Category: Spiritual

2 Thessalonians 1:5-6 K J V

There will come a time on this Christian journey when believers need encouragement. This young Thessalonian church suffered many persecutions and hardships. So, here in this passage Paul boasted to God’s other churches, offering encouragement for their example and thanking God for their steadfast faith and increasing love for one another. Scripture says that Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins; therefore, as followers of Christ, we will suffer and go through troubles, but we do have the blessed assurance that troubles don’t last always.

On one occasion Paul, who suffered much persecution, put it this way to his young minister, Timothy, telling him to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:3). This gave encouragement to the Thessalonians and believers today to keep holding on. Paul declared that in suffering “Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer” (v.5): “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you” (v.6). 

God is our creator; therefore, He is all-knowing and just in all His doings. When His children suffer and hold on steadfastly to their faith, their suffering is never in vain. His people trust Him, to strengthen them in the time of trouble. The suffering they endure for God’s kingdom is an evident token of His righteous judgment, and God counts them worthy of His kingdom. Like the Thessalonians, believers today have the assurance that God is just will make things right for his own elect.

Lift your voice and give God glory!

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4

As believers, our living should show others that we trust God to carry us through every situation. In v.3 Paul and his coworkers, Silas and Timothy, told the Thessalonian believers they were duty-bound to thank God always for them, as it is right. There are two reasons stated in v.3, expressing why they are always thankful for these Thessalonian believers. The first reason is that their faith has grown more and more; “But without faith it is impossible to please God…” (Heb.11:6a AMP). The second reason given to thank God always for them is that their love they have for one another is continually increasing. Jesus taught His disciples that they must love one another as He has loved them because their love for one another will show the world they are His disciples (John 13:34-35, paraphrased). 

Paul continued lifting up the Thessalonians, saying, “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure” (v.4). There will be times on this journey when children of God experience hard times. Paul praised the church of Thessalonica among God’s churches because they had patience and faith to endure persecutions and tribulations. These attributes, like love, are necessary in the lives of believers; they are fruit of the Spirit and needed to help believers grow spiritually in order to go through trying times. 

Today, be an example of endurance in the midst of tough times. Put your trust in God; He may not come when you want Him, but He’s always on time. 

Lift your voice and give God glory!

Isaiah 1:6 NKJV

When God’s people alienate themselves from Him, their lives spiral downward spiritually and morally. Their affection is no longer on Him despite the blessings He bestowed on them. Their alienation puts them outside the ark of God’s safety, which leads to death. Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23a).

In v.5 Isaiah stated that Judah’s “whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” Here in v.6 the prophet’s message from God further highlighted Judah’s unhealthy physical and spiritual condition. He said, “From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it,But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment” (v.6).

Because Judah lacked trust in God and continued rebelling against Him, they were totally broken “from the sole of the foot even to the head.” The prophet said that there is no soundness in Judah; the entire nation is ladened with iniquity. They suffered injuries and putrefying sores – fresh or open wounds that cannot be healed or dried up. Rejection of God is rejection of His healing. A sore left untended will become infected, spread throughout the body, and cause serious medical issues. When we sin and ignore our actions, the hurts and wounds from life’s issues will infect and decay every aspect of our lives. Yet, because of God’s love and mercy, He patiently waits for our condition to bring us to repentance that we might return to His soothing ointment of healing. 

Today, lift your voice and shout, “Glory!” 

Isaiah 1:5

Isaiah continued the revelation he received from God. Because the people of Israel were so morally corrupt and rebellious, God put a rhetorical question to them: “Why should you be stricken again” (v.5a)? In the Bible the word stricken has several meanings here, such as to smite, to beat, or to strike down. God questioned them as if to bring to their remembrance how He had blessed them. Their sinful actions didn’t make Him happy. However, because of God’s steadfast love for man, He was compassionate and patient; He waited for Judah just as He does us today to repent, desiring that all men be saved. 

The question God asked was, because in light of punishment, Judah’s rebellion continued. He told them, “You will revolt more and more” (v.5b). Perhaps He was telling them they will become more stubborn and persistent in disobedience, refusing to accept correction. He said, “The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints” (v.5c). The prophet Jeremiah said, “Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent” (Jer. 5:3 NIV).

Judah’s persistent rebellion alienated them from God and resulted in His case against them. Today, will you purposefully maintain a faithful relationship of love and obedience to God? 

Lift your voice and shout, “Glory!”

Isaiah 1:1-4

In chapter 1 Isaiah the prophet received a revelation from God concerning Judah and Jerusalem. The prophetic message he received was God’s case of judgment against them. The Lord spoke, commanding heaven and earth to be witnesses to His Divine action against Judah and Jerusalem: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me” (v.2). “The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s feed trough; But Israel does not know, My people do not understand” (v.3). The word from God here was an illustration that animals knew their owner and who provided for them. But His chosen people don’t know their Master and rebelled against Him. They do not understand His authority and expectation of loyalty for the One who chose them to be His spiritual children.  Isaiah gave God’s description of these disobedient Israelites: “Alas, sinful nation, A people weighed down with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward” (1:4). God miraculously delivered them out of bondage from their oppression in Egypt. Yet they became a disobedient “brood of evildoers,” whose sins were epidemic and led them to abandon God. Their sins grieved Him just as ours do today. However, God’s love is persistent for the crown jewel of His creation. He is a “God full of compassion, and gracious,Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth” (Ps. 86:15).

Today, lift your voice and give Him praise.