13 We never stop thanking God for the way you received his word. You heard it from us. But you didn’t accept it as a human word. You accepted it for what it really is. It is God’s word. It is really at work in you who believe. 14 Brothers and sisters, you became like the members of God’s churches in Judea. They are believers in Christ Jesus, just as you are. Your own people made you suffer. You went through the same things the church members in Judea suffered from the Jews. 15 The Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets also forced us to leave. They do not please God. They are enemies of everyone. 16 They try to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles. These Jews don’t want the Gentiles to be saved. In this way, these Jews always increase their sins to the limit. God’s anger has come on them at last.

This passage reminds us of the suffering and persecution that the early believers had to face as followers of Christ. Like Paul, we too can thank God that these believers persevered and formed the church which we now benefit from. What a difference their lives made for the future of the world through the establishment of the church.

We may never know the difference that our lives will make to those who come after us. As we follow God’s word we are paving the way for future generations of believers!

It’s good to step back from day to day life and take a look at the big picture of God’s plan and how we all play a part of it. It helps us not to lose heart and give up. We are part of something great that God is doing through His church!

Thank you, God for the many believers who have gone before us – some paying the ultimate cost with their lives for the sake of the Gospel. Thanks that we have the privilege of partnering with You to bring Your word to the whole world.

Written by Shelley Witt

2 Brothers and sisters, you know that our visit to you produced results. 2 You know what happened earlier in the city of Philippi. We suffered, and people treated us very badly there. But God gave us the boldness to tell you his good news. We preached to you even when people strongly opposed us. 3 The appeal we make is based on truth. It comes from a pure heart. We are not trying to trick you. 4 In fact, it is just the opposite. God has approved us to preach. He has trusted us with the good news. We aren’t trying to please people. We want to please God. He tests our hearts. 5 As you know, we never praised you if we didn’t mean it. We didn’t put on a mask to cover up any sinful desire. God is our witness that this is true. 6 We were not expecting people to praise us. We were not looking for praise from you or anyone else. Yet as Christ’s apostles, we could have used our authority over you. 7 Instead, we were like young children when we were with you. As a mother feeds and cares for her little children, 8 we cared for you. We loved you so much. So we were happy to share with you God’s good news. We were also happy to share our lives with you.

Paul appeals to the Thessalonians making plain that the manner of his appeal and preaching is not manipulative nor from a motive other than true love for them and for God.

Sometimes we baulk, sometimes we duck, sometimes we weave yet we should without fear tell the Gospel and from a clear motive and pure heart!

Pleasing people is one of the biggest traps we can get ourselves into. Time and again I have fallen into this trap – its mouth is wide and it seems almost bottomless!!

Paul makes plain we need to avoid this trap of the enemy.

Are you falling into the trap of people pleasing? Or are you truly loving people? You’ll know by whether you are free to tell the truth to them or not.

Father help us to keep our motives pure!

Written by Ps. Richard Botta

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. Silas and Timothy join me in writing. We are sending this letter to you, the members of the church in Thessalonica. You belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be given to you. 2 We always thank God for all of you. We keep on praying for you. 3 We remember you when we pray to our God and Father. Your work is produced by your faith. Your service is the result of your love. Your strength to continue comes from your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 Brothers and sisters, you are loved by God. We know that he has chosen you. 5 Our good news didn’t come to you only in words. It came with power. It came with the Holy Spirit’s help. He gave us complete faith in what we were preaching. You know how we lived among you for your good. 6 We and the Lord were your examples. You followed us. You welcomed our message even when you were suffering terribly. You welcomed it with the joy the Holy Spirit gives. 7 So you became a model to all the believers in the lands of Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you. That was true not only in Macedonia and Achaia. Your faith in God has also become known everywhere. So we don’t have to say anything about it. 9 The believers themselves report the kind of welcome you gave us. They tell about how you turned away from statues of gods. And you turned to serve the living and true God. 10 They tell about how you are waiting for his Son to come from heaven. God raised him from the dead. He is Jesus. He saves us from God’s anger, and his anger is sure to come.

Do you feel quite ordinary? Not gifted or knowledgeable and does anyone notice your faith? Why are the Thessalonians loved by God?

No-one becomes a chosen one of God against their will.  God chose them, and made the gospel come to them not just with words, but with power, the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. Their faith transformed lives, cultures and destinies.

What does it mean to be loved by God? The world’s perspective of being loved is to have a romantic relationship, being treated special, or having people adore you.  People strive to earn love by changing themselves.

However, I have been loved because the gospel came to me. I don’t have to earn love or be loveable.  God chose me even when I was a sinner.  God allowed the gospel to come to me even though I was not interested in Him.  No matter what the world says, I am loved by God.  I’ve experienced the power of God’s words speaking to me and convicting me of my sins.

I need to continue to battle my false views of what it means to be loved by affirming that God loves me, and that he did whatever it took to allow the gospel to come to me.

As a young girl I didn’t understand the passages I heard, they were just words. Every encounter I had was significant.

People planted, watered, weeded, and tended the seed(s) that led me to ‘receive the word’. As an adult, the gospel message came alive as I heard it preached, and I knew I must get right with God.

Lord, thank you for the power of Your Holy Spirit, that when I encounter obstacles and doubts, I receive Your word with conviction. Thank You for Your understanding and the transforming power of the gospel. Amen.

Written by Cath Croft

6 But those who are taught the word should share all good things with their teacher. 7 Don’t be fooled. You can’t outsmart God. A man gathers a crop from what he plants. 8 Some people plant to please their desires controlled by sin. From these desires they will harvest death. Others plant to please the Holy Spirit. From the Spirit they will harvest eternal life. 9 Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up. 10 So when we can do good to everyone, let us do it. Let’s try even harder to do good to the family of believers.

“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7)

Jesus told a story about a farmer whose enemies sowed tares amongst his wheat (Matt 13:24-43). The seeds look the same. At the right time, the seeds germinate and grow. Then you can easily tell the difference. One will be a fruitful harvest to be gathered and the other will be burned.

In the same way, “good deeds” done to please our sinful nature, such as generosity in the hope of a reward (greed) or kindness in the hope of a good reputation (pride), superficially look like a life motivated by love for God and a desire to please Him. But God wants our hearts.

It can be easy to fall into the wrong motives. I need to actively focus my heart on Him every day.

When a farmer sows seed it looks like he has thrown his valuable seed away, until the right season comes and the seeds grow. It can be very discouraging when the things we have sown into the lives of others don’t seem to bless as we had hoped.

Paul encourages me to sow first to please the Spirit and to be patient as he brings good things from it at the right time. And he encourages me to bless those who bless me (such as teachers) with every good thing: perhaps with material things, but certainly with encouragement and with whatever spiritual gifts God gives me.

Father, how I love you and I long to please you. Please take my attempts at blessings for others and bring them to fruit. And please keep me from slipping into doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

Written by David Cornell