Encouragement

Good Morning!

I am sure I have said it before but I am enjoying the study of 1st Thessalonians in our Sunday meetings. The church in Thessalonica, from all indications, was not one of those “super” churches – you know, the ones that have thousands of attendees and seemingly an unlimited budget. In fact, indications are that the church at Thessalonica was a struggling church – one undergoing a lot of stress. A number of my preacher friends understand what that means – tight budgets, discouraging results, a sense of ineffectiveness. So Paul sent Timothy to check them out – and Timothy came back with some surprising news. The church WAS having an impact!!!

Adversity isn’t always bad – in fact, adversity can build strength. The problem is that when one is close to the situation they cannot always see the positive results. Sometimes they need someone from the outside to take an objective look. And sometimes they need someone to just give them an encouraging word.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 (English Standard Version)
13And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

In our study, the question was posed “when do you think of someone constantly”. Well, when do you? I think it is when the person is important to you. Paul is telling the people of the church in Thessalonica that he thanks God for them constantly – they are on his heart. And why? Because they got it – when Paul, Silas and Timothy shared the message of Jesus Christ, the people accepted the message as being from God.

We live in a day and age when people want to pooh pooh the word of God as being just another book written by men. Many people do not recognize the dynamic nature of this collection of 66 books. If they just took the time, they would see how it fits so closely together and would be amazed. And they would see how current it is.

The result of the belief in the message was that the word of God was at work in these people. The struggling church at Thessalonica was having a big impact in Asia Minor. Why? The church was on a major thoroughfare of the region. People passing through heard the message these people preached in word and deed – and many believed. The same thing happens today. You can be assured that God uses you dynamically when you commit to Him.

So – don’t be discouraged. God is using you…

Agape’



Mr. Jim