1 Corinthians 1: 18
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PRAYER THOT: Lord help me to live a life that is growing in faith, loving others, patient, enduring persecution and glorifying You, dear Jesus. II Thessalonians 3 vs5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. For further study - II Thessalonians 3:1-5 The Apostle Paul is very concerned that he be able to help the Thessalonians to grow in the Lord. After leading them to Jesus, for salvation, he writes two letters to them, I and II Thessalonians, with much instruction for their growth. He has watched as the “Word of the Lord” was glorified, made manifest in these people, verse 1 . Paul desires the prayers of the Thessalonians so that as he continues his ministry he will be able to minister the “Word of the Lord” among others as well. Here Paul is teaching “intercessory prayer” to these young believers. Paul's prayer also includes a request for his protection from unreasonable and wicked men, verse 2. The apostle reminds the Thessalonians, and us as well, that the Lord is faithful to His ministry of establishing us in Jesus and keeping us from evil that may come to confront us. Paul wants these new converts to love the Lord, to really love Him, verse 5. This is love that is more than “lip service”, it is a love that is a love like I have for my wife. That kind of love causes me to want to talk to her and let her talk to me. In our love for the Lord, we can talk to Him, in prayer. He can also talk to us in His word, as we read it on a daily basis. The love that I have for my wife moves me to want to do things that please her. This is the case as well with our love for the Lord. Notice the last phrase in our reading, verse 5. Paul wants to direct the Thessalonians and each of us into the "patient waiting for Christ to return." It is difficult for me to be patient. That is something I must learn, patience. Let me suggest that as we wait patiently for the Lord to return, we must be "prepared" for His shout to come at any moment by knowing for sure we are born again. We also need to walk "pure" each day by laying aside that which is ungodly and evil and living that which is godly and righteous, as we look up for Him to take us to be with Him. We must also be "productive," in winning others to Jesus Christ and helping them to grow even as Paul was doing among the Thessalonians. Again, I say it is difficult for me to be patient as I await the Lord's shout to join Him in the air. I want it to happen today, and it could - even so come, Lord Jesus. PRAYER THOT: Lord, help me as I await Your coming, patiently, to be pure and productive until you do shout for us to join You in the heavenlies. II Timothy 1 verses 6-13 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Paul, in this letter of instruction to young Timothy, is encouraging his young partner in ministry. He first tells Timothy of the salvation and call of the Lord upon both of them. He reminds his young partner that the Lord does what he does for His own purpose and by His grace, and all of this done in His mind before the world began. How thrilling it is that the creator of all things, the Lord Jesus Christ, has purposed a calling for each of us, and He did this before our birth, before we were even formed in the womb. He did this before the world began, in eternity past. Verse 12 in our expanded reading speaks of the future, the day of His return, "that day." Here we are encouraged to understand why we have to sometimes suffer in this world. Paul himself said that he suffered and was not ashamed to do so. The reason that is possible is because we can know whom we have believed and we can be persuaded that He is able to keep that which we commit to Him until the day of His return. The basis upon which this is all true is His death, burial, and resurrection, verse 10. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the “cornerstone” of our faith. There is enough evidence that this event, the resurrection, did take place almost 2000 years ago, that the verdict has to be, Jesus Christ is guilty of resurrecting from the dead, abolishing death and bringing to us life and immortality. Not only is the resurrection the cornerstone of our faith, it is the foundation of Bible prophecy. Revelation 1:18 is the record of the testimony of Jesus that He was alive, dead, and then alive. The death of Jesus was for the washing away of our sin. His resurrection was proof that He was the one who could take away our sin. The resurrection of Jesus also is the basis upon which He can reveal to us the future as we serve Him until "that day," verse 12. This is our help to ward off the “spirit of fear” and embrace the “spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”, until He does come again. PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for your call and purpose for me that you will have happen until that day! II Thessalonians 2 vs3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. For further study - II Thessalonians 2:1-12 Our key verse for this devotional, verse 3, has become somewhat controversial. There are those that believe that