SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/7/2014 8:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Paul’s Requests made for the Thessalonians
PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2
Thessalonians 1:11c
Message of the
verses: “and fulfill every desire
for goodness”
We are looking at the second sub-point from John
MacArthur’s commentary outline on the eleventh and twelfth verses in the first
chapter. This second point from his
outline has three sub-points in it and they are under the second point of
requests that Paul is making for the Thessalonians in his prayer outline found
in verses 11-12. The sub-point we are
looking at this morning is entitled “Fulfillment,” and so we can see it in a
better light so I will quote the eleventh verse now: “To this end also we pray for you always,
that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire
for goodness and the work of faith with power,”
Let us first look at what some of these words mean from
MacArthur’s commentary: “Paul also
prayed that God would fulfill every noble, righteous desire of their
hearts. Pleroo (fulfill) could also be
translated ‘complete,’ or accomplish’; eudokia (desire) could be translated
‘purpose,’ or ‘choice’. Paul asked that
the Lord would bring about all their longings for goodness (cf. Rom. 7:14-25;
15:14; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9). Since God
alone is good (Mark 10:18), Paul knew such a prayer was consistent with God’s
will. His definition of what is good and
good for His people is the inevitable action He takes in answer to this prayer.”
We have talked much about prayer as we been studying
these two letters Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and we can say that a
portion, actually a big portion of prayer is aliening our hearts up with God’s
heart, and as we looked at God being good, which is a part of His attributes we
know that God will only give His people what is good for them even though at
times it may not seem good. David wrote
the following in Psalm 21:2-3 “2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And You
have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For You meet him with the
blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head.” We can now look at Psalm 37:4 to find out why
God gave David what he had asked for: “Delight
yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” David was doing just that, delighting himself
in the Lord and so God answered his prayer from Psalm 21:2-3. Now let us look at a couple of NT verses
which will actually be a contrast, but will make an important point about prayer. Jesus said in John 15:7, and 16 “"If you
abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you. 16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you,
and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would
remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” Along with these two verses we will look at 1
John 5:14-15 “14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He
hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have
asked from Him.” Now let’s compare the
verses we have quoted with James 4:3 in order to see the difference in what we
should ask God in prayer and what motives we should have: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask
with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James would surely understand the popular
“health and wealth” gospel that is being taught in our world today, especially
on our TV’s.
There are some who would say that God is a cosmic
killjoy, but that is not true at all, for God desires to give us what we need
to make us more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There are times when we go through things we
don’t want to go through, but they are for our own good. When I was a child I did not like going to
school, but most of the time my mother made me go and that was the best thing
she could have done for me. There are
things that I don’t like to face in life today, but God has promised to work
them out for my good and for His glory, and then there are wonderful times in
this life that I truly enjoy like being able to teach a Bible study and see
people either get saved or grow up in the Lord as a result of doing it. John MacArthur closes this section with the
following “Those whose desires are in tune with God’s will can say with Moses
“O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy
and be glad all our days’ (Ps. 90:14).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: My prayer is that
I will align my prayer requests to the Lord with what He desires to accomplish
in my life.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord for a good day of travel as my
wife and I are going on a little vacation in order to see the beauty of God’s
creation with the fall colors.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:5-10.
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 will come on the sons of disobedience; 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 have laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and
have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to
the image of the One who created him-
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Acts chapter one.”
Today’s Bible
question: “What did Obadiah do when
Jezebel persecuted the prophets?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/7/2014 9:26 AM
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