06/26 2 Thessalonians 1:3
3 Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.
FAITH
Faith is the reality of God in Christ worked out in our daily life.
It is what I say and do.
It involves obedience and daily time with Jesus.
It molds me into Christ likeness.
Jesus shapes my life.
06/25 1 Thessalonians 3:12
12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.
MAKE
Lord, you will equip us and guide us.
But we must let you.
You Lord want us to be in relationship with You.
Let us rise early in the morning and begin each day with you.
Keeping our heart and mind focused on you keeps us doing the right thing.
Guide us, Lord.
We cannot survive and grow in Christ without daily fellowship with You.
06/24 1 Timothy 4:11-15
11 Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. 12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. 15 Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.
THEREFORE
Care for one another.
Be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Learn all about Him or at least everything you can.
Work hard training those you are with.
Be and do in Jesus name.
06/23 2 Timothy 2:15
15 Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.
DO
When we love Jesus, we serve others.
When we are growing in Christ, we become the hands and feet of Jesus.
Jesus loves us and we love one another.
06/22 Colossians 3:16
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
JESUS
Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah sent from God our Father.
We study His Word for wisdom and His direction for our life.
His Word is alive, and it deals with us where we are.
Jesus never demands that we do anything but believe in Him.
He will give us the wisdom we need for daily living and
He will equip us to grow in grace and understanding.
The result is that we will become faithful servants,
Serving those we live among.
Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, and
His call to us is to be good servants.
Love one another.
06/21 Acts 17:11
11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
DIFFERENT
THESSALONICA was actively suppressing the Gospel.
They hated Jesus and wanted nothing to do with Him.
Therefore, Paul left and traveled to Berea.
The Bereans gladly heard the Gospel.
They listened to Paul and accepted Jesus.
Not a great distance between cities but an eternity of difference
06/20 2 Peter 1:3
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
NOW
A CHRIST life is a surrendered life.
Without Jesus we are nothing.
Without His mercy and grace each moment, we despair.
There is nothing in us that warrants salvation.
It is the free gift of a loving and perfect Father.
Jesus loves me this I know!
06/19 Ephesians 4:13-16
13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
SMART
I’m smart. I can do quantum physics. But I’m not wise.
I’ve studied the stars, counting their age, wow, smart. But I’m not wise
I can build a house, and know everything about electricity. But I’m not wise.
I don’t know God. The wise and perfect Creator.
He details wisdom in His Word and will give wisdom freely. But I’m not wise.
The wickedness of the world overwhelms me. Death and loneliness track me.
But I’m not wise and cannot deal with life.
Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life. I Christ we find all wisdom and the right way. He is the Creator and sustainer.
Ask Jesus into your heart.
He will guide you each day.
You will grow wise in well doing.
06/18 Colossians 1:9-10
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
LIFE
Life involves prayers for us from our family, church and friends.
It also involves our focus on Jesus for daily living
And life choices.
We grow by reading God’s Word, obedience and service to others.
A servant develops a life of humility and service.
Emulate Jesus, love one another and serve.
People need you and you need people.
06/17 2 Peter 3:18
18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
APPLY
We grow by surrender.
We win by the defeat of our will.
Sin is doing our own thing.
Godliness is doing God’s things.
Follow the Lord.
Grow in Christlikeness.
Your life will be graceful
And you will become wise.
Jesus is the Lord.
