2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”

FIRST JOBS

My dad taught me the value of work. I began working young. My brother and I had a lawn mowing business. My dad built a small little trailer that we pulled behind our Cub Cadet lawnmower. We would put our push mower and gas can in that trailer and off we would go. Of course, my big brother got to drive the Cub Cadet. I would follow along on my bike. Later I worked with my cousin or uncle in the tobacco fields of South Georgia working all day (daylight to dusk) harvesting the fields. I think I made $10 a day to begin. And then later when I got old enough (14 or so) I got my first job at a business, washing cars and changing oil at a gas station.

Those jobs taught me the value of hard work, and I earned enough money to buy my first car with cash. Now all we hear is how we need to raise the minimum wage, and we see people demanding free stuff from the government. You are probably saying about right now, “Carl, I thought this was a devotional, not a diatribe on the economy.” Lol.  You’re right. But look at the verse again. Paul is telling the Thessalonians that we should all work and not rely on others to provide for us. Read that verse in context and you will get an even clearer picture of his admonition.

TEACHING MOMENT

Teaching your children God’s Word means teaching them all of God’s Word. Your children need to learn the value of work. They need to learn what hard work is. They need to earn their own money so they can appreciate it when they go to the store and see the price of that toy or video game they want so bad. Simply handing over the “dough” to them every time they ask will teach them a very bad habit.

It’s okay for your child to go without sometimes. Now I am NOT saying to not feed them. That is not what Paul is saying either. But I am saying teach them the honor of work. They will appreciate what you do give them much more when they do.

Proverbs 21:15 “The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, But is terror to the workers of iniquity.”

COURTROOM

When I hear the word “justice” I immediately think of a courtroom. It is there that justice in the legal system is supposed to come down. Those who have done no wrong (the righteous) do not fear the outcome. But those who are guilty (the workers of iniquity) are scared to death. At least that is the way it is supposed to work. Sometimes our court system makes a mistake and an innocent person is found guilty or a guilty person is found innocent. This is NOT the case, however, in God’s courtroom.

In God’s courtroom we are all guilty – until we discover the One who can absolve our guilt. Jesus steps in and says, “Yes Judge, they are guilty, but I am taking their punishment. I will be declared guilty in their place.” Wow!

TEACHING MOMENT

Have you “caught” your child in the commission of a crime? You know what I mean. They deliberately lied to you. Or they hit their little sister or brother. Or they stole something from school. There is NO doubt they are guilty. Why not use this opportunity to model Jesus to them. Explain to them that you know they are guilty. Describe to them the discipline they deserve. But instead of dishing out the discipline, forgive them. Better yet, take their discipline for them.

Now, I know what you are thinking. “Carl, my child would love that, and they would expect that every time.” I know that. You can’t do this every time and you can’t do it with every child. But the Holy Spirit will tell you when it is appropriate to use this illustration. What a great way for them to get a glimpse of what the Savior has done and continues to for them.

Everyday I know I deserve to be terrorized by the idea of justice, but because all my guilt has been taken away, I can live in joy knowing that I have been declared righteous. How about you?

2 Thessalonians 2:2 “that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

NOT MY FRIEND

If you are on any Social Media site long enough, you will get a friend request from someone you know that is not really from them. Without their knowledge, their site has been hacked by someone and now these culprits are trying to gain access to all their friends in order to get personal information or just reek havoc. That happened to me last week. I got a friend request from someone I knew was already my friend. So, what did I do? I deleted the friend request. I knew it was not my friend.

Paul was dealing with people who were trying to fool the Thessalonians by saying they were bringing a message from Paul himself. They were trying to confuse these young believers and get them to believe things which Paul would never say or teach.

Who are you listening to? Are you checking out the source of your information? Are you just believing everything you hear from your Pastor or church leaders? Don’t hear me wrong. We must respect those in authority. But we must be diligent to check anything by God’s Word. Don’t fall for that “false friend request.” Don’t just believe something because someone said it. We are all fallible. No one is perfect. Only Christ was able to live a perfect human life.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children need to know how to discern falsehoods. They are going to be bombarded with false messages from the world. The devil will use friends, teachers and others to confuse your child and direct their attention away from the truth. The only way we can protect them from these falsehoods is to ground them in the truth – God’s Word. They must know it so they can recognize what is not of it.

How are you doing with this? Are you spending time with your kids in the Word? Are you memorizing scripture with them? Are you speaking truth into them every day. Be mindful of the false messages they are hearing and quickly correct them. We can’t waste one day to teach them the truth. Be watchful. Be diligent. And trust the Lord to guide.

Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.”

