Category: 1 Thessalonians Devotionals

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

The God of peace

God of peace

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

He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

I was thinking about the words “God of peace,” today.

Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:3,

For this is God’s will: your sanctification…

Now here in chapter 5, Paul prays that God would fully work out that sanctification in our lives.

Sometimes that process includes discipline. And that discipline can be painful at times. But we need not think God is constantly staring at us with an angry face.

He is the God of peace. We are at peace with him.

So that’s the truth I’m soaking myself in today, even as I’m thinking about all the areas God’s working on in my life.

“God is not angry at me. I’m at peace with him.”

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

God’s will

God's will

For this is God’s will, your sanctification… (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Those words struck me today, probably because this is one of the few places that outright says, “This is God’s will.”

I think a lot of Christians, myself included, say, “I want to know God’s will.”

And we usually think in terms of things like who we should marry or what career path to take.

But God reminded me this morning, “This is my will: your sanctification.”

Paul is primarily talking about sexual purity here, as sexual sin was as big a problem then as it is now.

But sanctification isn’t limited to sexual purity. It’s becoming more like Jesus in everything: in love, in speech, in thoughts, in everything we do.

So today, I’m thinking about certain heart issues God’s been working on in my life.

And as I’m wrestling with them even now, I’m reminding myself of loving Abba’s words to me.

“This is my will: your sanctification.”

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Faith, hope, love

faith, hope, love

We remember your works springing from faith, your toil springing from love, and endurance springing from hope. (1 Thessalonians 1:3)

Faith, hope, and love.

Father, let everything I do spring from these things.

Not from obligation. Not from feelings of having to “gaman”.

But faith. Faith that you are a good God. That you love me. That you know and desire my best.

Love. Love for you. Love for others.

Hope. Knowing that this world’s problems, that my problems…they are but a blink in the face of eternity. A hope that I have because of you, Jesus.

Through you, I am forgiven. God is not punishing me somehow through my problems.

Rather, through you, I have free access to the Father. And just as you were, I am chosen and beloved by him.

Help me to always keep that perspective, moment to moment, day to day.

I wait on you, Jesus. I wait on you.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

God is faithful. He will do it.

God's love and faithfulness

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.

And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

“He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.”

Those words rung in my mind this morning.

It brought to mind what Paul wrote in Romans 8:29-30:

For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

I wonder. Do we really believe this?

He started this work, choosing us before we were born. Choosing us to become like his Son, our whole spirit, soul, and body sound and blameless before him.

And what he started, he will complete. Because he is faithful.

Do you like what you see in the mirror? Or do you see your sins and failures, the dirt and grime, and grimace?

Our Abba doesn’t grimace. He knew you from the first. And he still chose you. He called you. He justified you, wiping away your entire record of sin.

And whether you can see it or not, he’s in the process of sanctifying you through and through.

This is God’s will: your sanctification, your becoming like Jesus. (1 Thesssalonians 4:3)

And he’s not going to stop until he’s completed the process and he glorifies you, making you completely like his Son.

So put on the breastplate of righteousness. Not your righteousness, but the righteousness of God that comes by faiith. Let confidence in God’s love for you guard your heart. (Ephesians 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:8)

And know that the hope of your salvation, of your becoming like Jesus is a certain hope. Wear that hope every day.

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ… (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

And again,

He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Because we have hope

Hope

…may the Lord cause you to increase and to abound in love for one another and for all, just as also we do for you, so that your hearts may be established blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Finally therefore, brothers, we ask you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus that, just as you have received from us how it is necessary for you to live and to please God, just as indeed you are living, that you progress even more…

For this is the will of God, your sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:1, 3, LEB)

Here at Christmastime, we often reflect on the first coming of Jesus. But Jesus is coming again. That is our hope.

In the last three months, two people I know have passed away and gone to be with the Lord.

But as Paul said, we don’t grieve as those in the world who have no hope. When Jesus returns, they will rise and we who are alive will join them in the air to be with Jesus forever.

