Week 10 - God's good grace
1 Thessalonians 1
“Constantly bearing in mind:
your work of faith
and labour of love
and steadfastness of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.”
Work, labour and steadfastness do not refer to a life of ease. Whilst being a Christian is not something I need to strive to achieve, for it is the work of Christ, it is something I should strive to fulfil, now that I have received it in Christ. But even these can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit, as can be seen from the verse below.
“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction…” Oh that this might be my own testimony.
1 Thessalonians 2
“…not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.”
I need to be a God-pleaser and not a people-pleaser.
“So that you would walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into His own Kingdom and glory.” It is surely only by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that we can possibly walk in a worthy manner.
Paul in fact goes on to write about the word of God in us, ‘that performs its work’.
1 Thessalonians 3
“I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labour would be in vain.”
What of my own faith? Have I been tempted? Yes! But the question is, “Have I overcome?” This is my prayer, “That He might establish my heart without blame in holiness…” I know and understand that it is all in Jesus and not to do with me and my works, but nonetheless I would still like to see more evidence of the work of God in my life.
Let’s begin to fulfil the life that God has called us to, not by our own strength but by His, and when temptation comes our way, we can stand steadfast in God’s good grace, knowing that he will see us through our failure and lead us to life full of abundant blessings.