the Antichrist will come when the "falling away" of the church, apostasy in the Church, has happened. This then seems to be saying that the church will be here when the Antichrist appears. This belief comes from a wrong understanding of the Greek word used in the passage and translated, " a falling away." The Greek word is "apostasia," which is used one other time in Scripture in the New Testament book of Acts. Acts 21:21 translates apostasia as "forsake." The context is talking about Jews forsaking Moses, or departing from him. A close and careful word study of the Greek word apostasia will conclude that the true meaning of the word is found in the phrase, “departing from one place and going to another”, not a falling away from the doctrines of the church. If the word was communicating that apostasy was what it was talking about then the Rapture and the coming of the Antichrist would have happened during the writing of II Thessalonians. Apostasy had infiltrated the early church by the time Paul wrote this passage. What Paul is saying here is that the Antichrist, the “Son of Perdition”, would not come until the Church departs from one place and goes to another. That is what happens at the Rapture. The scenario for the future according to all prophetic passages is that the Rapture takes all Christians into Heaven and then the Antichrist appears on earth. This “false messiah” will, at the mid-way point of the seven year Tribulation Period, the coming time of judgment, he will enter Jerusalem. This satanically controlled world leader will enter the Temple in Jerusalem showing himself that he is “God”, verse 4. Our reading today sets the stage for how events of the Last Days come together. I will deal with the rest of this passage in another future devotional. The Rapture, the Antichrist, and a Temple in Jerusalem are the items that we have discussed today.
Remember, before the appearance of Antichrist and the temple is built, the Rapture happens. Actually the Rapture could happen at any moment. Be ready! PRAYER THOT: Help me to live today as if this will be the day of the Rapture. II Timothy 2 vss11-12 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: For further study - II Timothy 2:1-14 Each day as I approach my time in the word of God, I realize how rich each and every passage is with the nuggets of truth that enhance my own walk with the Lord. Paul takes a young man to assist him in his ministry, but at the same time, as he instructs young Timothy in his ministry among the churches, Paul is continuing to build Timothy in the Lord as well. I am eager to see how Paul instructs Timothy so that I may appropriate these useful truths for my life also. Notice that with Paul's instruction there is the foundational truth for how Timothy or for that matter you and I can live by the exhortations for a mature Christian life. Paul tells Timothy to "be strong" to stand up in the Lord, but then quickly reminds him that can only be done because of the "Lord's grace" bestowed upon all believers, verse 1. Then comes the instruction - endure hardness as a good soldier. Do not be entangled in the affairs of this life, which will be pleasing to the One who has chosen us to be His soldier in this life, verse 4. Verse 5 reveals to us that it is not the crown, the first prize that is our goal, although that is not a bad goal. But we should strive for the best we can do in the Lord's power and for the Lord's glory and leave the results to Him. With this basic training, we can now endure all things so that we will be able to lead others to salvation, the eternal life that the Lord offers. To me, even with the basic training and the provision of His grace, I must totally rely on Him so that I can "endure all things." I mentioned that we may not come in first in each race but we must do the training to do our best for Him. However, there are rewards in the future, at the Judgment Seat of Christ that we can and should focus on. Notice that if we suffer, we shall reign with Him, verse 12. John the Revelator made a similar statement to all those who are “overcomers”. Revelation 2:26-27 records the letter to believers, those who are “overcomers” in the church at Thyatira. They shall rule with the Lord in His kingdom to come. I love how Paul concludes our reading for today. He tells us to remember these things as we remember what to do, how to do it, in and through His grace, then we can look forward to why we do these things. We do all to be able to “rule and reign with Him in the future”.
For further study - II Samuel 7:18-29 As we once again visit the 7th chapter of II Samuel we look at the last half of the chapter, this visit. The first seventeen verses of II Samuel 7 are the "Davidic Covenant", a promise to King David that one of his descendants will one day sit on the throne in Jerusalem in the Temple and will do so, forever. The God-man, Jesus Christ, will be that one on the throne of David forever. The last half of this chapter, David acknowledges that the Lord God is a great God and that he, the once lowly shepherd boy, is in awe of who God is and what He has done for David's people.
