November 30 – Stay Close, Have Peace

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”  2 Thessalonians 3:16 (ESV)

 We all experience times when peace is distant and not resident in our lives. Especially if we focus on conditions of our lives and world during moments of crisis. Who could possibly be more of a true source of peace than the Lord of peace?  Our verse is often used as a benediction in worship services. But we look at it today because it is good any time to remember the promise here.  We may think that we can experience peace by deciding not to worry anymore and we may think then, that we did all by our own  effort.  Our verse reminds us that true peace comes from God.  He is the God of peace and He gives His peace to those who believe and trust Him.  We can know God wants us to have His peace reign in our lives always, at all times, in every way.  In every circumstance of our lives – even today no matter what challenges we are facing or what we are struggling with, God can give us peace that comes directly from Him.  Why? Because He is with us.  Stay close, have peace. This is the promise.

 

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December 10 – Unending Comfort and Hope

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,  comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (ESV)

How about the times in our lives when what we need is encouragement or comfort? Today's verse is about the grace of God through which we are comforted or encouraged.  God knows when his children need to be encouraged. He promises to give it to us. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Father God in heaven have provided for us eternal encouragement to help us live the Christian life. This doesn't mean that God encourages us once and it lasts forever. It means that because He is eternally the source of encouragement and comfort. He is with us all the time. He never leaves us so whenever we need encouragement, God will be with us to give it to us.  When we need comfort He is our unending supply by grace. It is a promise from God that lasts for eternity because God's promises last that long. They never cease and He never exhausts the supply. Let's take encouragement from this promise today.

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December 14 – Where Power Is

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  - 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12  (ESV)

Paul confirms the promise we looked at yesterday. Today's verse calls us to reckon our acts of obedience and goodness as a “work of faith.”  And saying that he declares that it is by God's power we are enabled to do this.  Through our efforts the name of Jesus, is glorified in us when we accomplish it by the power God provides us to do the work.  We have this promise today so that we can know that our obedience gives God pleasure and it is produced by the power of God's grace through faith. This is the same dynamic at work at every stage of our Christian life. The power of God’s grace that saved us through faith is the same power of God’s grace that builds us up in Christ.  We can rejoice that putting ourselves into the good work that we have before us today, will result in God providing the power we need to accomplish the work and glorify our God.  What then will we apply this promise to today?  

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September 25 - Finding Real Encouragement

“ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,  comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17  (NASB)

When we need some sincere encouragement where can we find it?   True encouragement comes from the Lord our God who may use various means and, sometimes certain people to bring it to us.  Someone may be used and sent by God to speak an encouraging word when we need it. We might receive encouragement from our peers, our minister a coworker or counselor or even a therapist.  It is good to remember people, even those really close to us are not perfect in their knowledge and understanding of what we are facing.  The ultimate source of encouragement will be the assurance of God’s faithfulness and concern.  God has given us this promise as written by the Apostle Paul to a group of Christ followers who really were anxious about many things.  Paul affirms that God who has loved us is the source of eternal comfort and good hope.  His word lifts our hearts and gives us strength to continue on the journey.  That is the kind of encouragement we can count on fully for we know that it is eternal. It is always there because God promised and He never changes. 

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April 18 - Always Giving Comfort

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (ESV)

We are serving a God in heaven in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.  We realize that our Lord Jesus and His Father in heaven are both involved in watching over those of us who have put our faith in Jesus as our Savior.  As Jesus declared that He and His Farther are One, we are so happy that they are involved in our living the Christian life.  We are also impressed by the words of our verse today because they remind us that the encouragement our Lord gives us is an eternal encouragement.  Yes, He keeps on encouraging us as we look to Him and He always will.  This promise gives also gives us wonderful hope for the future.  We can depend on the prospects which He reminds us of.  He will always love us and take care of us as our verse tells us.  

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January 10 – Encouragement Comforts and Strengthens

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”   2 Thessalonians 216-17 (NASB)

Our verse today gives us a wonderful and comforting message in the form of a prayer by the Apostle Paul for the believers meeting together in Thessalonica.   It teaches us how our God is involved in our living for Him and so is our Savior Jesus Christ.  We are reminded that God the Father and Jesus are involved by giving eternal comfort.  Another word for this is encouragement.  Do you need encouragement because you are discouraged and challenged by your circumstances?  Part of our Christian life is doing good things which God wants us to do and He has promised to help us.  He brings the comfort and encouragement when we need it and when we need strength, He strengthens us which is also a means of encouraging us in our daily walk with Him.  When we step out to speak a good word or do something worthwhile Jesus encourages us and comforts us by giving us the strength and ability to do it. 

