Christ is risen, Christ will come again – 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-5

I often wonder if I have a burden for this world – if I love those around me to share with them the freedom of Jesus Christ.

Do I recognize their need for fulfillment in the only One who can fulfill? Am I sensitive to their need for purpose, a purpose only He can give? Can I overcome my personality – my desire to stick to my own business and not bother with other people – to be authentic with them and share the Light of my life with them?

The believers at Thessalonica had no problem in doing this, none whatsoever.

In verse 2 we see that God was present with them, He gave them help and boldness and courage.
His Spirit was there, in their midst and in their hearts in a very real way. He empowered them and strengthened them.

I also often wonder – when I do share the Gospel, why I do.

Do I want public acclaim?
“I have led three people to Christ in the past year.”

Do I want public recognition?
“Look how big our church is.”

Do I want public approval?
“I must be a good preacher, look at how many people raised their hand after my sermon.”

God purified the desires of the believers at Thessalonica; there were no ulterior motives or secondary purposes. God selected them, instilled them with a burden for their lost and dying world, empowered them, and was confident they could share His truth with their community.

The Thessalonian believers had no ulterior motives, they simply wanted those around them to know the Lord and love Him. They had no fancy methods, simply His Spirit and His truth.

What are my motives in forming relationships? Do I desire fellowship? Do I love non-believers enough to share God’s Word with them, that they may know Him?
How bold am I? How daring? Who do I try and please? What am I afraid of? Who do I fear?

My the sovereign God, who inspires us with life and truth, have free reign over our souls, to transform us daily for His purposes. May we have no agenda but His kingdom, and no purposes but to worship Him.

A Two-Fold Knowledge

In theological terms, God is archetypal and man is ectypal.

That is, God is the self-existent one and man is derivative of Him; man owes his entire being to God. Man is dependent upon God for his existence and cannot exist apart from God.

When man is struggling with issues of identity – with wanting to feel comfortable in his own skin – it does him no good to solely examine himself. In order to fully know himself and fully understand himself, man must seek God and endeavor to know Him.

John Calvin was very wise when he wrote in the opening pages of his Institutes:

“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves…In the first place, no one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God, in whom he, “lives and moves,” [Acts 17:28].”

And again a little bit later on:

“Moreover, although our mind cannot apprehend God without rendering some honor to Him, it will not suffice simply to hold that there is One whom all out to honor and adore, unless we are also persuaded that He is the fountain of every good, and that we must seek nothing elsewhere than in Him.”

Not only must we recognize that apart from knowledge of God will we never truly know ourselves, but also that a true knowledge of God consists of worship, reverence, awe, and humility.

To know God will cause us to worship God, and to worship God will allow us to see His magnificence, and accordingly our place in His plan and His kingdom.

“Our knowledge should serve first to teach us fear and reverence; secondly, with it as our guide and teacher, we should learn to seek ever good from Him…you cannot behold Him clearly unless you acknowledge Him to be the fountainhead and source of every good.”

Do not feel insecure, inadequate, or anxious. Know God has created you – as you – specifically.
Turn to Him, seek Him, and worship Him.

“You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart”
– Jeremiah 29:13

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth”
– John 4: 24

Only when you lose sight of yourself in all that God is, will you truly find yourself.

Solid ground in the storm

photo courtesy of Mr. Rembrandt

Oh Lord, be our solid ground.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

– Psalm 46: 1-3

I don’t know what you are facing today. Are you just surviving? Barely making it though? Have you lost sight of solid ground?

This world can be difficult – insurmountable at times. The trials you face can be truly daunting.

But be encouraged, for our Lord stands firm, giving guidance, protection, and deliverance. You do not face your trials alone. May you be driven – in desperation and fear – into His loving arms.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

– Psalm 42: 11

Fear not, fret not.

But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”

– Psalm 31: 10

The One who has created you knows you and loves you.

Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

– Psalm 16: 1-2

Be not the ship that gives way in the storm, but the ship that perseveres, finding calm seas amidst the storm; the one who knows God is and faithful, and will always provide.

So which boat are you today?
The one that gives up all hope as lost, resigning yourself to the depths of the ocean?
Or the one who has persevered through the trial, finding calmer seas and coming out refined for having endured your trial with peace, patience, and contentment.

The Lord is faithful and will not desert you.

But my eyes are fixed on You, O Sovereign Lord; in You I take refuge – do not give me over to death.

– Psalm 141: 8

Fix your eyes on Him, that He may be your focal point, your guiding light, your lighthouse ever guiding you to safety. He will not disappoint.

Provision inherent within the prize

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Matthew 13: 44-46

Much of our Christian life is  like this: forsaking the many – the things of this world – for the One in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

In leaving go of so many things on this earth for the sake of Jesus, there is bound to be fear and anxiety. We know the Gospel is a worthy goal, but that doesn’t make it any easier through the trials and tribulations this life has to offer. We only know that goal as in a dimly lit mirror, for now do we only know in part (1 Corinthians 13: 12).

And so while the day is coming when we will know in full, what sustains us while we travel? What gives us provision while we pursue the treasure or the pearl?
For we know that once we have grabbed hold of that prize, sanctifying grace has had its way in our hearts, and we stand before our Savior fully glorified, we will have neither want nor worry ever again. But what shall carry us on until that day?

Notice our man from Matthew 13:44: When he found the treasure in the field, he went away and in his joy sold all he had for the sake of obtaining the field. In the original Greek text we can see that the man did not manufacture joy in his being or go looking for joy, but that the treasure in the field caused him to have joy.

The prospect of selling all he had to own the treasure was the very cause of his joy. The treasure was so great that it had the power to sustain him in the pursuit of it as well as provide for him once he obtained it.

There was joy inherent within the task of forsaking all in the name of obtaining the One. This was not a task taken begrudgingly or with mere obligation, this was the a cause of joy beyond which the man had never known.

Kierkegaard had it right when he said purity of the heart is to will one thing:

Father in heaven! What is a man without Thee! What is all that he knows, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if he does not know Thee! What is all his striving, could it even encompass a world, but a half-finished work if he does not know Thee: Thee the One, who art one thing and who art all!

So go, go on your way and be willing to seek the One thing. The prize awaits you, and while it will indeed provide for you one day, there is joy to carry you through in the meantime as well. Seek Jesus Christ almighty today and find peace, purpose, and perseverance in His grace. Pursue Him with all your might, and He will provide.
Be encouraged and of good cheer, for the Lord knows you and knows what you need, and He does not disappoint.

Hopefully hopeful

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us.”

– 2 Corinthians 1: 8-11

When all the world threatens to overwhelm, overpower, and overcome us, when we are pressured and indeed feel the sentence of death itself pressing in our souls, take heart.

God has a plan and a purpose in the midst of our broken, despairing, and suffering soul.

God desires we would trust in Him, in His grace and His truth, and not our own feeble attempts to stake out an existence for ourselves.

God does indeed raise the dead – He raised Christ and He has made us a new creation; the victory is in Him.

We set our hope on the living Christ, the risen Christ, the conquering Christ. We set our hope He who works all things for His glory.

We have no other choice, there is no hope but hope in Christ.