Still getting caught up, while trying not to fall behind! Today we read through all of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.
There were two verses in 1st Thessalonians that struck me in this reading.
So Forgiving
The first one was chapter 4 verses 7 and 8:
“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.”
I know that when I do something wrong, I 1. Know it’s wrong, 2. Know that God witnessed me doing wrong and 3. I feel really terrible about it. So I usually pray for forgiveness and strength to do better next time and I thank Him for His Mercy and Grace. When I read that verse it reminded of how I feel when I do something wrong and it made me love God even more for being so forgiving.
So Patient
The second one was chapter 5 verse 14. Specifically the end of that verse that reads:
“…be patient with everyone.”
I need to work on being patient in every area of my life. With my family, at work, when with friends, etc. Maybe my small group could do a study on patience! ;)
Payback
Looking at my notes, I also underlined the beginning of chapter 5 verse 15, which says:
“Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong…”
It is so easy for me to want to ignore someone when they’ve done something wrong to me. Or to be short or rude to someone who is that way to me. But I know that’s not how I should be. I should always show love and respect to everyone. Wow! Doesn’t that sound impossible. But that’s what we should do, right?
I also underlined two areas in 2nd Thessalonians.
A Powerful Delusion
The first was in chapter 2 verse 11 and 12:
“For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
I understand that you reap what you sow. That unbelievers will spend the rest of eternity in Hell after Jesus returns, but this verse almost makes it sound like God is actively helping unbelievers to get there.
I was surprised to find my on-line help with this verse came from Yahoo! Answers, of all places. This question was posed there a year ago and has 8 answers. Most of them point to the fact that this verse is not saying that God will help unbelievers stay unbelievers by sending them a powerful delusion, but rather that at the time of judgement God will hand these people over to Satan as a result of their unbelief. Here’s the link if anyones interested:
Fellow Believers
The last area that I underlined in todays readings was in chapter 3 verse 14 and 15. I think these verses stood out to me because of some problems that Evalena is having with a friend right now. What do you do when a fellow believer is behaving in a way that is consistent with the teachings of the Bible?
“Take special note of those who do not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as fellow believers.”
The End
…of week 2!! Next week we tackle 4 whole books of the New Testatment!! We are on a roll with this NT40 challenge!! To everyone keeping up with it, Good job!! To those that aren’t, your NT40 journey can start on any day in any month!
No comments:
Post a Comment