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Is Your Faith Growing? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to another episode
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  on In the Stillness. Thanks for joining me this
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  morning. Today we are starting a new
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  book. We're starting Second
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  Thessalonians, which I'm really excited about because it
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  continues the combo that we've been having throughout First
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  Thessalonians. This second letter, it was
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  written by Paul only a few months after the first one,
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  while he was still in Corinth. But the reason that he wrote
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  this one is really important. Persecution against Christians
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  in Thessalonica had gone up. And because Paul had previously
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  taught about Jesus's return and how hardship would grow before
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  that day, some believers in this church, they started to assume
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  that Jesus's return was happening almost immediately,
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  and instead of producing a faithful urgency, it actually
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  started producing disorder in the church.
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  Some believers became idle and lazy.
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  They stopped engaging in normal responsibilities and daily
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  rhythms because they thought, well, if Jesus is coming at any
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  minute, why even bother? So Paul writes the second letter
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  to correct misconceptions about Christ's return while also
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  encouraging them to stay strong in their faith.
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  So with that, I'm going to go ahead and read through the
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  verses for today. We are going to be in chapter 1,
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  verses one through 4, Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the Church
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  of the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus
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  Christ. Grace and peace to you from God
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  the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and
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  rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more and the
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  love all of you have for one another is increasing.
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  Therefore, among God's churches, we boast about your perseverance
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  and faith in all the persecutions and trials that you
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  were enduring. Now, first of all, what really
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  struck me while studying this passage is the contrast between
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  then and now. Back then, believers were so
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  convinced that Jesus could return immediately that some of
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  them stopped working and they lost structure in their lives.
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  But then Fast forward to today, almost 2000 years later, when
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  even more prophecies have been fulfilled pointing toward
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  Jesus's return. Many people live like we have
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  plenty of time. Now I know this is not all
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  inclusive, this is not everybody in the church, but it almost
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  feels like the opposite swing of the pendulum.
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  The Thessalonians, they lived like Jesus was returning
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  tomorrow, but today a lot of people live like he may never
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  return at all, or that we have so much time.
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  And the truth is, the Christian life, it's meant to live in the
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  tension between those two concepts.
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  We're to live like Christ could return at any moment, while also
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  faithfully persevering until he does so.
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  Whether that's tomorrow or whether that's another 2000
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  years from now, we still have a mission to fulfill.
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  We see in Galatians 69 that we are commanded to not grow weary
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  in doing good, but in due time we will reap a harvest if we
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  don't give up. And last night before bed I
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  prayed and asked the Lord to just open up my Bible to
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  whatever He wanted me to hear, and I ended up opening to the
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  very first chapter of Acts. It makes so much sense why the
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  Lord had me open up to that exact passage last night because
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  it aligned so perfectly to what I was in this morning.
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  Acts chapter 1 verses 7 through 8 says it is not for you to know
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  the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority,
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  but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you,
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  and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
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  Samaria into the ends of the earth.
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  That is the Great Commission and honestly, I love how God does
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  that sometimes, how He'll highlight something in His Word
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  before we even realize why we needed to see it.
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  Like last night to this morning, it is God's timetable, not ours.
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  So getting into the section today, we're looking at the
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  passage titled Thanksgiving and Prayer.
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  And I love this because Paul's life is one of praise unto the
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  Lord. He doesn't just write about
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  rejoicing and praying and giving thanks like we saw in First
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  Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 through 17.
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  He actually lives it out. Paul is not just preaching this.
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  He's modeling it for the church and for us today.
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  What's especially interesting is that this letter is partly
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  written to correct misunderstandings in the church.
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  But even with that intention and purpose, Paul begins with
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  encouragement. He doesn't open the letter by
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  pointing out everything that they're doing wrong.
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  Instead, he first reminds them of what they're doing right.
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  Not a do this better, but good job with this.
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  It's more like you're doing this so well.
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  Let's continue growing in this aspect.
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  And honestly, that's such a helpful model for how we can
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  approach conflict or correction with others or in our own lives.
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  Paula actively looks for ways to affirm believers in their
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  strengths, in their gifts and callings, which led me to ask
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  myself this question while I was studying this passage.
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  What if I became more intentional about pointing out
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  others strengths rather than only noticing their flaws or
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  what they're lacking? Let's ask God to give us eyes to
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  see people the way that He sees them, to show us how to build
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  them up. Because encouraging others
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  actually reflects security in Christ.
