I Thess. 2-5

This chunk of scripture I think of as an awesome hand written letter that I would love to receive from my mom (or insert anyone else who you like receiving hand written letters from....my mom is pretty much the only person that writes me them, so I'm using her).  Paul is telling the church there that (paraphrased) he came and worked with the people and shared the gospel with them, went away, and was prevented from going back for a while....thought they would have all fallen back into sin, but was so pleasantly surprised when Timothy reported back to him that they had been faithful and still loving.  I picture Paul as just a proud dad on the other end of this letter going....YEAH!! Those are my kids!!! So proud of them!!! And then gives them some more final instructions about how to keep living a holy life, reminding them to stay alert for Christ's second coming, and to keep honoring and praising our God who is faithful. 

I feel like it has all the great parts of a letter (I'm trying to talk like Shannon/an english teacher here...) a recap, a climax, a joyful point, some instruction, some encouragement. It's just a feel good letter.  I'll give you just a couple things straight outta scripture today.  One, I had this verse on my cube wall on a little post it for a long time. 

1 Thess 5:16- "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

I love this verse for 2 reasons- 1) it's got great practical advice that I have used. Don't be a crab apple and let saddness/muck of this world take over you. Even throughout it all...YOU HAVE JESUS. So you will always have joy. So let it out!  Pray continually- prayer isn't something you do to God because you think he's a magic geanie (sp). We need to be in constant communication with our father. (I'm still working on that one....well, all of them, but that one specifically). And lastly, give thanks in all circumstances. This was a great one to have up on the cube wall because there are just some things that happen in my circumstances every day...as I'm sure is the same with all of you....and looking up and seeing that would be a great reminder to me to stop and thank God for where I am and what I am going through. Sure, tough thing to do, but really changes your perspective quite quickly.    

The second reason I love it is because it states that this is God's will for you in JC.  So many times I ask myself "what is God's will for my life..I'm so confused!" Well, this is a pretty darn good practical starting point. It says it right here in scripture what His will is for us in Christ, and so I think this is a great point to start at if you're trying to discern God's will. Be joyful for what Christ has done in you, pray continually, and thank God for where you are right now and what you go through. I was listening to a sermon last night when they were talking about this very fact, and saying that if you are in constant communication with the Lord through prayer, in his word daily, that pastor believed that the desires of your heart would be aligned with Christ's and that's one way that the Lord "speaks" to us, and helps us discern his will. That made a lot of sense to me because it's just like any relationship- like with your dad. If I was handing out with my dad all the time, talking with him, thanking him for how he brought me up, etc....if I think of a situation I would encounter and I would think...what would my dad say in this situation? Or what would my dad give me advice to do? I'm fairly confident I could discern what my dad would want for me, BECAUSE I had spent so much time with him, know what he stands for, know his heart, and know his love for me and his desire for me to want the best for me. Same thing with our heavenly father. 

For today, I'll leave you with this great benediction in 1 Thess 3 at the end when Paul is praying for the Lord to clear the way so he can come back and visit them.  "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones."