Paul wrote to
the church in Thessalonica with Silvanus and Timothy and greeted them
with “grace and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus
Christ”. He also told them how he gave “thanks to God”
for them, and made “mention of” them in his prayers. In
chapter one and verse three of his letter, Paul remembered the
church's “faith, love, patience and hope” where we read:
Remembering
without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love,
and
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and
our Father;
The
verse begins, “Remembering without ceasing your work of
faith, and labor of love,...” Paul
began with the word, “Remembering”
which means “to be mindful of, call to mind, think of and feel for
a person or thing” “without ceasing” or
“without intermission, incessantly and without omission” “your
work” or “business,
employment, undertaking, enterprise and undertaking” “of
faith” which means “the
conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all
things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
and that Jesus is the Messiah through who we obtain eternal salvation
in the kingdom of God”, “and
labor” or “toils, pains,
troubles and weariness” “of love”
which is the Greek word “agape” and refers to “affection, good
will, benevolence, brotherly love and unmerited favor”. Paul the
apostle noted the persistence of working and laboring in both “faith”
and “love”
within the church of Thessalonica.
The
verse goes on to say, “...and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” Paul went on to
add, “and patience” or “steadfastness, constancy and
endurance” “of hope” which means “confident
expectation” “in our Lord” which is the Greek word
“kyrios” and means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about
which he has power of deciding, and the master and sovereign”
“Jesus” which means “Jehovah is salvation, the Son of God,
Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ” who is
“anointed Messiah and the Son of God” “in the sight”
or “in front of and before” “of God” which refers to
“the Godhead and trinity which is God the Father, Christ and the
Holy Spirit” “and our Father” or “the generator and
originator of all creation and the upholder and ruler of all”. Not
only were the church members of Thessalonica working and laboring in
“faith and love” but they also were “steadfastly and
constantly confident” in their “expectation” of the Lord Jesus.
When
we think through Paul's words, we cannot help but ask if he would
declare the same of us. Do we have a reputation for being “workers
of faith” and “laborers of love”? Would others say we are
“patient and constant” in our “hope in the Lord Jesus
Christ”? Do we demonstrate these characteristics “before
God” our heavenly “Father”? Perhaps one of the
reasons we study these words is to examine our own lives in light of
the Thessalonians, and should we discover any area where we are weak,
let us call upon the Lord Jesus to help us as it is by Him through
the Holy Spirit Paul was inspired to write these words to the
Thessalonian church.
Next
time Paul shares concerning the Thessalonians “election
of God”, so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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