DATE POSTED Tuesday, 2023-02-07
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL
SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5
TRANSLATION: The Voice (VOICE)
BIBLE TEXT: 2 We always thank God for all of you in our prayers. 3 Your actions on behalf of the true faith, your tireless toil of love, and your unfailing, unwavering, unending hope in our Lord Jesus the Anointed before God our Father have put you consistently at the forefront of our thoughts. 4 O brothers and sisters loved by God, we know He has chosen you. 5 And here is why: what you experienced in the good news we brought you was more than words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused message that offers complete hope and assurance! We lived transparently before you so that you would know what sort of people we truly are.
APPLICATION: Although I dreaded to see the time come for performance appraisals, or the ones I completed on my staff, I was always tickled to see how the ones who were serious about their job, rated themselves in their self-appraisal, compared to the ratings given by myself, their supervisor. At a church I attended at one time, there was a group who came to town and interviewed residents in the neighborhood surrounding our church. It was AMAZING to hear the number of people in that close proximity who never heard about our church, and some who never recalled ever seeing the building before, even though the church took up about 65% of a city block in that small neighborhood! What must have been going on in the church at Thessalonica for Paul to hear about it? Unfortunately, no matter how much we love our church, and how successful we think it is in meeting our spiritual needs, unless it reaches the ears of the community and provides life to them, they will see little value in what we do. If we don’t meet the spiritual needs that exist in our town, then we must question if we are truly following Jesus’ example. Let’s take a deeper dive into the qualities that Paul saw in this church of his day and compare those to our individual ministries, or those by the church we have settled into for cooperate ministry:
- Although not a quality, let your pastor and your church know that they could count on you to pray for them and their ministry. If you can seriously follow thru, then this will encourage them to a deeper and more committed ministry than anything they have done before!
- When it is obvious that your work is totally prompted, performed and promoted by your faith;
- When your labor is always prompted by love – find a believer passionate about the needs of individuals or communities, and they will wear themselves out trying to meet their needs!
- Endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ – in other words, your actions are inspired by our Lord, and you could care less about your actions benefiting you, your church or your finances. Endurance – keep on plugging away until Christ returns! Don’t let the world discourage you or cause you to give up. Christ didn’t give up on us, so let us imitate Him in not giving up!
- Chosen by God. Others will recognize your faith by your works! If Christ is in you, He will shine through you and others will soon discern that you were chosen by God for a time and place such as this.
I often wonder, if the world can’t see it, is it truly there? You know what I’m talking about – can Jesus be in you, and it not be evident to those you come into contact with? Are you trying to please the world, or are you obedient to, and totally open to the Master speaking and acting through you to meet the needs of those you come into contact with? My prayer is that this would become more evident each day, and in every word or action, for it’s all about Him – my Master, and not anything prompted by me.
BLESSING(S) NOTED: Praise God, Paul was able to see the fruit of his labor and his prayers in the church at Thessalonica. He ministered, but God produced an awesome return in the work there as He went on to bless others who needed it.
PRAYER: Dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, You placed us in this world, sent Your Holy Spirit to rescue us from our sin and an unsaved world who needs exactly what we have. We acknowledge that Satan interferes way too often by distracting us from the mission we dedicated to you, so we need you more and more each day to help us stay on track for the duration of time You have given to us here on earth. Oh Lord, may the meditation of our hearts, the words we speak, and the actions needed in obedience to Your will, be acceptable to You, my eternal Savior and Rock of my salvation. May others see, and believe today because of Your work channeled through me, my readers and my listeners. AMEN!
FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!
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