God Speaks
From: Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To: The church at Thessalonica—to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: May blessing and peace of heart be your rich gifts from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 We always thank God for you and pray for you constantly. 3 We never forget your loving deeds as we talk to our God and Father about you, and your strong faith and steady looking forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 We know that God has chosen you, dear brothers, much beloved of God. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not just meaningless chatter to you; no, you listened with great interest. What we told you produced a powerful effect upon you, for the Holy Spirit gave you great and full assurance that what we said was true. And you know how our very lives were further proof to you of the truth of our message. 6 So you became our followers and the Lord’s; for you received our message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the trials and sorrows it brought you.
7 Then you yourselves became an example to all the other Christians in Greece. 8 And now the Word of the Lord has spread out from you to others everywhere, far beyond your boundaries, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your remarkable faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, 9 for they keep telling us about the wonderful welcome you gave us, and how you turned away from your idols to God so that now the living and true God only is your Master. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the return of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God brought back to life—and he is our only Savior from God’s terrible anger against sin.
Source: The Living Bible: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: This first letter to the Thessalonians from Paul (along with Silas and Timothy) was written from Corinth in 50-51AD. Its purpose was to encourage the believers there and correct some misunderstandings, especially about the second coming of Christ. This short first chapter mainly focuses on greeting them, assuring them of Paul’s prayers and concern, commending them for how well their faith is perceived by those around them, and bringing the discussion back to Christ Jesus.
Prayer: Dear God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank You for being the only source of unending grace and lasting peace. Lord, please spread Your grace, forgiveness, mercy, and peace in the hearts of Your people around the world. Thank You that all that Jesus experienced made that accessible to us. May I and other believers pray continually like Paul for those to whom we have ministered in the past, in the present, and in the future. May we be like the Thessalonians and love through good deeds, maintain a firm trust in You, and steadily watch for Jesus Christ’s return. Please help me to remind myself and others continually how much You love us and how we are to love each other. Help us to share the gospel freely even if there are difficulties. Please help those who listen to us have great assurance that what we say is true, to the point that it changes their lives. Then those around them will be drawn to trust Jesus as well and look for Him to rescue them from the coming judgment. Please help all Your people to be living for Your glory, Lord. AMEN
Action: (Ask the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will be alert to references to Christ’s second coming as I read and study 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
- I will pray for those who are taking the gospel to various people groups.
- I will ask the Lord how He wants to use me to encourage ________ (someone specific) today, then do what He tells me.
- I will try to live in such a way that those around me see positive changes and turn to Christ.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.