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  You see, Paul is so confident in his identity in Jesus that he
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  delights in reminding others of their identity in Christ too.
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  As believers, we are all a part of the same family.
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  He calls us brothers and sisters.
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  We are one team unified in Christ Jesus.
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  Honestly, I originally planned to read through a larger section
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  of today. I wanted to kind of go through
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  more verses, but I felt the Lord slow me down to really sit with
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  a few of the ideas that Paul brings up here.
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  So here are a few heart check questions that I wrote down for
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  myself that y'all can reflect on too.
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  First of all, is your faith growing more?
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  Not just staying stagnant, but actually growing?
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  Do you wake up believing that God still has more to reveal to
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  you, more to teach you, more work to do in you and through
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  your life? Secondly, is your love for
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  others growing more? Paul actually prayed this exact
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  thing earlier in his first letter to the Thessalonians,
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  chapter 3, verse 12. That their love would increase
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  and overflow, that it would abound.
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  And here's the personal question that I had to ask myself.
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  Do I have a greater desire to spend time with God and to love
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  and service people well today than I did a month ago or even a
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  year ago? And if not, it's worth asking
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  why? Are there distractions keeping
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  your faith from growing? Maybe it is a rigid packed
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  schedule, or certain influences or people in your life.
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  Or maybe it is limiting beliefs about what God can actually do
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  in your life, what he desires to do.
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  Another question that really made me pause was this.
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  If Paul came back today and visited your church or saw your
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  life day-to-day, would he be able to boast about your faith
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  and perseverance? Of course, I know that our
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  culture looks different today than it did then, but are we
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  still desperately pursuing the presence of God moving forward?
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  Paul highlights 2 things that sustain believers throughout
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  hardship and trials. The first thing is faith.
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  Faith is our foundation. It comes from believing that God
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  is working all things for our good and for His glory.
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  We see this all throughout Scripture, but specifically
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  Romans 828 that we know in all things God works for the good of
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  those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose.
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  And Psalm 8411 says that no good thing does the Lord withhold
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  from those whose walk is blameless.
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  That truth, our faith, it's our anchor.
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  Secondly, our perseverance. Perseverance is really what
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  faith produces because when you truly believe that God is
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  working, even when you can't see it yet, you keep walking
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  forward. You keep trusting and obeying.
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  You continue showing up. I read something recently in a
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  devo called Waiting on God. It's written by Andrew Murray
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  and it's actually one that I have read pretty much every
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  single night when I can for the past 3 1/2 years.
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  I literally recycle through it because it is just so dense and
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  full of wisdom. And there's one specific day
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  that talks about how patience is a grace that God supplies.
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  It's active on our part, but God is the one who empowers us to
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  endure. Colossians 111 it says being
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  strengthened with all power according to his glorious might,
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  so that you may have great endurance and patience.
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  But before perseverance can happen, we first have to trust
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  God's timing, that his timing is perfect, that it is divine.
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  It is supernatural because it comes from God, even when we
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  don't fully understand it. And it brings so much peace
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  because when things don't go the way that we may expect, whether
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  that is in a loss or disappointment or opposition and
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  conflict in this world, maybe a breakup or losing a loved one,
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  walking through a difficult season, our confidence is not in
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  the circumstance, working out exactly how we hoped.
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  Our confidence is in the fact that God is still working, that
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  His plan is still unfolding, and that He's accomplishing His
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  purposes in and through US, even in seasons that we don't fully
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  understand. In the moment when our hope is
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  rooted there, it allows us to keep going faithfully, no matter
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  the timeline. So I know that that was a lot to
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  unpack even in 4 verses, but let's go ahead and close out in
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  prayer and just ask God to minister to our hearts
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  individually. Heavenly Father, thank you so
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  much for the reminders that you give us so graciously in Your
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  Word. Would you help us to live with
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  both urgency and faithfulness, remembering that only you know
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  the timing of all things? Lord, would you grow our faith?
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  Would you grow our love for others and would you strengthen
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  us with perseverance so that we don't grow weary and doing good
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  and fulfilling the mission that you have given us?
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  Would you teach us to trust your timing above our own?
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  We love you, Jesus, we trust you.
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  We give you today, and I just ask that you be with every
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  listener on this Tuesday or whatever day that they're
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  listening to this, that you administer to their hearts and
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  that they would feel your presence and become more aware
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  of it. We ask this all in your name,
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  Jesus. Amen.
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  OK, well that is today's episode.
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  I hope that you all have a great rest of your day and I will see
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  you all on the next pod.