And on that day, Paul says we will be established blameless in holiness before God. To put it more simply, we will be like Jesus, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

That’s our hope. But in the meantime, Paul and John both encourage us to become more and more like Jesus. (2 Thessalonians 4:1-3, 1 John 3:3)

I love the LEB’s translation of verse 3: You are already seeking to please God, but “progress even more.”

Keep moving forward. That’s God’s will for us. That moment to moment, day to day we become more like Jesus.

Lord Jesus, as I look forward to Christmas, I also look forward to your coming. To seeing you and seeing my friends again.

But until then, help me to keep progressing. Help me to keep on growing. And by your grace, help me to become more like you each day.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Loved and chosen

Loved and accepted by God

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you… (1 Thessalonians 1:4)

Those are the words I was mulling over this morning.

“I am loved by God.”

“He has chosen me.”

Those words never cease to astound me.

God chose to set his love on me?

Why?

I have no answers. But it provides me great comfort.

I don’t have to strive to earn God’s favor. I already have it.

I don’t have to somehow prove myself worthy of his love. He’s already given it to me.

And so despite all the weaknesses and failings I see in me, I can rest, knowing he has accepted me.

Let those words sink into your hearts today.

“I’m loved by God.”

“And he has chosen me.”

Don’t try so hard
God gives you grace and you can’t earn it
Don’t think that you’re not worth it
Because you are

He gave you His love and He’s not leaving
Gave you His Son so you’d believe it
You’re lovely even with your scars
Don’t try so hard — Amy Grant

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

God’s will for us

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

A lot of times, we ask, “What is God’s will for me?”

While this is not the whole of God’s will for us, Paul does tell us how God desires us to live each day: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything.”

Life isn’t always fun. Many times we face trials.

How is it then that we can rejoice always and give thanks in everything? When life is hard, what do we have to rejoice about, to give thanks about.

We can give thanks and rejoice in how God sees us. That he has stamped his image on us (Genesis 1:26-27).

And as his priests, he has stamped his seal on us: “Holy to the Lord.” (Exodus 28:36, Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2; 1 Peter 2: 5, 9).

And because we are his, his priests, his people, his beloved children, we have access to him 24-7.

We don’t have to be afraid he’ll reject us or turn us away. In good times and bad, in our triumphs and struggles, we can come to him with boldness.

That’s God’s will for us. To walk with him moment to moment, rejoicing in our relationship with him.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Ringing out

For the word of the Lord rang out from you… (1 Thessalonians 1:8)

Father, you have loved me and chosen me. You have filled me with your Spirit and now I have full assurance of your love for me. Because of you, I have hope.

So Father, let your word ring out from me.

Let my words and actions reflect my faith in you to the people around me. May they see my love for you and for them.

And no matter what struggles I may go through, let them see your hope shining brightly through me.

There are so many people around me who don’t know you. Who have no peace or hope in this world. Who are starving for love in their lives.

Please use me today to touch them with your love.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Putting on the helmet of hope

1 Thessalonians

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

Those last few words struck me. “Put on the helmet of hope.”

We live in a world where there isn’t much hope. Where there seems to be a lot of despair, even among Christians. We see the problems of this world. We see our own personal problems. And we start to lose hope.

But Paul says to put on the helmet of hope to protect us from those thoughts of despair. What kind of hope, though?

The hope of our salvation.

Hope that judgment will come to this world for all the evil we see. But hope that we will not share in God’s wrath on judgment day.

Hope that because Jesus died for our sins, our relationship with God has been restored. And because of that, whether we live or die, he will always be by our side. (9-10)

Hope that though we are imperfect, constantly struggling with our sins and weaknesses, God will sanctify us completely, keeping our whole mind, soul, and body sound and blameless until Jesus comes.

We may not always be faithful.

But the God who has called us is faithful. And he will do it (24).

So let us put on the helmet of hope.

And may our faith that God is good and that he loves us always guard our hearts.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Keep on walking. Keep on growing.

1 Thessalonians

Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God—as you are doing—do this even more…

For this is God’s will, your sanctification…

About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. In fact, you are doing this…

But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more… (1 Thessalonians 4:1,3, 9-10)

I’ve mentioned before that as Christians, we never truly arrive. As long as we are in this world, we will never be perfect.

