1 Thess. 3, 4

To be a Christian does not mean that all sexual temptation ceases. What does the believer do? They employ Holy Ghost assisted self control. God is not willing that any perish (or be overwhelmed with temptation.) He does WITH the temptation make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it. [1 Cor. 10:13] So we bear it, we kill it, we mortify any evil desire lurking within us.

Evil desires become stronger when we feed them … watching or thinking upon morally impure material … but the Holy Spirit within us becomes more dominant when we feed our inner man with God’s Word and fellowship with God through prayer and praise.

Blessed is the man (or woman) who HEARS ME, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors. [Proverbs 8:34]

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk (in moral purity) and NOT FAINT (yielding to sexually sinful thoughts or actions.) [Isaiah 40:31]

1 Thess. 2

my father is 97 years old and really wants to go to heaven. He has Covid so he is enduring a sore throat and other Covid annoyances. I flew up the other day to help my brother and two sisters to care for dad. When the apostle Paul says his care for the church springs up from love, I know what that means. It’s much easier to care for people when you love them.

You may be required to care for someone that is not a close relative. Ask the Lord to give you a love deep in your heart for them. While we were yet sinners God so loved us that he gave his son to die for us. That’s the ultimate of care.

1 Thessalonians 1

Prayer is not always a one-and-done act. In fact, it rarely is for the mature Christian. God hears it all and can respond to any cry from our heart. But, he desires a continual communication from us.

it’s like this … you want your children to make their beds in the morning. Once is not enough. You want it to be a daily habit. God wants our prayer to be a daily habit.

The longer I search the scriptures, the more I see this. Persistence is a BIG KEY to effective prayer.

The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes MUCH. [James 5:16b]

Col. 4

Salt added to food gives flavor. Without it, food can be bland and tasteless. Too much salt actually makes it almost unbearable.

In common English, how can we describe this element if applied to our communication with other humans? How do we craft our words to add flavor?

Firstly, we speak truthfully so that our words don’t decay and become lies when found out. Our speech is preserved and worth hearing. Our speech provides insight and clarity to the hearer. We use wisdom and share words that are well thought out to create interest. People want more conversation with us rather than to avoid us.

To me, integrating God’s Word and Kingdom truths in our speech adds the flavor that will most accurately fulfill Paul’s challenge to the early Christians.

Personal note: The high school principal at Trinity Christian does this. Mrs. Kim Jones always includes a Godly element in her communication whether its a reference to a verse or a mention of the Lord’s name.

Col. 3

The Bible instructs us to be MURDERERS. Can you believe it?

Let’s look more closely at our target … whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed – which is idolatry, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips, and lying. There you have it.

For one thing, we can starve them. Every time we entertain them in our thought life, we are feeding them. The more we feed them, the stronger they grow. So, tear down any evil thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. [2 Cor. 10:5] Also, you can thrust it through with the sword of the Spirit. [Matt. 4:7] And you can displace it with the Holy Ghost! [Eph. 5:18]

We must love God more than these works of our flesh. If we let our carnal, worldly nature rule us, we will sadly murder the life of God in us. We can’t serve God and mammon. [Matt. 6:24]

Col. 2

What a gritty word! We like everything handed to us on a silver platter, but the Apostle implies that there is a struggle involved in those things worth having. He uses this aggressive term to describe the spiritual energy he expends to see this church come to maturity.

This word does not refer to physical conflict. The weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal. He implies the effort required of his prayer and determination to parent the spiritual growth of this young church.

Reflectively decide what spiritual goals you have for those you love. Then, begin contending in prayer and planning for their success. Put your focus on things ABOVE, not on the things we see below.

Colossians 1

The hope chest is a box made out of natural preservative wood in which a young woman lays up home-making items to prepare for marriage. God is doing something similar for each of us. In Heaven, He is making preparation for our eternal life with Him.

• He’s making us a mansion. [Jn. 14:2]
• He’s preparing a great wedding feast for us. [Rev. 19:9, 17]
• Heretofore unknown pleasures and things prepared for an abundant, eternal life. [1 Cor. 2:9; Ps. 16:11]
• We will be given an imperishable, glorified body. [1 Cor. 15:52]
• We will be given a new name. [Rev. 2:17; Rev. 3:12]

Wow! We have a lot to look forward to!

Phil 4

Now how many sermons have you heard on “Gentleness?” ________. That’s what I thought. None!

Paul encouraged the church at Philippi to “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” [NIV] Actually, you will find the original language word translated as the following: modesty; reasonableness; considerate of others; kindness; piety; forbearance; unselfishness. That’s one gracious person.

Christ Jesus was the character ideal that God wanted to display. If we met Him today, He would embody all of those characteristics. Of course it’s very easy to be this way around our Christian friends, but God wants us to treat the world like this. We are the opposite of pushy. We should come across as a fragrant wisp of love and kindness. We should be easy and attractive to be around. The world is crying out for this kind of love.

Phil. 3

The Christian can appropriate HIS pain and benefit through suffering by relating to Christ. Jesus suffered. We suffer. He was tempted. We are tempted. He was victorious. We, too, are VICTORIOUS.

When we suffer, we can curse God and die, as Job’s wife suggested, OR we can consider Christ who was afflicted for our sake and live. Christ learned obedience through the things He suffered. He proved the meaning of obedience by His suffering, showing us that we too can yield to suffering and thereby glorify God.

God gets little glory when we are complainers. He gets glory when we, like Christ, look ahead to the reward of our suffering. God is NO MAN’S DEBTOR.

Phil. 2

One of the pivotal passages in the entire Bible … Philippians 2! There are life-changing gems in here. One concept that reveals a true Christian (like Jesus) heart is that of looking out for the interests of others above yourself. THIS is so refreshing to be around. My Grandma Harris was like this.

Grandma hardly ever left the house … only to go to church or visit her family. Whenever you came into her presence, she was focused on YOU. She would play Chinese checkers or Old Maid with you. She would have already made a plate of her famous fudge. She never dominated any discussion, but rather wanted to hear you talk. You could tell her ANYTHING and it was secure. She was one of the most impacting people in my life.

Like I said, she hardly ever left the house, but at her funeral there were over 100 cars in the procession caravan going to the grave site. It was the LOVE!!!