WE GRIEVE BUT NOT WITHOUT HOPE The apostle Paul described believers who had died as having “fallen asleep” in Jesus. For them death is like sleep, a transitional state where one closes his eyes in this world and opens them in the next. Having given the Thessalonians this description, Paul encouraged them not to “grieve
FACE TO FACE DISCIPLESHIP The apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the new believers at Thessalonica after hearing Timothy’s report concerning them. He was working in Athens when he felt compelled to send Timothy back to check on them. When Timothy returned to him with his great report of their continued faith in the
WORSHIP IS WAR! The apostle Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for turning from idolatry to the worship of the true and living God. They did this by receiving the message of the Gospel with joy, so that they gladly placed their faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. We think that we are too modern
DO YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME WITH OTHERS? Live with godly wisdom toward those who are outside the faith. Let them see Christ in you. Remember that you were once an “outsider” too, but Christ has brought you near. Season your conversation with grace, asking the Spirit to give you wisdom on how
PUTTING ON GOD’S FORGIVENESS Paul told the believers in Colossae to put off their old ways of thinking and behaving and to put on their new life in Christ. He spoke of these old and new ways as if they were articles of clothing. Among the new articles of spiritual clothing that believers received was
STRUGGLING IN THOUGHT AND PRAYER FOR OTHERS Paul often “struggled” for the believers in towns and cities where he had been before, but had left behind in order to carry the gospel to other places. Colossae was one of these places. Located in the province of Asia Minor (Modern day Turkey), Colossae was the least
SPREADING THE GOSPEL ALL OVER THE WORLD Paul described the “gospel” (“good news”) as being like a plant “bearing fruit and growing” everywhere it went “all over the world.” And what was that fruit? “Changed lives!” In the next verse, Paul identified the one who had actually carried the Good News to Colossae as
TURN YOUR WORRIES INTO PRAYERS What is worry? Isn’t it anxious self-talk? It’s an internal conversation between you and you. Worry circles around your head like a cloud of gnats that you can’t swat away. What is prayer? It’s talking to God. Why not take the same amount of effort that you’re putting into worry
CHRIST, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD Paul told the Philippians that before he trusted Christ, he had worked to earn righteousness through obeying the law. But when he encountered Christ, he saw his attempts at righteousness as worthless in comparison to Christ’s infinite worth. He recognized that his own righteous acts produced by attempting to keep
WE NEED NEW CLOTHES This is the problem with the idea that we can live a good enough life to please God and earn entrance into heaven–– “our righteous acts are like a polluted garment.” We make the mistake of comparing ourselves to those around us and concluding that we are as good as the