Verse of the Day 8/13

 

2 Thessalonians 1:11To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Paul's desire for the church here was for his listeners and his readers to be able to "fulfill every resolve" for good, and every work of faith.  It was in the realization that it was dependent on God to accomplish the work in the power of His Spirit.  As we read yesterday from Zechariah, it is not by might or by power but  by "His Spirit" at work.  Our part of the equation is the resolve, the desire to do what God calls, what He wants us to do.

 

We may not know  exactly what we are called to do, we may be uncertain of ourselves, not have confidence in ourselves.  But what is important is our next step, our resolve in the present and into the next five minutes.  John Piper writes, "When Paul says that God fulfills our good resolves by his power through our faith, he means that we defeat sin and we do righteousness by being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Christ in the next five minutes, five months, five decades, and into eternity."

Reading these words reminded me of the Steven Curtis Chapman song "The Next Five Minutes", I'll share a few lines:

 

I can reminisce about the already
I can worry and fret about the not yet;
But when it all comes down I know it really,
Really all comes down to the right now
So right now

I'm living the next 5 minutes
Like these are my last 5 minutes,
'Cause I know the next 5 minutes
May be all I have
And after the next 5 minutes
Turn into the last 5 minutes,
I'm taking the next 5 minutes
And starting all over again

 

 

We  don't need to reminisce about the already or fret about the not yet.  Let's resolve for the right now, for the next five minutes to follow God and may we continue for five months, five decades and into eternity.  That is a prayer for you, "that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something." (The Message)

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12The Message (MSG)

^11-12 Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he's called you to be, pray that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.