NO SHAME

Why is it in America right now that it seems the more hideous the sin, the more we exalt it? We call people “brave” for stepping out of the closet. We applaud someone’s “right” to blatantly disregard the truth of God’s Word. We fight to “protect” the woman’s choice to kill her child. “Wow Carl, you sure are being harsh today.” I guess this does sound harsh, but in light of the fleeting days until Christ’s return, I feel the urgency to be a voice crying in the wilderness.

All through history we see the downfall of nations was preceded by moral decay. I can’t imagine a nation more morally corrupt than America’s right now. Many of our churches are embracing the LGBT lifestyle as just an alternative to the God ordained marriage between one man and one woman. It seems we are welcoming in, not just whatever someone believes to be true, but we are actually inviting our own destruction.

TEACHING MOMENT

How do we protect our children from this hostile environment? There is only one way. We teach them that there is only ONE truth, and that is God’s Truth. The Word of God is the ONLY source they can rely on each and every day of their life. We must help them to learn Scripture and hide it in their hearts. The day may come when, even in America, the Bible is banned or confiscated. You say, “Come on, Carl. That would never happen.” Well, I am sure our Founding Fathers never imagined an America where we would legally kill our unborn children or openly celebrate a man for becoming a woman.

Will you commit yourself to train your child fully in God’s Word? Will you be a bold witness of the truth, no matter the cost? Will you stand for what God says is right and wrong? Will you confess your own sin of compromise? We must take a stand for something or we will stand for nothing.

I Thessalonians 5:16 “Brethren, pray for us.”

PRAYER LISTS

I have a daily, weekly and monthly prayer list. I pray for family, friends, missionaries and other special requests. I truly count it a privilege to pray for these on my prayer lists. Paul was asking the Thessalonians to pray for him and his ministry partners. They were constantly in danger of death or injury. He knew he needed to be wrapped in prayer.

How about you? Who are you praying for? Do you pray only for your family? Do you pray for your children daily? Do you pray for their friends or future spouse? Make a list and, just like Santa Claus (lol), check it twice.

TEACHING MOMENT

Why not get with your kids and make a list of all the people they want to pray for? Get ready. The list could be long. And then divide that list into bite size groups. Get emails for those people, if possible, and let them know you have prayed for them. I promise they will be blessed by that. And your children will grow up seeing the power of prayer in their lives and in the lives of others.

There is a man in our church who prays for me daily. He started this several years ago when I went through a major health scare. He reminds me just about every Sunday by saying, “Every day!” That always warms my heart. Knowing you are being prayed for encourages you to press on.

If Paul, one of the chief architects of Scripture, wasn’t too proud to ask for prayer, neither should we. Tell others your requests. Let them know your struggles. Ask them to pray for wisdom and discernment for you. Ask them to pray that you will seek God’s will. And when someone asks you to pray for them, do it right then. Let your children see you do that. They will learn that prayer is good anytime and anywhere.

Proverbs 9:8 “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.”

HOW DARE YOU!

As a Children’s Pastor I get to see firsthand how children respond to correction. Some accept it and change their behavior. Others simply ignore you, and finally some question your right to correct them. It is to this third one I want to focus on today.

With today’s verse in mind, as parents, we must reprove those we love, but we must do it in love. I am not saying that every child is a “scoffer.” But direct disobedience is, in a sense, scoffing at authority. I have had children, when corrected, look at me and say, “You’re not my parent!” My first thought (notice I say thought and not reply) is “And I am so glad.” HaHa.

Seriously though, we see way too much of this attitude today, even in our churches. There seems to be more and more direct disrespect for those in authority. Why are our children behaving this way? In many cases, they learn it from us. Ouch, that hurt.

TEACHING MOMENT

How do you teach your children to receive reproof? By being reprovable (Is that a word? If not, I just made it up.) yourself. A scoffer (one who laughs or ignores truth) will not receive correction. They get mad if you even mention their sin. But a wise person accepts correction and makes the necessary confession to the Lord. Are you demonstrating that for your children? Are you teachable? Are you correctable?

My flesh hates correction. I want to do what I want when I want. How dare you point out my waywardness. Who do you think you are? But the Spirit of the Lord in me convicts me and makes me absolutely miserable until I make things right with the Lord and others. Correction can be embarrassing, true. But not receiving correction is outright dangerous.

Will you be the one to bow before all the authorities that the Lord has placed over you? Little ones are watching to see how you respond. Be the example of obedience they need.

I Thessalonians 3:12 “and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;”

WISHING

Can I get a little technical with you? You need to see this. The two verbs, “increase” and “abound” are in the optative mood. What that does is express a wish. Paul is making a wish, not that the Lord would give you His love, but that you would increase and abound in love. Paul knew that the Lord would give you all the love you need to share with others. There’s an unlimited supply. You just have to let the Lord fill you with it.

Have your kids ever made a wish for something? Sure they have. Every birthday they make a wish before they blow out the candles, right? They make a wish list for Christmas. As their parent you pretty much know what they are going to wish for, don’t you? And most of the time you already have that wish item waiting for them, don’t you? Now if you are able to “foresee” your child’s wish, don’t you think the Lord knows what you need BEFORE you even know it?