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January 4 - Increasing Faith and Love

“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.”  2 Thessalonians 1:2 (NIV)

These words and promise come from the second letter the Apostle Paul wrote and sent to the believers meeting together in the city of Thessalonica.  We have heard and know that we are saved by faith when we accept Jesus as our Savior who died for us.  We have also been told that we live the Christian life by faith.  According to our verse today we are reminded that our faith can be increasing, becoming stronger and stronger.  Our faith does not have to remain the same as it was when we first came to believe and receive Jesus' gift of eternal life.  So, it is a good thing for us to ask ourselves if our faith is growing more and more.  Let's not be satisfied unless it is.  The challenges and difficult times that come into our lives are opportunities to trust God and our faith will grow.  Our Lord is ready to help us by showing us more and more of His ability to meet our needs.  Let's trust Him for more of our needs today.  Then these words can be applied to us.  That is God's will and we can thank Him for the increase of faith and love for one another.  

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November 30 – Stay Close, Have Peace

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”  2 Thessalonians 3:16 (ESV)

Who could possibly be more of a true source of peace than the Lord of peace?  We look today at a verse often used as a benediction in our worship services because it is the last verse in the letter Paul wrote and sent to the believers in Thessalonica.  But we look at it today because it is good any time to remember the promise here.  We may think that we can experience peace by deciding not to worry any more and we may think then, that we did all by our own  effort.  Our verse reminds us that true peace comes from God.  He is the God of peace and He gives His peace to those who believe and trust Him.  We learn also that God wants us to have His peace always, at all times, in every way.  In every circumstance of our lives – even today no matter what challenges we are facing or what we are struggling with, God can give us peace that comes directly from Him.  Why? Because He is with us.  Stay close, have peace. This is the promise. 

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June 14 – Encouraging Comfort

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17(NASB)

We think of this blog as a means of bringing encouragement or comfort to those who read and follow it. But we recognize that it is not us who brings this comfort. The One who does is God Himself. We are reminded of this in the verses selected for today. Do you notice what kind of comfort our Lord gives?  It is eternal comfort and good hope. Our hope is certain expectation from God who keeps giving comfort and strength day after day and it will never end. That is a promise. There are many ways God comforts us. We may find comfort through something we read in the Bible or when we see God answering our prayers. Perhaps it comes to us from a friend or even in a book or devotional such as this blog. No matter how, we are encouraged to go on living and believing, let's be thankful to God for He is the source of the eternal comfort available to us.  That is encouraging.  

December 10 – Constant Encouragement

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)

How about the times in our lives when what we need is encouragement or comfort. Today's verse is about the grace of God through which we are comforted or encouraged.  God knows when his children need to be encouraged. He promises to give it to us. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Father God in heaven have provided for us eternal encouragement to help us live the Christian life. This doesn't mean that God encourages us once and it lasts forever. It means that because He is eternally the source of encouragement and comfort. He is with us all the time. He never leaves us so whenever we need encouragement, God will be with us to give it to us.  When we need comfort He is our unending supply by grace. It is a promise from God that lasts for eternity because God's promises last that long. They never cease and He never exhausts the supply. Let's take encouragement from this promise today.

August 6 – The Great Courage Giver

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)

This daily blog was first a telephone ministry years ago. Its purpose and hope was to bring encouragement in the lives of  all who heard and now read these daily contributions. We recognized that it must be God Himself who does the encouraging. He is the great courage giver for our Christian lives. His encouragement is eternal. It is for all and for always in every situation. Our God is aware when we are tempted to lose courage and to give up. He knows when the challenges of our lives might cause us to lose hope.  He is always with us, let's keep looking to Him and we'll experience His encouragement.

November 30

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)

There are two or three expressions in this verse which give us encouragement. First of all we are reminded that it is our God who gives peace. God is aware when there are things troubling us and He Himself gives peace. He is the Lord of peace, dispensing peace to those who need it. We read also that our Lord is doing this at all times and in many different ways. Let us not stipulate how the peace should come. He has many ways of bringing peace to us. He knows what is best and perfect and He will do it. 

September 25

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Where can we get real encouragement when we need it? We must realize that it really comes from the Lord. Our God may use various means and, sometimes certain people to bring encouragement to us. Someone may sometimes speak and encouraging word when we need it. But the ultimate source of the encouragement will be the assurance of God’s faithfulness and concern. It lifts our hearts and gives us strength to continue on the journey. That is the kind of encouragement we can fully count on for we know that it is eternal. It is always there because God never changes. 

August 10

“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”  2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)

It is wonderful to know that our God is aware of our needs. I am reminded of what our Lord Jesus said to His disciple, Peter, that last night before the cross. Jesus knew that Peter would be tempted to deny Him. He told Peter that He had already prayed for him. The same is true with us today. He knows how our faith will be tested. And He will strengthen us to endure testing and protect us and bring us through. God has committed Himself to keep us and we can depend on Him.