We ought always to thank God for you brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring ... With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this 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 1:3-4, 11-12
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
It used to be that I wouldn't pay a lot of attention to these prayers in the epistles. The greetings didn't seem to have a lot of meaning to me, so I just ignored them. Well, as I continue to read the scripture, the Holy Spirit continues to bring forth new meanings to verses I'm sure I've read dozens of times.
I remember watching a video with Rich Mullins in it several years ago, and he expressed a sentiment that I found baffling, but now understand. He said something to the effect, "having traveled the world and met Christians in many countries, I've found that different nationalities find different scripture important. And I'm convinced that, if we got all the Christians from the world together, every verse would be underlined as important."
I've had my Bible for a long time, and these verses weren't underlined until today.
As I grow in my faith, I realize how important it is to God how I encourage and pray for other Christians in my life. I do a really crappy job of that, on the whole. My life is extremely busy right now, and I haven't been getting enough sleep for 7 months - but those are just excuses. I've felt pretty convicted lately because a couple in our church recently obtained a divorce - I had guessed they were having marital problems, but I have no clue that those problems were so serious. Because of my busyness with my own life, I failed to recognize the need for, or allow the Spirit to prompt me to encourage and love.
So, in this, this week, I will pray for my Christian friends, that God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith - that you may rest in his eternal encouragement and good hope.
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
It used to be that I wouldn't pay a lot of attention to these prayers in the epistles. The greetings didn't seem to have a lot of meaning to me, so I just ignored them. Well, as I continue to read the scripture, the Holy Spirit continues to bring forth new meanings to verses I'm sure I've read dozens of times.
I remember watching a video with Rich Mullins in it several years ago, and he expressed a sentiment that I found baffling, but now understand. He said something to the effect, "having traveled the world and met Christians in many countries, I've found that different nationalities find different scripture important. And I'm convinced that, if we got all the Christians from the world together, every verse would be underlined as important."
I've had my Bible for a long time, and these verses weren't underlined until today.
As I grow in my faith, I realize how important it is to God how I encourage and pray for other Christians in my life. I do a really crappy job of that, on the whole. My life is extremely busy right now, and I haven't been getting enough sleep for 7 months - but those are just excuses. I've felt pretty convicted lately because a couple in our church recently obtained a divorce - I had guessed they were having marital problems, but I have no clue that those problems were so serious. Because of my busyness with my own life, I failed to recognize the need for, or allow the Spirit to prompt me to encourage and love.
So, in this, this week, I will pray for my Christian friends, that God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith - that you may rest in his eternal encouragement and good hope.
great writing, Becky! I love those verses.
ReplyDeleteNice! Reminds me of Ecclesiastes 4:12: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Through our prayers together, although separate, we are bound together to strengthen one another. Very encouraging!
ReplyDelete