SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/23/2014 8:09 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A Kingdom
Attitude
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2
Thessalonians 1:5
Message of the
verses: “5 This is a plain
indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of
the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.”
It would be worth our while to compare the Thessalonians
church with churches in modern day America, for many churches in our country
today are consumed by personal happiness, fulfillment, comfort, success, or
prosperity instead of doing what these believers in this early church did and
that is to living out the commandment that our Lord gave in Matthew 6:33 where
He said “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” This is a difficult thing to do in our
culture, but not impossible, for in order to do this we must do as Paul wrote
to the Colossians, and is a part of my memory verses: “Therefore if you have been
raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. Set your mind
on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:1-2).” If we are determined to keep our mind on the
“things above,” then we will be doing as the Lord commanded in Matthew
6:33. As I began to meditate upon these
two verses I came up with a question of what are the “things above,” and am in
the process of looking for a list of things that I am to be seeking. I have prayed and asked the Lord to show me
the answer to this question and I do believe that the Lord will see fit to
answer this, as it is very important to me.
When Paul writes the words “Plain indication” he is
speaking of evidence or of proof, and the proof that He is looking for is that
the Thessalonians are true believers. We
have been over this ground when we looked at 1 Thessalonians and Paul wrote
about the persecution that they were enduring and even in our SD from yesterday
we also looked at this, as Paul stated that he was proud of them for enduring
this persecution. The major job that I
had was to work in a foundry for 35 years and the second half of my time I was
a supervisor and part of my responsibility was to make sure that the metal
(cast iron) was in the proper specification in order to make a good
casting. The process of making good iron
was taking old steel and other cast products and melt them in a cupola where
they reached temperatures of up to 2850 degrees, and in doing this the metal
was separated from the impurities (slag).
Peter writes in “1Pe 1:7 so that the proof of your faith,
being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be
found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.” This is what God was doing to
the Thessalonian believers and it was surely working as they were growing
closer to the Lord through these trials.
In John MacArthur’s commentary on this verse he quotes a man named Leon
Morris who writes:
“The New Testament does not look on suffering in quite
the same way as do most modern people.
To us it is in itself an evil, something to be avoided at all
costs. Now while the New Testament does
not gloss over this aspect of suffering it does not lose sight either of the
fact that in the good providence of God suffering is often the means of working
out God’s eternal purpose. It develops
in the sufferers qualities of character.
It teaches valuable lessons.
Suffering is not thought of as something which may possibly be avoided
by the Christian. For him it is
inevitable. He is ordained to it (1
Thess. 3:3). He must live out his life
and develop his Christian character in a world which is dominated by
non-Christian ideas. His faith is not
some fragile thing, to be kept in a kind of spiritual cotton wool, insulated
from all shocks. It is robust. It is to be manifested in the fires of
trouble, and in the furnace of affliction.
And not only is it to be manifested there, but in part at any rate, it
is to be fashioned in such places. The
very troubles and afflictions which the world heaps on the believer become,
under God, the means of making him what he ought to be. Suffering, when we have come to regard it in
this light, is not to be thought of as evidence that God hs forsake us, but as
evidence that God is with us. Paul can
rejoice that he fills up ‘that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in
my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church (Col. 1:24). Such suffering is a vivid token of the
presence of God. (The first and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, The New
International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989], 197-98).”
Warren Wiersbe writes the following on the subject of
suffering: “No matter how difficult
their present circumstances may have been, the Thessalonians believers had a
secure and glorious future. In fact,
their sufferings were evidence, ‘a manifest token,’ that God was righteous,
working out His great plan for them. We
are prone to think that suffering proves that God does not care, when just the
opposite is true. Furthermore, the way
we act in times of trial proves to others that God is a work (See Phil. 1:28-30
for another example of this principle.)
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: As believers we
are to focus on the things above, knowing that one day the place where we are
doing that focusing will be the place where we will live for eternity. Paul went through many difficulties for the
cause of Christ as the Lord had told him that he would, but Paul writes that
these things are “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal
weight of glory far beyond all comparison, (2 Cor. 4:17).”
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to have the right attitude when
being tested by the Lord.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-9.
1Therefore if you have been
raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. 2 Set your
mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who
is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly
body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which
amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because
of these things that the wrath of God has come; 7 and in them you once walked,
when you were living in them. 8 But now
you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech
from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one
another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37.”
Today’s Bible
question: “How many stars did Joseph see
in his dream?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/23/2014 9:28 AM
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