Life Lessons From 2 Thessalonians
What valuable exhortations a tiny book can hold!
Notes about Persecution
We might come to believe that the only kind of persecution is when a believer is physically tortured or shunned from society for either accepting Christ or for preaching the Good News and salvation through the Cross of Christ(like in some non-Christian countries). There is another kind of persecution that believers face even when they are not witnessing.
When we suffer hardships from someone, an injustice maybe or being in a situation where we are heart-broken by situations and people on account of our faith in God also amounts to us being persecuted. It may not be physical pain, but it might be heart wrenching and causing you to cry out to God.
To give a small everyday example, when somebody does something that angers you really badly, and when you choose to let it go and you choose to not have an outburst of anger, but you continue to remain in peace and happy instead, that is a hardship. It is like persecution for the heart and mind. The Holy Spirit enables us to overcome with greater and greater strength as He renews our mind. But the process is grueling and offers us tough lessons.
Even amidst persecution these Two Things Need to Happen —
1. Faith must flourish
2. Love must grow
These are important and should be remembered. There must be an endurance and faithfulness even while undergoing hardship.
Persecution does two things —
1. God shows His justice (He Himself pays back those who persecute)
2. God makes us worthy of His Kingdom through suffering
When we are suffering, God provides rest for us.
Why the “Way You Live” is Supremely Important!
The Name of Our Lord Jesus is honored by the Way We Live.
And so, we must Pray For These Two Things —
1. For God to enable us to live a life worthy of His Call
2. For God to give us the power to accomplish all the good things that our faith prompts us to do.
On the 4 ‘S’ — Salvation, Standing Firm, Strong Grip, Strengthening
Salvation:
Comes through these two things:-
1. Holy Spirit who makes us holy
2. Through our belief in the Truth
Standing Firm:
Persecution, Sin, The World, The powers of darkness and what not — are all wanting and working for you to “Fall”.
And so, if there is one thing that we need to do in our minds and our actions is to Not Fall away from, the Truth, from our first Love, from our faith in God and in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit, and from Hope in a future and in attaining Christ-likeness, and from the Word of God and from Prayer.
Strong Grip:
On What God through His Holy Spirit is Teaching You!
Read, Read, Read. Meditate, Meditate, Meditate. Take notes. Analyse. Memorize. Think about it. Discuss it. Share it. Teach it.
Allow for God’s word become a part of the fabric that is you. Let it become so ingrained that it becomes inseparable and natural to your being. God will do this, because He has promised that He will put His words on our hearts and even that He will give us a desire for His word and strength to fulfill it.
Strengthening:
Pray to the Holy Spirit based on God’s word to achieve the Strength that you need to go through persecution, suffering, hardship, sickness, depression, hopelessness, falling away, lukewarmness, lack of faith, temptation, weakness of character and the likes.
The strength and comfort that God provides is going to help you to go through the difficult times which are bound to happen and are needed for our own spiritual growth.
What we really require the most today
Paul prays that the believers receive these three things. I believe they are what I and every believer needs most today —
1. Full Understanding
2. Full Expression of The Love of God
3. Patient Endurance that Comes from Christ
Dear friends, pray earnestly to receive these in your lives.
Some Final Notes
- Don’t lead an idle life
- Don’t meddle in other people’s business
- Never get tired of doing good
- Don’t think of (spiritually)weaker people as enemies, but warn them as brothers/sisters of what they are doing wrong
- Settle down and work to earn your own living
- Pray that you may be At Peace in Every Situation
