Good morning,
Saul,
the Jewish scholar, grew up in a world defined by fear, pride, hate and
religious bigotry. He just knew that his God wanted nothing to do with
unholy Gentiles and that these followers of the Way (Christians) were
telling all kinds of lies that were confusing lots of good Jewish
people. His solution was to find and kill as many of these Jesus
followers as possible. He was getting a wonderful reputation for his
destructive work when he met Jesus himself on the road to Damascus.
Suddenly he disappeared from public view, spent time alone in the
wilderness being taught by the Good Shepherd himself and then began
getting a new reputation for defending the views of those he used to
hunt. After many more years of training and testing, Saul now known as
Paul, became part of the first missionary team to take the Good News of
the Gospel to dangerous people who needed to be told of God’s love. For
all his efforts, Paul was usually chased out of town, beaten and
mobbed, and only a few new Christians believers were left behind.
The
young hater, Saul, was now the old lover, Paul. When he wrote a letter
to the Thessalonians who were going through really difficult times, he
had some very surprising advice to give them on how to handle themselves
when under great pressure. He encouraged them to follow and focus on
their Savior just like he had done when he was living with them. Paul
had learned the secret of an effective life under pressure and he
wonderfully shared his heart in his prayer for those he had left
behind. He asked the Lord to make their hearts overflow with love for
the people who were hurting them as well as for those who were part of
God’s family, just like he had done when he was there. Paul left them a
living example of what Jesus was like. He focused on his ministry and
not on his pain. Then he also asked the Lord to use these difficult
times to make their hearts strong, blameless, and holy so that when they
stood before God when Jesus came back for the Family of God, they would
be there celebrating with all the other saints who had gone on before
them. Dear Lord, will you do the same for us, we pray.
1 Thessalonians 3:12
And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow
and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a
result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before
God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy
people. Amen.
Roy Wisner
