DEVOTION
THE 2ND LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS
PERSEVERING FAITH
2 Thess 1:5-10
5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result
you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.
6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give
relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the
Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from
the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he
comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those
who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to
you.
NIV
We may have to camp out on this portion of Paul’s letter, because of
the volume of content it contains. First, this evidence that God’s judgment is
right Paul is referring to has to be their perseverance and faith in the face
of all the trials and persecution they were experiencing, which is recorded for
us in the book of acts. Nevertheless, it is what will count as being worthy of
the kingdom of God. We may not experience that kind of persecution in our
country at present, but there are many Christians throughout the world who are
being persecuted right now. Still, whether or not we are ever persecuted, it is
faith and perseverance in that faith, continuing to believe no matter our
situation in life is what counts as being worthy of the kingdom of God. Although
men may not be actively trying to harm us, or persecute us, Satan is always
about trying to cause us harm through offering us many temptations in an effort
to lure us away from our faith in God. What appears is one of the most hideous of
temptations, which is so subtle, is that of self-reliance. That can be viewed
in many areas of life. When we seek out and put forth an effort to attain something,
it is being reliant on ourselves rather than on God. This is a fine line we
walk, between trusting God and trusting self. Surely that does not mean we can’t
go to the store and buy a need or even a want. In addition, that does not mean
we cannot go camping, boating, fishing, golfing, or some other pleasurable activity.
All that is just living life and surely we are not turning our back on the Lord
in the pursuit of living life. But we could be tempted in areas that would not
please God. However, what we know is that anyone who does cause us harm, any
type of persecution at all, even that type which is coming from certain
fractions of our government will not escape the wrath of God. He will pay back
all who cause us any form of persecution, while at the same time give us
relief. True, we are not actually suffering in the way the Thessalonians were.
Our life is really good, and we have seen so many blessings from God it would
take a book to record them all. What we know is that we will always give our
Lord the credit for everything we have, all that he does in our lives, and all
that we are. We are certain that without the Lord working in our lives, we
would be in a very dark place and in danger of everlasting darkness. God has
been so good to us, all we can do is praise Him forever and ever. So for now we
continue to trust God for everything in this life and for our everlasting life.
Our faith will persevere.
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