind of man/husband – Am I aware of what God says about my role?
   a. Lead by serving, be gentle, be patient, be loving, be respectful, be a hardworker
3. Practical leadership – What areas has God given me to lead in?
   a. Marriage – Plan our week, Keep track of finances, Lead in devotionals, Plan our time together, Initiate intimacy, Lead in household work, Keep us active physically and spiritually (working out and serving)
   b. Church – Grow my ministry, Shepherd my flock, Teach the Word, Set an example, Admonish the unruly, Encourage the meek, Evangelize the lost

If you are in the habit of reading God’s Word, closing it up, and never actually letting it change your life by way of application, then please let me encourage you to change that!  While His Word will work in your heart even if you don’t seek out application on your own, you’re really denying yourself the opportunity to see the full power and awesomeness of God’s Word in your life.

Devote Yourselves to Prayer

It’s always interesting to see what God is going to challenge us on next.  This past week and a half has been a rough one spiritually.  I don’t mean that God has been any less good (because He hasn’t) or that He is any less present in my life (because He’s not), rather I mean that I’ve been the one making it rough.  And I just want to thank the Lord publically for not letting me get away with it or giving up on me!  He is so good and gracious to us stubborn sinners :)

The background

You see I came into today tired because for the past two nights I have selfishly stayed up late to read a sci-fi book.  That may not seem like a big deal but it is just another fruit of living selfishly.  I have seen the battle manifest in my attitude towards studying, work around the house, and how my time is spent in all other areas of life.  Typically battles with sin aren’t confined to one area of my life, and I’m guessing it’s the same for you too. 

If selfishness is showing up in one area, guess what, it’s actually already everywhere else, I just haven’t noticed it yet.  But, I digress and am getting too preachy.  My intent is to share what God has been teaching me.  (Hopefully now you have a better idea of what was going on in my heart the past week though)

הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־גּוֹיִ֑ם (Praise the Lord all the nations!)

I have been reading through Paul’s letters lately and today happened to put me into Col. 4.  How convenient that Paul spends a good portion of this chapter talking about prayer (in one way or another).  Col. 4:2 is where I got the title for this post, and I think it reflects the attitude I ought to have towards prayer.

What does it even look like to be devoted to something?  For me, I think of marriage, and the idea that I know I will always be there for my wife no matter what is going on in either of our lives.  It means that I will never give up on her or let her go, no matter how difficult it becomes to hold on to and no matter what tries to come in the way.  The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines it as “characterized by loyalty or devotion”.  Well that is surprisingly unhelpful, so let’s look up loyal (the definitions for loyalty and devotion were equally unhelpful!). 

Loyal – unswerving in allegiance; faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product

That is more helpful to me, so now I can think of the verse like this:  “Be faithful to prayer, unswerving in allegiance to it..”  I am challenged to not allow other things to take the place of prayer, no matter how important they seem.  Prayer is something that I should be wrestling with, like Epaphras is in Col. 4:12.  That guy “got it”.  He realized that things that are important (like prayer) are worth putting effort into and that they don’t always come easily. 

I can imagine myself doing this on a smaller scale each day as I fight within myself to make time for prayer, to consciously engage God during it and not just list off my requests, and to be acknowledging/praising Him when He provides answers to those prayers!  It makes the cliche quote “Some things are worth fighting for” actually meaningful in the Christian life.  If I believe that prayer is opening up a line of dialogue with the living God, then why wouldn’t I be actively fighting for that?  Why wouldn’t I be unswerving in my allegiance towards it/Him and faithful to do it ‘without ceasing’?  As I think about my attitude towards prayer and how it will allow me to interact and focus on the Living God, I would challenge you to do the same!  :)

Being Men of the Word

Overview

It never ceases to amaze me how God times the lessons He teaches us.  Within the last month I have finished reading "God Wrote a Book" by James MacDonald and thoroughly enjoyed eating up the truth in it.  Of course, there were points that I wasn't quite on board with, but it was a very God-honoring book.

Along with my daily time in His Word, this book was reminding me of how the Bible is truly the Word of God, the method that the God of all Creation chose to use to communicate to us.  How awesome is that?  When you think of the ways that man has to communicate with God, you've got your choice between prayer or the Word of God.  When you want to learn what God has to say, you're narrowed down to the Word of God.  This implies that the single source of knowing how to be more like Christ, to honor the Lord, and to have a fruitful life is all locked up in that single book known as The Bible.  Why wouldn't you want to read that book!?

Excuses

I am seeing God's sovereignty in teaching me this lesson as in the past week I've ran into more and more of my Christian brothers and sisters who are struggling to spend regular time in the Word.  This is such a travesty because this is such a foundational piece of our walk with Christ.  I've heard excuses all over the map about why they haven't been able to get regular time in the Word, but it ultimately comes down to a heart that doesn't value God's Word like it should.  I know that sounds rather blunt, but let's take an example and break it down:

Example A:

• What I say: "I don't have time"
• What I mean: "Other things are more important to me and come first.  By the time I do everything else I want to do, then it's too late or I'm too tired to read the Word."

It's rather short and there aren't many background details, but unless you absolutely have every minute of every day booked up (and I'm betting you don't), then this is probably a close depiction of your situation.

However, the example isn't really the point of this post.  I'm not trying to point fingers, what I want to do is help all of us understand our hearts better and have a proper view of the Word of God.

The word of GOD

I have seen time and time again how God's Word is the source of growth in my life.  When I'm in the Word, I'm learning more about God and how I'm called to respond to His sovereignty in my life.  When I'm not in the Word, I'm quicker to anger, usually drawing more and more inward on myself (being selfish), and just not handling life in a way that brings glory to God and ultimately doesn't provide joy.  To me, that is some significant proof of it's power in my life.

However, I realize that not everyone will say they've seen the same results from time in the Word, so they'll be tempted to say that this doesn't apply to them.  I want to challenge you to avoid that mistake.  Just because you aren't seeing fruit doesn't mean that you can abandon the Word.  God wants you to pursue Him out of a heart that desires Him.  He doesn't want just your "discipline", He wants your heart.  Perhaps you need to evaluate why you're reading the word.  Are you doing it simply because it's the good, Christian thing to do?  Has it become a discipline for you (that's a good thing), but your heart hasn't caught up yet (that's a bad thing)?  See Matt. 15:8 and think about it.

I also want to leave you with the following challenges:

• If you aren't reading God's Word, then what have you put in it's place?  Is it helping you grow?
• Do you really believe that the Bible is the spoken word of God given to us through Spirit-led men? 2 Tim. 3:16-17 --- How you answer this should impact how you view the daily task of spending time with God.
• What is stopping you from setting aside time every day to seek out the God of Creation? (Joshua 1:8)

Be Content

Phil 2:14 - Do everything without complaining....

I think God is challenging me to open my eyes to the amount of complaining and unedifying speech that comes out of my mouth.  Over the last few days I've been increasingly aware of these traits in my life.

In my NIV Study Bible the text notes say complaining is defined as "being discontented with God's will is an expression of unbelief that prevents one from doing what pleases God."

This was helpful because it gives me a direction to head in.  What is a possible source of my complaining?  It may be that I have a heart of discontentment!  (I know that I do, I have seen it appear all over the place lately!)

Paul is super helpful in that he gives us two examples of people who "get" it:

• Christ in verses 5-11
• Timothy in verses 19-23

These are two guys who understood what verse 7 means when it says "the very nature of a servant".  So now I pose the question to us.  What does it mean to have the "very nature of a servant"?  I'm still working on the answer to this, so at this point I can only encourage you to do the same.

 Observation: Paul can write things like Phil 2:1-4 and Phil 4:4-8 that exhort others because he's already living it out in his own life!

  Personal Application

Everything I have been given is a gift.  There was never a point where I could have earned anything.  I didn't even have a say in this because God chose before the foundation of the world to purchase me by His Son's death, burial, and resurrection.

I might as well give up the attitude that I "deserve" things, whether it be rest & recreation, nice possessions, or whatever.  Honestly, life will be much more enjoyable once I grasp this and live in an attitude of gratefulness and praise.  After all, what has discontentment and complaining gotten me?  Absolutely nothing more than a flustered lifestyle bent/spent on pursuing things that are consistently out of my grasp, that I was never intended to have to begin with!  (Not to mention it is sinful, causes me to be a poor witness of the Gospel, and potentially leads my brothers and sisters into sin too! Sounds worth it, right? note the Sarcasm!)

Presence does not = Application

I was blessed to sit in on some great teaching this beautiful Sunday morning.  I really appreciate Rob Green's lesson from Judges 1-2.  I can certainly identify (unfortunately) with the people of Israel who continually pursue the wrong thing (i.e. not God).  Then when their situation gets tough, they offer Him lip service but do not truly repent....

For those of you who know me, I have on/off again struggles with making video games my idol of choice.  Currently I am in the on again state of that battle.  Several weeks before seminary started, I had more free time and picked up a free online game.  Of course, I got really into said game and it became my definition of fun/relaxation.  Anyways, I continue to battle with putting this idol behind me and finding my fulfillment in the Lord.

I am so grateful for the continued biblical teaching that I'm exposed to at Faith, as well as in the studies I'm involved in for Seminary.  Now I just need to apply them.  God is doing His part, but I am being fainthearted in my part.  Your prayers are appreciated!  (And I will be submitting all of this to the Lord myself too!  I don't expect it to resolve itself.  I know I have to be actively putting it off and replacing it with delight in the Lord and my wonderful wife!)

P.S.  I love you, Micaela!

Purity of Heart

This was on the front page of Logos today.  It was helpful to me, so I thought I would pass it along to everyone else :)

Scripture Reference - Matt. 5:8

The term Matthew used here means pure or "clean." It can be used literally of physical cleanness, but Scripture often uses it for moral cleanness and purity. A simple but helpful way of looking at the word is to realize that it implies the absence of impurity or filth. It implies a singleness of purpose, without distraction (akin to the concept of "holiness," being set apart for a special purpose; see Jas. 4:8). Any distracting or corrupting influence a kingdom servant allows into his or her heart makes that person less effective as a servant. The kingdom servant has a heart that is undivided and unalloyed.

Weber, S. K. (2000). Vol. 1: Matthew. Holman New Testament Commentary; Holman Reference (p 60). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

First Lesson of the Day

Brought to you from Matthew 8:29 - “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

Even the dumb demons recognize that they are going to lose! Thanks to Dr. Zemek for pointing that out. Very encouraging!

The Beginning of Something New

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Is. 64:8