And yet, as we see here in Paul’s words, we are called to keep on walking. To keep on growing.

Why?

Because God’s will is our sanctification. In other words, his will is that we would become more and more like him, in the way we act, and especially in the way we love.

Are you walking with God? Great! Do it even more.

Are you pleasing God? Great! Do it even more.

Are you loving God and others? Great! Do it even more.

Not to earn God’s love.

But because by his grace we have already received it. (1 Thessalonians 1:4)

So beloved children of God, let’s keep on walking! Let’s keep on growing!

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

What drives me?

1 Thessalonians

We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you… (1 Thessalonians 1:3-4)

As I was reading Paul’s words, I thought, “What motivates me? Is it the fact that God loves me? That for some reason, he chose me to be his child?

“Why do I do the things I do? Is it born from my belief that God is good?

“As I serve the Lord, am I motivated by my love for God and for others?

 â€śWhy do I endure when things get hard? Is it because I have been inspired by the hope I have in Jesus?”

Faith. Hope. Love. These are the things that make the Christian life a joy and not a burden.

Lord, increase my faith. Root me in your love. And when things get hard, remind me of the hope I have in you. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Guarding our hearts and minds

1 Thessalonians

Faith, hope, and love. That combination is probably most prominently found in 1 Corinthians 13.

But we also find it here in this passage, in the context of guarding our hearts and minds.

Paul wrote,

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:8, ESV)

It’s interesting that Paul talks about the breastplate of faith and love here. In Ephesians, he talks about the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14).

Why the change? Perhaps two things. First, our righteousness before God is based not on our works, but on our faith. And second, our righteousness is expressed in love toward God and others. 

As I mentioned earlier this week, we live in troubled times. And if we are to guard our hearts, we cannot afford to lose our faith in God.

Faith that he is good. Faith that he is in control. Faith that he loves us. 

And if we are to guard our hearts and not become angry and bitter at all the evil we see around us, if we are to instead make a difference in this world that is dying because of sin, we need to choose to actively love those that Jesus died for (15).

But it’s important to also put on the hope of our salvation as our helmet to guard our minds.

This doesn’t simply mean rejoicing that we have been saved from our sin. It means rejoicing in the knowledge that Jesus will come again, and that all that is wrong in the world will be made right.

When we see all the evil in the world, we too often forget that. 

Only by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation will we find ourselves able to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” (16-18)

So in these troubled times, I pray that you put on faith, hope, and love, and in so doing, guard your hearts and minds. 

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.

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it…

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 28)

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

The hope of holiness

1 Thessalonians

I wrote on this passage not too long ago, but my church’s reading plan brought me back to this, and as I read it this time around, something else struck me about Paul’s words to us about holiness.

I think it’s easy to look at the words of Paul sometimes, and think holiness is something we obtain through our own efforts and willpower.

After all, he says things like,

“For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5)

And,

“For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God.” (4:7-8)

But don’t miss two things in these two chapters.

First, Paul tells us at the end of 4:8 that God has given us his Holy Spirit.

The One who desires us to be holy has not left us alone. He has given the Spirit whose very nature is holiness into our hearts, to guide us and strengthen us each day to do his will.

More, Paul prays,

“May [the Lord] make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13)

So when Jesus comes returns, it is he himself that makes sure we will be blameless in holiness before God the Father.

It was his work on the cross that purified us from our sins when we first put our trust in him. It is the work of his Spirit that purifies us each day. And it’s ultimately his work that will make us truly holy on the day he returns.

That’s our hope.

And that’s why Paul can say at the end of this letter,

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.

And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.” (5:23-24)

So holding tightly to that hope, let us strive each day for holiness.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Faith, hope, love

1 Thessalonians

No, the scripture reference is not a mistake. It is indeed 1 Thessalonians 1, not 1 Corinthians 13.

The truth is, faith, hope, and love are three things that Paul often links in his letters. 1 Corinthians 13 just happens to be the most famous of those references.

And here in this letter, we see it again.

We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:3)

We also see the Trinity in these three things.

The good news of Jesus comes to us, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, faith is born in our hearts. And so we serve the Father with joy.

