Thanksgiving

Readings for today: 2 Thessalonians 1-3

We are heading into Thanksgiving week. If your family is like mine, you have adult children flying in from all over the country or perhaps planning to drive down to spend the day. Multiple generations of our family will take time out of busy schedules to gather, fellowship, eat a great meal, and share why they are thankful. Of course, there are many who feel alone this year as well. My dad passed away almost two years ago and my mom is still feeling the loss. My brother never has married and holidays are hard for him. I know many who are divorced who experience loneliness this time of year. However, even in the hard moments during holidays, there is much to be thankful for. Health. Provision. Opportunity. Professional success. Our nation. The men and women who serve in our armed forces both domestic and abroad. Those who serve as first responders in our communities. Most of all, our faith.

The Apostle Paul was a thankful man. We see it over and over again in his letters. He thanks God for just about every single church. He thanks God for just about every single brother and sister in Christ. He is thankful for the ways he sees God at work in their midst. Amidst hardship. Persecution. Division. He thanks God for His miracles. He thanks God for His blessings. He thanks God for the grace He has lavished on us in Jesus Christ. And when one reads Paul’s letters, we might be tempted to think life was pretty good for Paul. He must have had it okay. He must have never faced struggles or temptations or wrestled with anxieties and fears. Of course, nothing could farther from the truth.

Paul suffered throughout the course of his life. Especially after becoming a Christian. He worked long hours. He was imprisoned. Subject to death threats. Five times he received 40 lashes. Three times beaten with rods. Once he was stoned and left for dead. Three times shipwrecked and at least one of those times he spent a day and night adrift at sea. He lived in constant danger on his travels. Not just from the elements or from the roving bands of highwaymen who often waylaid people on the road but from his own people. He often went sleepless. Often went hungry. Often suffered from exposure. He struggled with anxiety over his churches. Fears of their future. He did not live an easy life. And yet he was thankful.

How is it possible to be thankful in a world where death seems to lie around every corner. Cancer. Heart attacks. Strokes. I think about the earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, wildfires, or famine over which we have so little control. The suffering these natural disasters create is enormous. I think about the life-threatening poverty around the world that I’ve seen. Men and women and children suffering from addiction. I think about the burdens I carry. Anxieties over the churches I serve. Fears for my own family. Uncertainty over the future. It’s enough to drive me mad.

God calls us to be thankful. I love what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, “We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing.” Yes, there is much that is wrong in the world. Evil. Injustice. Oppression. These are real things that must be resisted at all costs. At the same time, God calls us to focus our attention on the people and places where faith is flourishing and love is increasing. This is what creates a heart of gratitude within us. When we see God at work and it’s why it’s so important for us to get involved in what He’s doing in the world.

Readings for tomorrow: Acts 18:19-28, 19:1-41

Prayer for the Persecuted

Readings for today: 2 Thessalonians 1-3, Psalms 18

Amidst a rising tide of persecution and affliction, the faith of the Thessalonian Christians was rising. Their love for each other was growing. These are not surprising developments for anyone familiar with church history. In the face of hostility, the church seems to flourish. In the face of threat or danger or torture or even death itself, the church only grows more bold. Consider the witness of the underground church in Iran today which may be the fastest growing church in the world. Consider the witness of the underground church in China which may be the largest “Christian” nation in the world. Consider the revival taking place in the Horn of Africa among the Muslims who live there as church planters risk their lives to preach the gospel to them. It’s simply amazing.

This is why the Apostle Paul boasts about the Thessalonian church wherever he goes on his missionary journeys. He wants the churches he plants to follow their example. He wants them to be encouraged in the face of opposition. He wants them to show the same steadfastness and faith that their brothers and sisters have shown amidst all the persecutions and afflictions they were enduring. It’s the same in our world today. It’s why I love coming home to share about what I have seen over in Africa. Over the years, I’ve had leaders in our church tell me, “I wish we could bottle up a little bit of the Holy Spirit energy you bring back with you to give to everyone here.” They aren’t wrong. That’s my desire as well.

Now let me be clear. There was nothing superhuman about the Thessalonian Christians just like there’s nothing superhuman about the Iranian or Chinese or African Christians in our world today. The power to endure hostility and affliction and persecution does not come from us. It comes from God and it is His call to every single Christian. Friends, we simply do not have the power to live the Christian life on our own. We do not have the will or the discipline to make it happen. Left to our own devices, we will struggle. Left to our own resources, we will fall. Trusting in our own strength, we will fail. Living the Christian life is not a matter of learning some new techniques. It’s not a matter of turning over a new leaf. It is about transformation. Total-life transformation from the inside out and it is the work of God. 

Jump down to verses 11-12 of the first chapter. Here Paul prays for three things for his Thessalonian friends. All of them come from God. Not a single one is rooted in the human heart. He prays God will make them worthy of His calling. Essentially, he is praying for God’s Spirit to so root and ground them in the righteousness of Christ that every facet of their lives - home, community, work, school, etc. - would reflect His glory. He prays their lives might become a living reflection of the reality God has already brought through their salvation in Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are the very righteousness of God and those called by Christ are constantly being formed and re-formed into His image, thereby being made worthy of the initial call God placed on their lives when He first saved them.  

The second thing Paul prays for is for God to fulfill their every resolve for good. Each and every day, we are faced with a fundamental choice. Will I live for God or will I live for me? Will I live selflessly or selfishly? Will I seek to honor God or will I gratify the desires of the sinful nature? This fundamental choice works itself out in lots of different situations in every facet of our lives. It pops up in every conversation. Every task assigned to us. Every chore we perform. Every interaction we have with another divine image-bearer who crosses our path. However it manifests itself, the fundamental choice is always the same. Will we do good or evil? And because we are predisposed through our sinful nature to do evil, we need God’s help to do good.  

The final thing Paul prays for is the power to perform every work of faith. Once God has called us and set us apart for Himself. And once He has reoriented our desires away from evil and towards the good. The final piece we need is the power to actually perform the action. We need the power to actually take the next step. To confirm our calling by acting on our resolve to walk by faith and not by sight. Only by tapping the limitless power of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit will we ever find the strength to live for Christ. And this is why we must spend so much time with Him. Learning to hear His voice. Seek His wisdom. Surrender to His strength. This is why prayer and meditation on Scripture is absolutely vital to the Christian life. It’s why weekly worship with a local body of believers is essential for every single Christian. It is through these ordinary “means of grace” that God makes us worthy of His calling. Fulfills our every resolve for good. And gives us the strength to perform every work of faith.  

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Timothy 1-2, Psalms 19 (No devotionals on Sundays)

Persecution

Readings for today: 2 Thessalonians 1-3

Amidst a rising tide of persecution and affliction, the faith of the Thessalonian Christians was rising. Their love for each other was growing. These are not surprising developments for anyone familiar with church history. In the face of hostility, the church seems to flourish. In the face of threat or danger or torture or even death itself, the church only grows more bold. Consider the witness of the underground church in Iran today which may be the fastest growing church in the world. Consider the witness of the underground church in China which may be the largest “Christian” nation in the world. Consider the revival taking place in the Horn of Africa among the Muslims who live there as church planters risk their lives to preach the gospel to them. It’s simply amazing.

This is why the Apostle Paul boasts about the Thessalonian church wherever he goes on his missionary journeys. He wants the churches he plants to follow their example. He wants them to be encouraged in the face of opposition. He wants them to show the same steadfastness and faith that their brothers and sisters have shown amidst all the persecutions and afflictions they were enduring. It’s the same in our world today. It’s why I love coming home to share about what I have seen over in Africa. Recently, I even had an elder in our church tell me, “I wish we could bottle up a little bit of the Holy Spirit energy you bring back with you to give to everyone here.” He’s not wrong. That’s my desire as well.

Now let me be clear. There was nothing superhuman about the Thessalonian Christians. There is nothing superhuman about the Iranian or Chinese or African Christians in our world today. The power to endure hostility and affliction and persecution does not come from us. It comes from God and it is His call to every single Christian. Friends, we simply do not have the power to live the Christian life on our own. We do not have the will or the discipline to make it happen. Left to our own devices, we will struggle. Left to our own resources, we will fall. Trusting in our own strength, we will fail. Living the Christian life is not a matter of learning some new techniques. It’s not a matter of turning over a new leaf. It is about transformation. Total-life transformation from the inside out and it is the work of God. 

Jump down to verses 11-12 of the first chapter. Here Paul prays for three things for his Thessalonian friends. All of them come from God. Not a single one is rooted in the human heart. He prays God will make them worthy of His calling. Essentially, he is praying for God’s Spirit to so root and ground them in the righteousness of Christ that every facet of their lives - home, community, work, school, etc. - would reflect His glory. He prays their lives might become a living reflection of the reality God has already brought about through their salvation in Jesus Christ. In Christ we are the very righteousness of God. Those called by Christ are constantly being formed and re-formed into His image, thereby being made worthy of the initial call God placed on their lives when He first saved them.  

The second thing Paul prays for is for God to fulfill their every resolve for good. Each and every day, we are faced with a fundamental choice. Will I live for God or will I live for me? Will I live selflessly or selfishly? Will I seek to honor God or will I gratify the desires of the sinful nature? This fundamental choice works itself out in lots of different situations in every facet of our lives. It pops up in every conversation. Every task assigned to us. Every chore we perform. Every interaction we have with another divine image-bearer who crosses our path. However it manifests itself, the fundamental choice is always the same. Will we do good or evil? And because we are predisposed through our sinful nature to do evil, we need God’s help to do good.  

The final thing Paul prays for is the power to perform every work of faith. Once God has called us and set us apart for Himself. And once He has reoriented our desires away from evil and towards the good. The final piece we need is the power to actually perform the action. We need the power to actually take the next step. To confirm our calling by acting on our resolve to walk by faith and not by sight. Only by tapping the limitless power of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit will we ever find the strength to live for Christ. And this is why we must spend so much time with Him. Learning to hear His voice. Seek His wisdom. Surrender to His strength. This is why prayer and meditation on Scripture is absolutely vital to the Christian life. It’s why weekly worship with a local body of believers is essential for every single Christian. It is through these ordinary “means of grace” that God makes us worthy of His calling. Fulfills our every resolve for good. And gives us the strength to perform every work of faith.  

Readings for tomorrow: Acts 18:19-19:41