David realizes that the God of the Jews is “great”, that there is none like the Lord God. Then David asks the rhetorical question, "what one nation in the earth is like thy people", verse 23. The Jewish nation is a nation whom God went out to redeem from among all the peoples of the earth, for a "people to Himself." A nation whom God will give a piece of land, actually a piece of land ten times the size of the land the Jewish nation has today. David also recognizes that the Lord confirmed to Himself the "people of Israel" to be a people unto Him, forever, verse 24. This statement declares that God has a future plan for the Jewish people. He is not finished with Israel. Israel, the nation and the people, have not been replaced, Biblically, by the “church”. The Lord will, and is today, revealing that plan to His chosen nation. By the way, that word "forever" is "olam" in Hebrew and it means not just during this time, but forever, even into eternity future. The Jewish people will be His chosen nation, forever.
For further study - II Thessalonians 2:8-17 There are two great truths that we will confront in our reading for today. The first is revealed in II Thessalonians 2:13. Within the words of our key verse, we find the answer to the centuries old debate about election and free will. I may be introducing to you a discussion that you've never heard of in your Christian experience. Let me suggest that if that is the case, just file this away. It may be that you will need this insight for another time when you may be confronted with this issue. The Lord has the greatest way of reminding us of these things at just the right time when we need them. II Thessalonians 2:13 speaks of how both election, (God's plan of bringing people to Himself), and free will, (our experience of accepting what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us to bring us to salvation), work together. Notice how this verse combines the two in the process. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that God, from the very beginning, has chosen each of us to be saved. The Lord uses the Holy Spirit to bring us to the point of conviction, revealing to us our need for a Saviour, because we are sinners. The Bible teaches that we are all sinners, born that way. Have you ever noticed that no one ever sat us down and taught us how to lie? We just knew how to lie because we were born that way. The Holy Spirit convicts those of us whom God has chosen for salvation, however, the process doesn't stop there. The verse continues to tell us that we then must believe in the “truth”. By exercising belief we are exercising our own free will. This is our choice, to receive that which He has chosen to give us, salvation. I hope this doesn't seem too simple, but God doesn't want it too hard for us to understand. He wants us to see how He is working in our lives. That is what Paul was writing on this issue in his letter to the Thessalonians. Remember that these believers were still fairly “young in the faith” Christians. The other great principle of the “second chance”, I will have to discuss the next time we come to II Thessalonians in our devotions. Please take notice that Paul frames his discussion in II Thessalonians 2:13 in the context of the Lord's shout for us to join Him in the air. PRAYER THOT: Thank you, Lord for “choosing” to save me and giving me the “free will’ to accept you as my Saviour. II Timothy 3 vs1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For further study - II Timothy 3:1-17 II Timothy is the last book that Paul wrote, even though Titus follows II Timothy in the New Testament cannon.