The Father has set his love upon us, and chosen us. And it is that love we receive which motivates all we do for him.

And it is the hope of the resurrection, and the knowledge that Jesus will one day return that helps us endure whatever trials we may go through.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Faith, hope, love.

Are the faith, hope, and love you receive from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the foundations of your life?

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Children of light

1 Thessalonians

One small note. Yesterday, I said I was talking about chapters 2-3; actually, it was 3-4.

(And thus we can see that there are benefits to having chapter and verse divisions after all. It keeps us on the same page. 🙂 )

Anyway, I had a couple of thoughts as I read this passage.

First, Paul calls us to live as what we truly are: children of light. He says, “You are children of light. So live like it!”

But what does that look like, to live as children of light?

Paul tells us to, “put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

Faith, hope, and love. That triad is something you often see in Paul’s writings, and we see it here again.

A child of light has the hope of salvation. The hope that, as we saw yesterday, when Jesus appears, we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (I John 3:2)

That hope helps us take our eyes off of the temporal pleasures that sin offers to the One who truly satisfies. And as we look at him, and we see what we will be, we desire even now to become more and more like him.

I find it also interesting that in Ephesians, Paul talks about the breastplate of righteousness. Here, he talks about the breastplate of faith and love.

I don’t know if he meant this connection, but when you look at his writings, there is a connection between righteousness, faith, and love.

Our righteousness comes not from our own efforts to be good. It comes from putting our faith in Jesus and his work on the cross. And when we do, God counts us as righteous in his eyes (thus leading to our hope of salvation).

But faith always works itself out in love. And because of the love we ourselves have received from God, we start to love him and those around us.

Does this sound familiar? It should. All of God’s law is summed up in those two commands.

And so not only are we declared righteous by God, but we start to change and live righteously as God intended from the beginning. That’s what a child of God looks like.

But one more thing. Paul wrote,

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)

Here, Paul isn’t talking about being awake or asleep in regards to our normal sleeping patterns. (See I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Rather, Christ died for us that whether we live here on earth, or die and depart from this earth, we will forever be with him.

Again, that’s the hope that we have. So with that hope in mind, let us live each day as children of light.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

Holiness

1 Thessalonians

If there is one theme at the end of chapter 3 and the start of chapter 4 (which is why it was probably a bad idea to break this section up with the chapter division), it’s holiness.

Time and again, we see words with the same Greek root meaning “holiness”, which unfortunately is not so clear in the English.

Holiness, of course, often has a duel meaning. One is “purity” and the other is “set apart,” which in the case of the Christian, means “set apart for God as his own special people.”

And in this passage, Paul prays that God would make the Thessalonians and all the “saints” blameless in “holiness” before our God.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13)

Many times we thinks of saints as the super spiritual, but “saint” shares the same root word as “holiness” just a few words earlier in the verse.

All Christians are saints, because we are all set apart for God as his own special people. And because of that we are to live lives that are blameless and pure.

Paul stresses that a few sentences later, saying,

For this is God’s will, your sanctification… (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Again, “sanctification” has that same root as the words “holiness” and “saints.” God’s will for us is that we live lives that are set apart for him, lives that are pure.

Paul specifically tells us to be pure sexually, which was as big a problem back then as it is now. And he emphasizes,

For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. (4:7)

And then he says,

Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. (4:8)

Some people who claim to be Christians try to do just that: they reject God’s call on their lives to be holy. They would much rather live in their lusts. But in doing so, they’re actually rejecting God.

Can you really call such a person a Christian if that’s how they live the entirety of their lives?

We are called to be holy, because he is holy. And his Holy (there’s that word again) Spirit is living in us.

If the Spirit, who himself is holy, is truly living in us, how can we then live unholy lives, never repenting, but always making excuses and justifying our actions?

So let us listen to the Spirit in our lives. Let us follow his leading each day. Let us live by his power each day.

We will never be able to live holy lives in our own strength, by our own willpower. But the Spirit works us in us daily, and as we listen to him, we become more and more like the One who loved us and gave his life for us.

And ultimately, isn’t that our hope.

So as we strive for holiness, let us not only remember Paul’s words, but John’s, who wrote,

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)