“when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” 2 Thess. 1:10 NKJV
RELATIONSHIP:
Do you already have a relationship with a powerful God who cares about your every need because He loves you? Did you know my God can communicate with you and protect you – He has a plan for you to prosper if you just submit to His will and let His plan play out in your life!!! God wants a relationship with you and has already made a plan for your life. He loves you so much He sent His son to this world, to die as a sacrifice for your sins and rise from death with victory over sin and the ability to have a personal relationship with you.
Do you want to know truth? Be able to discern lies? Know how to figure it all out in these confusing times and have peace? The Bible says Jesus is the truth. I have experienced it and it has changed my life. I was once a hot mess of sin, promiscuity, drug and alcohol use and so much more. But I was lost and when I could not find my way, or find a truth, I numbed it with bad choses. When I found Jesus, and truth – I found peace and deliverance from those things.
If you want a relationship with God without truth you will get the counterfeit, hypocritical Christianity that has kept some of you away for too long. You need truth and relationship. You need to be honest with yourself and God (including honest repentance) and God will reveal truth to you. It becomes the two way, interaction that your relationship with God is built on. This is why Jesus is called the truth, because he is our only way to the Father.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins, and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grow and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus I pray ~ Amen
BIBLE READING:
Dear Heavenly Father – Please give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of who you are, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is. Open the eyes of our understanding, please, so we may know the hope of our calling and the vast sovereignty and power of the grace of the cross. Please do not let us miss out on what you want and need from us today. Lord, I pray that your word prepares us and not scares us! We forbid the works and influences of fear over your word and our sound mind. And please keep us and bless us and shine your face upon us and pour out grace over us and give us peace! Thank you! – In Jesus name we pray, Amen
Today’s reading is the Book of Second Thessalonians chapter 1 (embedded below for your convenience in the NKJV).
Greeting
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Final Judgment and Glory
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and [a]tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest[b] evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with [c]tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who [d]believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 1:4 afflictions
- 2 Thessalonians 1:5 plain
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6 affliction
- 2 Thessalonians 1:10 NU, M have believed
MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE:
Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”
STUDY/DEVOTIONAL:
Paul is writing 2 Thessalonians very shortly after the first, and while he is still down the road in Corinth. Paul wrote to them originally (in the first letter) to say how proud of them he was for doing so much right, but stop the nonsense of not working, understand life and death (the day of the Lord) from God’s perspective, and be pure. Apparently they heard the praise then stopped listening – because not only had things NOT changed in any significant manner, but the people were compromising more and more. There are three chapters and three sections to this book: section 1’s theme is that regardless of persecution there is hope, section 2’s theme is to bring clarity to the Day of the Lord because there are still false teachers among them teaching wrong doctrine, and section 3 is get to work.
This poor little baby church of new believers who haven’t yet been taught all things are under an attack from the enemy, that is horrible. Now, here is a fine line I want to walk carefully – innocent victims or victims who need to take responsibility for their own negligence that lead to becoming a victim. This is an unpopular topic and thought of as opinion in our modern world, where victims are guiltless by virtue of having been taken advantage of.
As a child I was abused. I stopped it by telling, but that man was let back around us and therefore it wasn’t stopped. I should have told again, but I knew it did not work the first time and the drama and chaos and how upset everyone was at me for saying anything…. I just kept my mouth shut. As a child I did not have the tools for that situation and the adults in my life didn’t either. I was an innocent victim. I was victim blamed and had to unlearn that – because it is further abuse.
As a young adult I dressed inappropriately, drank too much, did drugs, I went to the places I should not have been, and flirted and teased the wrong boy and eventually I was overpowered. I did dress and act like I wanted consensual sex (and did drugs and drank), in direct disobedience to God. Regardless of the outcome I am responsible for repenting and asking forgiveness for my part. Not such an innocent victim – but I was still victimized and that part is not my fault, and that was his action to repent of. And the world says I did nothing wrong, but the whole situation would not have happened if I was not disobeying God.
Please try to understand what I am saying. We sin, and we are wrong and must repent. The enemy attacks and kills steals and destroys, we are victims and must heal. The parallel to my stories is this: In the first letter the church were babies and innocent victims. But once they received the letter and knew better – they were the young adult. They are being killed, the enemy is stealing truth from them, and they are being destroyed – victims. But even under attack and being victimized – God expects us to NOT sin and if we do, to repent.