Timothy was to help men, those in Jesus, to become mature, "thoroughly furnished unto good works," verse 17. Our key verse, verse 1, is a direct warning to the Church at that time, around 65AD, and for the Church today as well. Technically the "last days" began after Jesus left to go back to heaven, Acts 1. However, from a practical standpoint, today must be considered the "last days", the period just prior to the Rapture, the Tribulation and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Paul's description of the "last days" surely fits our day. Verse 2, reveals that "men will love themselves more than they love Jesus," and others. Notice the rest of the list, in verses 2-4 where Paul describes the last days. As we read through this list we can recognize our day, and the activities of people today. As it relates to "love", Paul says men, humankind, will "love pleasure more than God", verse 4. That thought is a prefect description of our society today. Verse 5 describes much of the Church today, "having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof." We are to "turn away" from all that Paul has listed in these verses that is contrary to God's desired lifestyle for us. Paul warns each of us that in these "last days" it is not going to be all "roses". There will be "thorns", verses 10-12. The Apostle exhorts Timothy to remember what he had been taught from the scriptures, as a child, and he was to do those things he had been taught. Timothy was to “live out” what the Word of God had taught him. We also must live a life dictated by the Word of God. In our "post-modern" world some believe that the scriptures are "old-fashioned". This is a lie from Satan. The scriptures are profitable, we must study them, II Timothy 2:15, and live them out in these the last days. PRAYER THOT: Help me Lord, as I study Your Word to live by what it tells me to do in these the last days. II Timothy 4 vs8 - Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. For further study - II Timothy 4:1-8 I love the promise of a "crown of righteousness" that will be given to me at the "Judgment Seat of Christ" according to our key verse, verse 8, in our devotional reading for today. I'll take a closer look at verse 8 in a moment but first let's look at the entire reading for today. Paul gives us a charge for today, even though it was written for the first century Church. The principles of scripture are "timeless". Think about that statement. As we see even what have been "good" churches in our day slipping away from their connection with God's Word and His direction in every day life, especially in these last days, we must heed Paul's exhortation. Paul gives us this charge before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 1. Verses 2-5 reveal what the charge for us today includes. Verse 2, "preach the Word," the Word that we are to study diligently, II Timothy 2:15. Here's what we are to do, preach the Word and do it in season and out of season. That means when we have an opportunity, "in season;" or when we make an opportunity, "out of season." "Preaching the Word" is for reproof, rebuke, exhortation and doctrine, verse 2. We must "preach the Word" before there will be a time when even the members of the "body of Christ", the Church, will not endure sound doctrine. We are quickly approaching that time, a time when people will be going after their own lust, looking for teachers that "tickle the ears" of the hearers. We are quickly approaching the time Paul describes here when people turn from the true doctrines of the Word of God to man's fables. Paul tells us, as he told the first century Church, to do the work, making full reproof of our ministry, verse 5. Paul then gives us his "swan song", verses 6 and 7. Paul realizes that his time of service is coming to an end. He "fought the fight", he "finished the course" and as he did so, he "kept the faith". This is the example to follow, "fight the fight, finish the course and keep the faith" along the way. Now, at the end of Paul's thirty years of ministry, he is prepared because of what he tells us in II Timothy 4. He is looking forward to receiving the "crown of righteousness" at the Judgment Seat because he loves the "any moment" appearing of Jesus Christ at the Rapture. Then Paul shares with us that we too can look forward to that same "crown of righteousness" if we also love His appearing and long for Him to come to take us to be with Him. We must" love that appearing" more than anything this world has to offer. An in-depth study of Bible prophecy will help us to realize where we are in God's time for the last days. An understanding of "current events" in light of Bible prophecy will intensify our longing for His return. PRAYER THOT: Help me Lord, to fight the fight, finish the course and keep the faith as I eagerly await Your shout for me to join You in the heavenlies. III John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. For further study - III John 1:1-4 Truth, "What is truth?" This question was asked of Jesus Christ by Pilate as Jesus stood before him just hours before He would die on the cross in Jerusalem. Jesus had answered Pilate's question a few hours before His appearance in the Judgment Hall. Pilate actually questions Jesus on a number of issues, John 18:28-38. The first question directed at Jesus was, "Art thou the King of the Jews?", John 18:33. Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world, or His servants would have fought to keep the Jews from crucifying Him. Pilate's response was another question. "Art thou a king then?" Jesus then told Pilate that He was born to be a King. That was the reason that He came into this world. As a King, Jesus was to bear witness of the truth. This statement brought out several other questions from Pilate, "What is Truth?" However, this time Pilate did not wait for an answer and Jesus never responded. This was because He had basically already done so. Jesus had said that He was bearing witness of the Truth, and therefore what He had been saying is Truth. It was earlier in the evening, in the Upper Room with His disciples, that He had revealed to them He was the Truth, John 14:6. In that Upper Room, the writer of III John - John the Apostle - was one of those who heard Jesus' claim to be the Truth. John had been traveling with and learning from Jesus for over 3 years at this time. John knew that indeed Jesus was the Truth. It was that Truth that Jesus bore witness of that all who would come to Him, He would take to be with the Father. Yüklə 2,36 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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