"To Him be glory forever": 1 Thessalonians

Showing posts with label 1 Thessalonians. Show all posts

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Weak Spots and Blind Spots

About two weeks ago I got a request from a friend. He had been reading a book and as a result was looking for some help is assessing his life as a Christian. He was asking for someone to look at his life and see what might be going on that he didn't see. To look for areas in which as a faithful follower of Jesus he needed to make some changes. He wrote this in his note:

"So that is why I am writing to you, to see if you can offer any advice on where I need correction. All of us have blind spots. It seems it's a lot easier to see sins in others than in ourselves. So please let me know what you see in my life where I need to improve. Please be quite honest and don't worry about me being offended."

In an attempt to answer his question I thought over what I know of him, of his faith, and of his life. I also thought about many of the things the Bible has to say about how God's people are to live. As far as the Bible goes that would include things such as the Ten Commandments, the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, the "fruits of the Spirit," as well the preceding passage in Galatians. One of the books I have been reading lately is Proverbs, so that, quite naturally, came into my thinking.

But here is the curious thing. My friend asked about his blind spots, things that he couldn’t see clearly about himself. As I thought about the biblical areas above I was confronted, time and again, with my own weak spots. Areas where I thought about myself and the various roles in my life, such as follower of Jesus, husband, father, pastor and friend. In doing so I found so many things within myself that could be characterized as sloppy, second-rate, incomplete. Maybe not everything, but much more than enough. You get the picture.

It is curious the way the hand of God's providence works sometimes. My friend, seeking what would hopefully be godly counsel, has opened my eyes to some things I need to be dealing with.

As Paul brings his first letter to the Thessalonians to a close he writes:

"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

That idea of being sanctified, or as I often phrase it as I preach, being shaped more and more in the image of Christ, does not happen in one single, powerful action. It happens bit by bit. Sometimes easily and sometimes with great difficulty and hardship. It begins at the moment of our conversion from unbelief to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it continues until the drawing of our last breath and coming into the direct presence of our Lord.

I am thankful for the opportunity to consider my friend's life and perhaps give him some constructive help. But I am more thankful for the way that God used him to do some work on my own life. Amen.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Where is your hope?

Over the past few months my wife, Robin, and I have been walking with some people going through very trying times. Some of this has been at a distance and some has been face-to-face. These include:

A granddaughter who died in February, following an accident at home.

A very dear friend who was diagnosed with advanced and essentially untreatable cancer, who passed away in late June.

A relative who was recently diagnosed with advanced and essentially untreatable cancer.

A relative recently diagnosed with a circulatory problem, who declined high-risk surgery, her only treatment option.

Two extended families within our church who each lost family members very unexpectedly last week.

In addition to the care, concern and prayers that we have offered I have preached two funerals, one for our granddaughter, in June, and one for a church family last week.

As I think about these people tonight I find myself coming back to this question: Where do we find hope?

Do we find hope in medical care? Sometimes, but not always. And even at its best, medical care can only delay what one day comes to all of us. Our death.

Do we find hope in our friends and family? Perhaps in them we receive encouragement and support. Very often they may provide very real and much appreciated care for our physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

Do we find hope in our own grit and determination? Again, perhaps, but only for a time. Stubbornness, the refusal to yield to a cancer that is inexorably advancing, can only last so long.

Do we find hope in something that lies beyond the reach of this world? Yet again, perhaps, depending on what it is you believe in while you are in this world.

The apostle Paul touched on the idea of hope when he wrote to the church at Thessaloniki. He understood that the hope that some people were holding on to was really no hope at all. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 he wrote,

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep."

In saying "those who are asleep" Paul is talking about believers in Jesus who have died. And Paul makes crystal clear that the only true hope for all Christians, is in Jesus. All who have faith in Him are His own, eternally. And as He rose from death to eternal life, so too will they. This is a sure and certain promise from God.

The opening section of the Heidelberg Catechism states the certainty of God's hold on His children this way:

Question & Answer 1

Q. What is your only comfort
in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, 1
but belong—

body and soul,
in life and in death— 2

to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. 3

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, 4
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. 5
He also watches over me in such a way 6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven; 7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. 8

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life 9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him. 10

¹ 1 Cor. 6:19-20
² Rom. 14:7-9
³ 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
⁴ 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
⁵ John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
⁶ John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
⁷ Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
⁸ Rom. 8:28
⁹ Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
¹⁰ Rom. 8:1-17

Where is your hope? It is my prayer that your hope is in Jesus, for it is my belief that He alone is our only hope.

He is our only hope in whatever may lie ahead for us each day in this world. And He is our only certain hope for eternal life.

May you know hope, true and everlasting hope, in Jesus.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Pray without ceasing

In the closing part of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians he gives them a flurry of guidance in short, rapid phrases. It’s as if he says, “do this, and this, and this, and…” Verses 16 through 18 of the letter say:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Here in our new home in New Mexico, at the end of just my sixth day as a pastor, I find that the phrase “pray without ceasing” has taken on a richer, deeper meaning for me.

Before coming here I had a pattern of prayer in the rhythm of my life. Praying in the morning before work, praying with my family at meals, praying with our daughter at her bedtime, and praying with my wife at the end of the day were regular parts of each day’s activities.

There would be other times of prayer, on a more irregular basis. At church activities. At my Bible study. With certain friends when we would get together. Sometimes while at work at the hospital, with a co-worker or a patient.

I knew that coming here to serve as pastor would give me more opportunities to pray, including not just praying with people but also more responsibility in leading people in prayer. It has been a joy to expand my morning prayer time by praying for the members of the congregation I serve. It has been a privilege to lift to God the concerns of their hearts.

Something that has surprised me in this first week has been the frequency of times during the day when I find myself before the Lord in prayer. As I have begun to meet and know people in the community there have been a variety of things that I feel compelled to bring before God.

There have been prayers of thanks for bringing me into a new relationship with someone. Prayers where during the course of a conversation I feel the need to lift a person’s concerns to God. And, especially, prayers for wisdom, patience and guidance for myself, for there have been a number of situations where I have no idea what God is laying before me or where He might be leading me at a particular moment.

“Pray without ceasing.”

And among my prayers, when I remember, are thanks for those who are praying for me in this ministry. For I can’t serve God’s people here well on my own, nor do I want to. I want to serve through the power and guidance of His Holy Spirit, and I am truly thankful that he has many people who are joined lifting me in prayer.