Tuesday, October 28,
2014, 7:20 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “For Our Nation.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Thessalonians 3 (ESV).
Honored and Delivered
Finally,
brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be
honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and
evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish
you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord
about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the
Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
We all need prayer, and we all need to pray for one another.
I like it that Paul was a man of prayer, and that he talked much about that
subject. It encourages my heart to hear his prayers, too, because they are
specific, heartfelt, and thus meaningful. And, that is how I believe we should
engage in prayer for one another. I think too often our prayers are either
recited (routine or canned), too general, limited to just one or two subjects, or
else they are too surface level.
I have been in attendance in church meetings nearly since
birth (nearly 65 yrs), and so I have sat through many prayer meetings. In some
churches I found the prayer meetings to mainly cover only physical or financial
needs, but to not hit on people’s spiritual needs at all. And, the prayers were
often “God bless so and so,” but never really asked God for anything specific
to be done in people’s lives. So, we need to let down our masks, and we need to
ask our brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for our specific needs.
I would ask the same prayer for myself, and for others who
are sharing the gospel, as what Paul asked for here for himself and for his
fellow workers in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ten years ago
the Lord Jesus told me I was to write down what he teaches me through his word
and that I was to give it to a “runner” so that the runner could “Run With It”
(based off Hab. 2). In time I learned that the “runner” was the internet, and
that I was to do this nearly daily. So, I would ask that you pray that what I
share from my times with the Lord each day will be used for God’s intended
purposes in the lives of those whom he chooses, and for the glory and honor of
God. I would also ask for deliverance from wicked and evil human beings who
oppose the full gospel message of Jesus Christ, for not everyone has faith. As
well, pray that I will be strengthened and protected from the evil one, as well
as pray this for all who are proclaiming the true message of our salvation.
Although I don’t know all of you, you are in my thoughts and in my prayers.
I found great encouragement in reading this passage of
scripture this morning, as it touched on what I am going through personally. I
know that my Lord is faithful, and I know that he will give me strength. This
morning I was talking with him specifically about a situation in my life where
I need his strength, wisdom and grace in knowing how to respond to those who
oppose me. So, when I read this, the Lord Jesus answered my prayer by reminding
me of his faithfulness, and that he will strengthen me and protect me from the
evil one. Amen! And, then he encouraged me further with these words “We have
confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we
command.” As well, I prayed for myself that God will direct my heart into God’s
love and Christ’s perseverance, because some days it is tough to keep going, and/or
to know how to respond or what to say.
Warnings
Now
we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep
away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the
tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to
imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat
anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night
and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do
not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For
even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not
willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in
idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and
encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their
own living.
This is a difficult command for many of us to keep, I
believe, either because the church does not teach or practice this, and thus we
think this does not apply to us, or because we think it would be unkind to do
so, and so we ignore it. Or, perhaps there are some situations which are just unavoidable,
or else maybe we just don’t understand practically how this is supposed to
work. Yet, this is not the only time in the New Testament that this is taught,
so we should not ignore it or avoid it just because it does not make us
comfortable.
So, who is this talking about? I believe this is talking
about those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, but
they don’t practice what they say they believe. They don’t walk according to
the Word of God but still according to their own fleshly wills, desires and
appetites. As well, they are slothful (lazy) and do not work, but must be
trying to live off of others, or else they would starve to death for lack of
food. Or, this could apply to those who have jobs but who lack integrity on the
job, i.e. they are lazy workers. I don’t believe this is saying that both
husband and wife must have paying jobs, as scripture also teaches that wives
should be keepers at home (See: Tit. 2:5). Yet, women should not be slothful at
home, either, but must be busy at home, pure, self-controlled, kind, subject to
and loving their husbands, and reverent in the way they live, teaching what is
good.
If the church does not practice this command here, it may be
impossible to entirely avoid those who profess faith but who walk according to
the flesh, as we are to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Or,
if we are married to someone who professes one thing but lives another, we
cannot avoid our spouse. We cannot entirely stay away from people with whom we
work or with whom we live or who are members of our own family. Yet, we can
limit our participation with them in certain things so as to not give the
impression of our approval. And, certainly we should pray for wisdom and
understanding in each individual situation to know just how we are to respond
or to act so as to make certain we are obeying our Lord in all things, and that
we are living holy lives pleasing to him. I believe, in general, that this
passage teaches that we should not hang out with and/or make our best friends
and social companions those who profess Christ but live just like the world
instead.
Not Weary
As
for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey
what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do
with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him
as a brother.
Now
may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The
Lord be with you all.
Walking in faithful obedience to our Lord can sometimes be
difficult and/or complicated, i.e. sometimes scripture gives us general
commands that do not cover each and every situation, so we need to pray for
wisdom and discernment to know how to apply the scriptures to our specific
circumstances without ignoring, denying, or excusing away these commands.
As well, when evil humans come against us, not only do we
need strength and endurance to keep going, even in the face of much opposition
and persecution, but we need wisdom from above to know how to respond to their
evil attacks. Sometimes the attacks don’t come in forms that are all that black
and white, either. What I mean is that Satan is clever, and he is manipulative,
conniving, deceiving and uses trickery to try to trap us and to trip us up, so
we need wisdom to discern his tricks so that we don’t fall prey to them.
When the opposing force is straight forward and obvious, we
can more easily fight off the lies with the truth. Yet, when it is conniving and
manipulative, this takes much more discernment to know exactly how to respond.
And, so it also takes much more prayer, strength and endurance. Yet, we should
never give up, no matter how hard things get, but we must keep on keeping on
doing what God has called and commanded us to do, believing him to work it all
out for his purposes and for his glory. Amen!
For Our Nation /
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting.
Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in all
ways.
Trust Him with your
life today.
Make Him your Lord and
your Savior.
Turn from your sin.
Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of
your sin;
Cleanse your heart,
made new within.
Men betraying: Our
trust fraying.
On our knees to God
we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us
answers
That are only found in
Him.
God is sovereign over
all things.
Nothing from His mind
escaping.
He has all things
under His command,
And will work all for
good.
Jesus Christ is gently
calling
You to follow Him in
all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re
believing
In our Lord, and
interceding
For our nation and its
people
To obey their God
today.
He is our hope for our
future.
For our wounds He
offers suture.
He is all we need for
this life.
Trust Him with your
life today.
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