Paul addresses the sin, the attacks, and tries to comfort them, so they can heal. In our modern world enemy attacks come in the small issues of first world problems and every size up to the life and death persecution our readers in Kazakhstan (and other places in the world). With each attack, small or great, or even multiple at a time has the same effect of trying to steal from you and victimize you. We cannot buy the humanist view that all victims are guiltless or we will hold onto sin in our lives and have a barrier between us and God – and quite frankly, never heal. We need God’s presence and comfort to heal.
So Paul, understanding this, and us, trying to understand how it applies to the attacks against us, starts with our eye on God – prayerfully thanking God for our faith and growth.
How easy it is as a victim, or under attack or when knocked down to want to give up, doubt, stop growing, stop loving, and become ensnared. But you and I – we are good repenters, looking for our errors and repent. We strive to be like David and we get back up and keep seeking God’s heart! We thank God for our faith and growth and understand we have lots of growing left to do. We keep it real and honest but do our best and only succeed because of God – God working in us is the only reason we can even serve God – because we are messy and we have been broken by sin and attacks.
So this letter in verses 3 and 4 shows it is written to us! The ones who keep trying.
But those who do not and try to hide their sins – I have forewarned, everything we try to hide will be exposed. So just don’t or you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of judgement.
Verse 5, Paul shifts the reader’s attention to the things in the spirit world. Because the world we see overwhelms us, but look at the truth!
It is true you suffer, in one way of another, but walk righteous. Because – see there is a reason God has us behave, there is a reason God wants us separated. God ALWAYS has a reason. And the reason here is God will repay the righteous for their suffering and those who caused it will be repaid with tribulation.
Once moved into the spirit – we are outside of time. So suddenly Paul is prophesying about the return of Jesus in the second coming. But to Paul this wasn’t prophetic as much as it was the doctrine – this is just understood as part of the gospel message. Jesus came once to sacrifice – as a baby and died on the cross, rose again so that lives have the opportunity to be transformed. This was like a last chance for the world. Then the rapture happens, which Paul mentions in First Thessalonians – some say before great tribulation (aka Jacobs sorrow) and some say after but no one knows and the speculation muddies the scriptures and causes fear instead of comfort – so we need to just accept what we can and be ready for anything, knowing we are in the hands of Jesus. Anyway, He comes so we can be with Him when He comes for the Second Coming – which Paul starts to talk about here starting in verse 7.
Speaking of verse 7 some speculate that the rapture and the second coming happen together because it says we will get rest – but it is strange a we will be fighting next to him in the second coming. Remembering back to other verses in the Old Testament when we looked into the spirit world and time got all wrapped up and confused – maybe we even get breaks here on earth from our troubles and sometimes get to see God’s justice rolled out and other times it’s all spiritual.
Jesus taught hell is burning and unquenchable fire – verse 8 is speaking of hell. Hell is real. Make sure you aren’t one of the ones giving trouble. But modern Christians do not speak so freely of hell, so we stop paying attention. But if we tune into verse 9 we hear the punishment – and we are gripped by fear!!
Well, knock it off. Seriously, in the name of Jesus we cast it out knock it down rebuke it and forbid fear from disrupting us. Paul’s point is we are not viewing this with comfort and life and we need to stop. But here we are scared instead of comforted. Here we are literally enacting the rolls of those who Paul is writing to. We were lied to by the enemy – let it go, you were a victim, now, verse 10 arrives with ALL TRUTH!
“when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” Verse 10
Here it is! Our HOPE! Our healing. Our testimony because of theirs. When my Jesus comes, my savior, my Lord, my everything!!!! When He comes in that day (what day? Stop getting sidetracked and letting in fear.) When He comes to be glorified in all His saints, in you, in me… Oh Lord Jesus be glorified in me and my life even now!!! When He comes to be glorified in [fill in your name] and be admired… loved, worshiped, adored, OH HOW I AM BREAKING OUT IN WORSHIP!! Worship our Lord with me! Pray in the spirit! Yes Now! The point is those doing bad will be punished and we get to commune with our greatest love – hallelujah! We Thank you Lord Jesus that we can be with you and worship you and you can be glorified in us! Hallelujah!
Even Paul breaks out into prayer:
“Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Verses 11-12
I am going to continue to praise and worship and pray like this – when you reach this point please continue praying and praising! Because this is where we are supposed to focus on. Eyes on Jesus!!
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Thank you for reading in 2022 – a Year of Wisdom and Salvation
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!
If Not For Grace 