Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 (NLT)

12 Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.

13 Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.

14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

16 Always be joyful.

17 Never stop praying.

18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.

20 Do not scoff at prophecies,

21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.

22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I believe that the love Paul had for the church at Thessalonica is very evident in what he shared and commanded with them, especially in these few verses. The lessons we are to learn from this is that because God ordained this to be included in His Holy Word, then He obviously wanted His children from all future generations to also pay particular attentions to these words, and obey the direction given to the Thessalonians. While I don’t feel the need to repeat what is already spoken in the verses above, I would encourage all that share in this devotional with me, to give particular attention to each of these items. Let’s make them into a list, to remind us of what is expected of us. Think about it: for us to be successful in our secular jobs, we ask for a job description. We then do our very best to follow those job responsibilities and we are graded on our performance to see if we are worthy of the calling for which we were hired. I am reminded today that one day there will be accountability with God also. Like any successful person will do all within their power to accomplish raving reviews of their performance. With God’s help and direction, I long to hear the words from my Father “Well done good and faithful servant”. Will you join me in this endeavor? Contact me if you would like to join hearts and hands in this effort so that we may encourage one another along this path of life!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Thank You Father for Your Holy Word. I have truly been blessed with direction this morning and feel reminded of my responsibility as a child of the King at to what You would have me do today and every day in order to be the ‘Jesus-like’ example in this world. Please give me strength, boldness and the guidance to be this kind of witness. May I represent You well in my walk, in my talk and in my actions Dear God.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
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