Tag Archives: First Epistle to the Thessalonians

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Did You Know; You Have an Appointment With God?

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

This verse clearly says we are not appointed to wrath. WHAT wrath? That sounds so fierce. If God is going to hit me with wrath, I would not get back up. So, what wrath is it?

“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Romans 5:8-9

(**SIDE NOTE: If you get a chance to read all of Romans 5, do. WOW oh WOW what an amazing chapter!)

If any of you have seen the Left Behind movies, you understand a little of “the wrath that is to come.” Revelations is written for that administration. We see however, in this verse and many others, that we are saved from that wrath the day Jesus Christ returns.

Imagine, having all the light and savour of God’s knowledge extracted from the world. At first, the residual blessing will still be there, but after a while– with no one to pray and intercede on God’s behalf or on behalf of his saints– the devil will wreak havoc on this world. This will be the devil’s last chance for revenge on a race of beings that God promoted above him. There will be disease, earthquakes fires and problems with the economy. Yeah. I’m glad I won’t have to see it.

What’s your appointment with God then?

If we’re not appointed to wrath, and Thessalonians is written to believers, then we must be appointed to blessing…right? :)

Come with me.

“Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath (already) blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world (overthrow of the cosmos), that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us (appointed, he knew in his foreknowledge about us) unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” Ephesians 1:3-5

Isn’t that a juicy morsel!!? WOW! God already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. He chose us before the overthrow of the cosmos! He appointed us to the adoption of Jesus Christ to himself and all because He wanted a family! WOW! Isn’t that awesome! When God does something, he goes ALL THE WAY! Take a second and look around you. Isn’t the micro universe of your own body enough to make you sigh in wonder at His greatness? He created your body with a hormone, that knows when you’re looking in a loved ones’ eyes, and then it releases to cause trust, intimacy, and love? How much less wonderful is the mechanical process of creating the gravitational pull of the universe! This is a BIG GOD! He’s big enough to take care of the smallest details and he appointed us. Whoa…that’s heavy.

So what do we do with all this?

“For we are His workmanship (masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

Wow! What a wonderful assignment from our Father. He made you, saved you, called you, blessed you, and now He would like you to what? Walk in the greatness of that call to blessing, with good works. Not just any good works, His good work. Could it be any simpler? He blesses us with an abundant life and when we have that, we give away out of that which we have. This is what it all comes down to.

“We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

God bless you all today and Happy Easter everyone!

If would like to catch up on the devotion in Thessalonians, click here for the first post and then follow them forward.

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Are You A Slumbering Giant?

A boy walked out onto a field of men. The sounds of battle echoed for miles around them. On one side, the enemy. On the other side, his family.

One man, on the enemy’s side, stood feet above the rest. He was their champion fighter. He raised his massive arms and said, “I defy these puny men and your army this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” The laughter rippled through the crowd behind him as they saw the fear across the field. He continued taunting, degrading and belittling the boy’s family.

The boy was not afraid. His heart churned with anger. “Is God not bigger than these men?” Yet his family trembled in fear. He told them, “Let me at him! I will fight!”

They scoffed; he was too young, too small, and too immature. “If only your stature were the size of your bravery child!”

They now stooped to the enemy’s same devices, belittling him and degrading him! They bought-in to the enemy’s unbelief!

Is unbelief keeping you out of the fight? Do you doubt your skills? Your talents? Your gender? Your background? Your education? God is no respecter of college degrees! God is no respecter of gender or age! He respects believing! What is the worst thing the devil could do?

Steal your belief in a mighty GOD!

“Behold, I [am] the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

Are you ignoring the fight because you don’t believe in your own earthly talents?

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

The boy took five smooth stones and a sling. Did he have a degree from the College of Technology and War? All he had was his belief in God. God had saved him before, this was no different.

Here is our verse for today;

“Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6

 ”How does this verse fit Terri?”

Sleep is the Greek word, “katheudō”  This verb, according to usage means, “an indifference to our salvation.” It would be like someone just going along with whatever comes to them. This is the proverbial Slumbering Giant.

Every language has contrast words. “Watch” in this verse is that contrast word, grēgoreō, which means to watch, give strict attention to, be cautious, active.

Everything God does for us revolves around our blessing, or our protection– or both. Watch dilligently for both blessing and protection.

I’ve been around plenty of slumbering Christians in my day. They hear the Word and it wakes them for a moment, then they roll over and go back to sleep, or they complain about how terrible things are.

“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Ephesians 5:14

Today is our day and to rise up with belief in our MIGHTY GOD, not our own small stature. The same earth rending power that broke open the grave of Jesus Christ, will stand and fight for us today. That same power moves to bless us with the abundance promised in John 10:10b.

God wants the very best for us. But a powerful tool he gave us, was freewill.

Join me today in prayer for our country and for the believers around the world. Today is the day to wake the believing giants around you.

God Bless You!

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