Category Archives: Thessalonians

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I PICK YOU


2 THESSALONIANS 2:13

“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” 

Those are God’s words to us – “I chose you.” Now, I am not going to get in a discussion about predestination. I am just looking at this verse.  God chose you from the beginning for salvation. Don’t you love being picked by someone. I used to love being picked for a team. No one wants to be left out. The good news is (drumroll please) God chooses EVERYONE! His will is that all men be saved.

“Okay then, Carl, why do some people die and spend eternity in hell?” Because they chose THAT. That’s right! Even though God has chosen them for salvation, they turned their back on Him and decided to go their own way. This choice sealed their fate. It wasn’t God who sent them to hell. Nope! He has chosen them for salvation, which they rejected.

APPLICATION

Do you give your kids choices? I hope you do. They need to learn early how to make choices. Nothing is worse than to see an adult who can make a decision. Agreed? So, let your children make choices. But here is the hard part. You need to let them also accept the consequences. Every choice has a consequence. Some are good, and some are bad.

If you rescue your children from every consequence, they will never learn the power of choice. And you must teach them that. Remember that you are preparing them for eternity. While most of their choices aren’t eternal ones, they are learning from each one they make. They will never make a more important one than accepting God’s free gift of salvation.

I pray you know Him personally. I pray you have accepted His choice of you. If you haven’t, do that today. Don’t make the other choice of not accepting His choice of you. He wants you to come to Him. He wants you to spread this news to everyone you know. Do that today.

I accept Your choice of me, Lord. I want to be Yours. I am thankful You chose me from the beginning.

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IT MAY FEEL GOOD, BUT…


2 THESSALONIANS 2:12

“in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

We all like pleasure. For some it’s a day at the beach. For others it is a long run (no, that’s not me). But others take their pleasure in wickedness. I know it may be hard to believe, but there are really people out there who do. I don’t know any personally, but they are all around us.

Sadly, we think they are getting away with their pleasure seeking. We see them hurt others and thrive on it. Today’s verse, however, assures us that one day, they will be judged for these evil motives. They will receive exactly what they deserve for ignoring the truth and going their own way.

APPLICATION

This is exactly why we parents spend so much time teaching our children to choose the truth. We do not want them to go down that road of wickedness. Now, I am not against pleasure. Pleasure is not a bad thing. I take pleasure in serving others. I get pleasure is seeing God’s principles followed by a husband and a father.

Truth is the key. Teach our children to follow the truth of the Gospel. They have to understand that there is no other truth. Any other “truth” is really deceit which will lead them further away from the real truth. Confused yet? I hope not. Take the Word of God each day and share it with your children, always referring to it as the truth. 

Let me ask you a question. What are you pursuing today? Truth or wickedness? If you are pursuing anything other than truth, you will never experience true pleasure. It is only available in its purest form through the truth of God’s Word.  Let it make your life pleasurable as only the Lord can do.

Lord, I want to walk in truth so I can experience pleasure. The pleasure I desire is to please You, not myself. That’s my goal today.

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IF YOU WANT TO BELIEVE THAT

2 THESSALONIANS 2:11

“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,” 

This verse really bothered me at first reading. If you take it out of context, it sounds like God WANTED them to be fooled into believing a lie. Nothing could be further from the truth. We know it is God’s Will that all would be saved. So, how could He also want them to be deceived. Remember, Scripture does not contradict Scripture.

What is happening here is free choice. “For this reason” means since they refused the love of the truth (salvation), God will allow this “deluding influence” to come, which they welcome. God will not force us to believe. We have to decide on our own that He is God and that His Son Jesus died for us. If we want to believe falsehood, He will let us. He has to let us choose.

APPLICATION

This is a hard application to make in our families, especially with our children. We cannot make them believe in God. We cannot make them love Jesus. We have to provide the environment for that to happen, but we can’t force feed faith. Every person who is born, including our own children, has to come to a personal point of faith.

So, how do you influence your child toward faith? By modeling it daily to them. There is no better way to lead your children to Jesus than by being Jesus to them. When they see you trusting and loving, they are drawn to that. When they see you studying and hungry for His Word, they will want that. You can’t force it, but you sure can impact it.

Is there someone in your life to whom you need to spend more time influencing for Christ? Be Jesus to them. Let your attitude and words exemplify the Holy One. Let them see you and see Him. Point them to Jesus every time you are with them.

I want to be the kind of person, Lord, who influences others for Jesus. I want to see my family and friends ALL come to Christ. Place me in the right place at the right time to see Your Will done.

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