Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.” – 1 Thessalonians 2:2

The Thessalonian church was planted under difficult and discouraging circumstances. Paul and his friends had been badly treated in Philippi where they’d previously been working. Once they arrived in town it wasn’t long before they were once again run out of town. Yet in a very short period of time, God did a mighty and lasting work. Gospel seeds were planted that thrived long after Paul was sent packing.

This is a reminder of God’s power to work amidst the most discouraging circumstances. Lives can be changed even when we feel like we’ve completely failed and paid the price for our failure. When Paul left town, he assumed the worst, yet God did amazing things! How did God do this? Through the continued boldness of Paul and his friends during their brief stay in town.

After a bad experience in Philippi, Paul could have easily gotten quiet, desiring peace and calm for awhile. But he didn’t and God used that powerfully! When your service to the Lord gets difficult and painful, it’s tempting to become quiet, timid, beaten down, and discouraged. It’s normal to long for a peaceful retreat from your God-given responsibility to make disciples. Resist such temptations! Don’t become discouraged by opposition, rejection, and conflict. Simply be faithful to what God’s called you to do. Be faithful in sharing Jesus. Be faithful in loving people even when they don’t love you back. Be faithful in declaring and living the good news. Let God work through you in ways you may not see or understand.

“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” – 1 Thessalonians 1:9

Never forget that if you’re in Christ, you serve the living and true God! God is LIVING. He’s real, He’s present, He’s faithful, He’s loving. He isn’t distant, abstract, or unconcerned with your life or human affairs. God is alive. The false gods of our culture: fame, wealth, health, sex, entertainment, politics, status, power, and so forth aren’t alive. They can’t help you, they’ll inevitably fail you. Keep your eyes, mind, and heart focused on the living God of the Universe.

God is TRUE. We live in a world where everyone imagines they can make up their own truth. We pretend that if we believe a lie hard enough and repeat it to ourselves and others often enough, it becomes true. There’s no such thing as “my truth” or “your truth”. There’s only truth and God IS truth. All the other authorities and idols you might be tempted to look to will eventually lie to you, but God never will.

Finally, please remember that you SERVE God, not the other way around! Many Western Christians live life as if God were a cosmic ATM: insert prayer request here, receive desired outcome immediately, rate God based on His performance. Our practice of faith can literally turn our relationship with God upside down to our everlasting detriment. God is the sovereign King of the Universe. We aren’t. He is all-wise. We aren’t. He is perfectly good and just. We aren’t. We serve Him and must adjust our expectations and evaluations based on that reality. You know what? That’s actually a good thing!

May the report about you be the same as the report about the Thessalonians. May you serve the living and true God with joy and delight all of your days!

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” – Luke 9:24

The life you live in the flesh will end one day. Either death will find you or Christ will return. Either way, what you’ve known since birth will end and what comes next will be dramatically different. That’s what Jesus warns us of in this verse. Whatever measures we take on our own to extend, preserve, or cling to this mortal life will ultimately fail us. We we’ll eventually die. If we hold back from committing our life to serve and follow Christ, we’ll eventually die. If we hold back from really living out of fear, we’ll eventually die. Death is inevitable unless Christ returns first.

However, when we yield our life to Jesus, trusting Him as Lord and following Him no matter the risk, cost, sacrifice, or suffering then we gain eternal life. Though death will find us, it’s no longer an enemy nor is it to be feared. For the follower of Jesus, death is simply the gateway to an eternity (that’s WAY longer than 70-100 years) spent with Christ. In that life, there will be no suffering, sorrow, sickness, or death.

More than that, when we devote our life to Christ, living for Him during this brief mortal life, then we truly live. By yielding our life to Jesus, our life takes on tremendous Kingdom purpose, significance, meaning, and joy. We live in union with Jesus Christ! By yielding our life to Jesus, we live a life of love for God and neighbor while walking the road toward death. In Christ, we live by faith in the Son of God Who loves us and gave Himself for us. If you haven’t already, save your life by losing it to Christ!

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” – Colossians 4:6

Given how short most people fall of this standard, it’s worth observing that in the original language, this is a command. Christians are COMMANDED to speak in a way that is always gracious. So, how ‘bout it? Is your speech always giving undeserved favor to those listening? Are you always kinder, gentler, and more forgiving in speech than your audience deserves? That’s fundamentally what it means to be gracious in speech and we need to take that very seriously!

Is your speech intentional, interesting (flavorful – like it’s seasoned with salt), preserving and encouraging those who hear it (as salt did in those days), and worthy of offering to God (offerings included salt)? For most of us, the answer is probably a version of no. In Matthew 12, Jesus said we will give an account for every idle word we speak. As followers of Jesus (who definitely knew how to answer each person), we must endeavor to upgrade our speaking every minute of every day!

Christians don’t need to be quick to answer everything that’s ever said or asked of us. In Christ, we can be patient and wise in how we speak. We can speak words of life rather than death, words that glorify God rather than dishonor Him even as we think we’re defending Him. This dying world doesn’t need our angry speech, proud speech, defensive speech, evasive speech, entitled speech, whiny speech, or pointless speech. However, it desperately needs our gracious, God-glorifying speech. Speak wisely and well!

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” – Colossians 3:16

What words dwell richly in you? The words of your favorite news channel? The words of social media? The words of politicians? The words of TV hosts? The words of writers and columnists? The words of singers, actors, or those famous for being famous? Or the word of Christ?

Your answer matters!!! The words we take in through our ears and eyes powerfully shape our thoughts and emotions. It’s almost impossible to overstate the power words have over our lives. Far too many followers of Jesus are more shaped by the words of present-day people than by the timeless words of the Son of God! Don’t be among them!!!

Fill yourself with Christ’s Word. FILL YOURSELF! Read the Bible every day (not just a devotional based on a single verse). Think carefully about what you’ve read. Ask questions of it and seek answers from RELIABLE sources. Pray through what you’ve read. Memorize Scripture. Let Christ’s Word re-shape your heart, mind, and soul.

However, there’s far more to this command than just your private intake of Christ’s Word. Let your conversation with others be filled with the truth, power, and wisdom of Christ’s Word. Fill your discussions with other believers and your advice to them with biblical content, not the latest pop-psychology ramblings or social media happenings. Christians must live in community with other Christians and the flavor of that community should be shaped by the words, songs, hymns, and psalms of Christ. Can you even begin to imagine how wonderfully different your church community would be if you (and others) lived by this command?