1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. English Standard Version (ESV)
My wife Jean and I got together with some friends last night. They are among several people that I know and have been praying for who have family members that are in life or death battles with various severe illnesses. They have been friends of ours for years and have been encouragers for us and great friends for our son Jeff. Today's verses from 1 Thessalonians was a reminder of them and their faithfulness and the privilege to pray for them now in their time of need.
I also read the following quote from today's Daily Bread, which is a reminder of how God's hope is at work in our hearts. "From a biblical perspective, hope may be best imaged as a line suspended between past experience of God's reliability and a future that is still open, a line stretched taut between the reliability and the freedom of Israel's God."
As I look back over our lives I can see God's reliability. We may not have seen answers to prayers in the ways that we would have wanted them, but we can see His hand in how things have worked out. It is what gives us hope for the future, hope for our friends and their family members.
My prayers for these families and for you is that your faith would be steadfast, "have convictions of steel" (The Message) that you'd be able to count on God's reliability in the future, to have that hope a taut between the past and a rock solid anchor in Christ in the future. The One who died and overcame the grave for us is the same One who holds our future.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name
Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
In Christ,
Mike
Follow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
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
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10The Message (MSG)
Convictions of Steel
2-5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
5-6 You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
7-10 Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.
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