“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.… Therefore encourage one another with these words.”  1st Thessalonians 4:13–18 Paul here offers comfort to these believers who had lost loved ones in death and worried whether these loved ones would miss the glorious...  Read More

“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another… But we urge you brothers to do this more and more.“1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 Paul here tells the believers in the Thessalonian church to “love one another“, and then he adds this challenge: “do this more and more.“ The problem is, we don’t love this way often in ...  Read More

“For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not men but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.“ 1 Thessalonians 4: 7 – 8This key section on “abstaining from sexual immorality“ contains a language selection by the Holy Spirit that says this is a “solemn warning“. It appears that for the Christian, sexual immorality is a particular sin that...  Read More

“And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you.“1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 Pastor Paul again finds himself praying for the church in Thessalonica even as he’s writing to them. And notice what he prays for: the factor of “abounding love“ for the believers in that church for one another and for all is the heart of the prayer this ...  Read More

“For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.“1 Thessalonians 3:7-8 We continue to find insights into the lives of pastors in our devotional journey through 2 Thessalonians. This week’s insight relates to finding deep joy in hard times. Paul and his team seemed to frequentl...  Read More

“For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”   1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 This passage alludes to an important principle: “it is a deception of the Devil that Christians should not expect to suffer.”  In actuality, suffering for the faith is a reliable result of living for the faith; the second usually...  Read More