I thought the Bible verses, set for reading and meditation to be especially interesting; and, these verses in particular invite a lot of questions (1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, NLT): “ … How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.
May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.”
A curious thing to say – ‘to fill the gaps in your faith’, maybe something is lost in the translation? I think it has more to do with an understanding of the consequencesof our faith - the strength of our relationship with Jesus – as, we run our race and are gradually transformed into the likeness of Christ; we, as we become more Christlike, are better able to understand ‘how’ we should live a holy life. One aspect of the ‘how’, is to excel in love! What are your thoughts on this?
I really like this statement made by Selwyn in today’s study: “The desire to excel in everything you do is commendable, and will yield earthly rewards; to excel in love, however, brings spiritual rewards – it ‘strengthens your heart and makes it blameless in holiness.”
I’ll finish with these verses from 1 Peter 1:13-16 (NLT): “So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
We. who are the adopted children of God – must be holy. The way we live our lives, MUST be different to all those who do not know Jesus. This is not a nice option for an elite few within our Christian community – it is God’s demand, directed to everyone who can hear His voice. If, we do not follow His call on our lives, then we are not one His flock, as Peter, writes in 1 Peter 2:10: ” … you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
If you cannot show others the goodness of God, by the way you live your life, then you are still in darkness – as one, who pretends to see the light.
What’s your view?
Tags: love
Excelling in love
I thought the Bible verses, set for reading and meditation to be especially interesting; and, these verses in particular invite a lot of questions (1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, NLT): “ … How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.
May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.”
A curious thing to say – ‘to fill the gaps in your faith’, maybe something is lost in the translation? I think it has more to do with an understanding of the consequencesof our faith - the strength of our relationship with Jesus – as, we run our race and are gradually transformed into the likeness of Christ; we, as we become more Christlike, are better able to understand ‘how’ we should live a holy life. One aspect of the ‘how’, is to excel in love! What are your thoughts on this?
I really like this statement made by Selwyn in today’s study: “The desire to excel in everything you do is commendable, and will yield earthly rewards; to excel in love, however, brings spiritual rewards – it ‘strengthens your heart and makes it blameless in holiness.”
I’ll finish with these verses from 1 Peter 1:13-16 (NLT): “So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
We. who are the adopted children of God – must be holy. The way we live our lives, MUST be different to all those who do not know Jesus. This is not a nice option for an elite few within our Christian community – it is God’s demand, directed to everyone who can hear His voice. If, we do not follow His call on our lives, then we are not one His flock, as Peter, writes in 1 Peter 2:10: ” … you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
If you cannot show others the goodness of God, by the way you live your life, then you are still in darkness – as one, who pretends to see the light.
What’s your view?
Tags: love