TEACHING MOMENT

Use this verse today to show your kids how the Lord wants to give them what they need to love others. All they have to do is ask. Tell them that you may not be able to always give them everything they ask for, but the Lord will always bless them with the love they need. Then they can share His love for others.

Who do you need to love today? Guess what? You can’t do it! But the Lord can through you. He can cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all the people. Will you let Him? Will you reach out to that unlovable person in your life? Will you let Him love them through you? He wants to use you to love them.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

GPS

Maps are pretty much a thing of the past. With today’s GPS systems we can travel just about anywhere we want with our smartphone’s map app. Just type in the address and whamo, the address pops up and gives you the best route to take. Even if you miss a turn it reroutes you and gets you back on track.

God’s GPS for us, of course, is His Word. Not only does He know the best route, but He also knows the safest and most rewarding route. He may take us through some dark valleys and some perilous turns, but He will always be with us. We never lose satellite connection, unlike our earthly GPS. Now, we may choose to take another route, and He will let us, but He is always there when we realize we have gotten ourselves on a dead end street.

TEACHING MOMENT

The next time you are taking a road trip and you put the address of your destination into your map app, how about taking that opportunity to talk to your children about your eternal destination? Make a game of it. Talk about the things you see on the trip and how that might compare to your spiritual journey. You know, yield signs can mean waiting on others to join you on the journey. Stop lights could mean waiting on God to give you the “go sign” to proceed with a decision. A sharp curve could mean following the Lord around an obstacle that Satan has placed in your path. You get the picture.

The main thing is to let your kids know that no matter where they go, God is always a prayer away. We can always punch in the address to heaven, and He will take us right where we are and direct us to Him. When you arrive at your trip’s destination, whether it is a short or long trip, and you feel the excitement of getting there, compare that to reaching your eternal destination. It is one from which we never have to leave. We will live with Him forever and enjoy the inheritance of the saints.

Hey, I’m ready now! Are you?

I Thessalonians 2:7-8 “7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”

GENTLE

There is a word in these two verses that is translated differently here than any other place in the New Testament. “Gentle” is translated elsewhere as babes, infants or childish. What is Paul trying to say here and why did the translators use “gentle” here? Paul is simply saying he came to the Thessalonians not in boldness and harshness, but like a baby or infant would present themselves, tender and gentle. Then he goes on to compare that word to how a mother cares for a child she is nursing. What a beautiful picture.

So how are you approaching people? My brother-in-law and Pastor understood this. He always approached others in this fashion. That’s why EVERYONE believed he was their best friend. They all felt accepted and loved by him. He was always so kind and giving of his time. Just like a nursing mother cannot rush the feeding of her child, Wayne would take the time, even when he didn’t have it, to talk with someone who asked. And he did give his whole life to the preaching of the Gospel.

TEACHING MOMENT

How in the world do we teach our children this principle? There is only one way, which we seem to see a lot. We have to model it for them. If we aren’t patient and gentle with them, they will not be with others. As they see us live out this principle, they will learn how to emulate it also. It will become part of their DNA too.

The next time you start to get aggravated with someone, stop and apply this principle. You are doing it, not only because the Lord tells you to, but also because the next generation is watching. They will take mental notes. And the next time they encounter someone who needs to be treated gently they will have the image of you doing the same. Now that’s leaving a legacy!

Psalms 150 “1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. 2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. 3 Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. 4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. 5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!”

REAL PRAISE

I remember singing the hymn “Praise Him, Praise Him” when I was growing up at First Baptist Church of Pelham, GA. The lyrics read, “Praise Him, Praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer.” Have you praised Him lately? I don’t mean just raising your hand(s) in church while singing a chorus. I mean really praise Him. Read through the verses above again and stop and meditate on each verse. Then praise Him for His work in your life right now.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our kids need to be taught how and why we praise Him. It’s not just about emotion in a service. It’s not just getting “our praise on,” as some people say. Praise is about recognizing Who God is and why He is worthy of it. Our kids can praise Him standing or sitting. They can praise Him singing or praying. They can praise him with voice or instrument. There is no limit to how we can praise Him.

Have you ever had a praise service in your home with your children? Why not set aside a night this week to do that? Get your family in a room and talk about some ways you can praise Him together as a family. I promise you that your children will come up with some creative ways. Let them. Any thing that is directed toward the Father in praise will work. The Lord loves the praise of His people. I bet He especially loves the praise of children.

Stop being so “high and mighty” and let your praise begin. Abandon yourself in praise. Even if you are going through a tough time right now, let yourself be enveloped with praise for all He has done, is doing and will continue to do. Praise Him! Praise Him!