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Who Gets to Define You? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey guys, it's friendsly Happy Wednesday.
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  Welcome back to another episode on the podcast.
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  Today we're finishing out the 1st chapter of First
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  Thessalonians and I really love how Paul wraps up this opening
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  section. It's once again encouraging, but
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  also very identity shaping, which I think is important as we
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  move forward because if you really want to live in your
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  special purpose as a believer, you have to know the why.
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  Why are you set apart? Why are you called, and why are
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  you ultimately to look different?
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  So with that, let's go ahead and read, starting in verse 4.
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  For we know, brothers and sisters, loved by God, that he
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  has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply
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  with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep
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  conviction. You know how we lived among you.
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  For your sake. You became imitators of us and
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  of the Lord. For you welcomed the message in
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  the midst of severe suffering, with the joy given by the Holy
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  Spirit. And so you became a model to all
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  the believers in Macedonia and Achaya.
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  The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and
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  Achaya. Your faith in God has become
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  known everywhere. Therefore, we do not need to say
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  anything about it. For they themselves report what
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  kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turn to God
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  from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his
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  Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues
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  us from the coming wrath. OK, so let's go right into
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  takeaways and reflections. First of all, we see Paul used
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  the word chosen and he says God has chosen you, but he calls us
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  brothers and sisters loved by God.
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  Now that word chosen can bring up a lot of theological debate
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  around a term called election. And I'm not going to dive deep
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  into that today, primarily because it's just very
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  theological. And that is not what I've gone
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  to school for and studied. So I just like to think of this
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  as what makes the most sense to me.
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  We obviously have free will, and anyone can choose to believe in
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  Jesus because God is omniscient. That means he's all knowing.
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  He already knows who will choose him.
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  So that's kind of how I view it. But regardless of where someone
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  lands in that debate theologically, there are some
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  very powerful truths that we can break down right here.
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  First of all, being chosen is rooted in God's heart.
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  It's not in our performance. Therefore, we have a reason to
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  honor Him because He chose us. This identity, it should produce
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  gratitude, not self-sufficiency or self obsession.
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  This leads to reverence, not pride.
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  So as God's chosen people, we get to confess Jesus Christ as
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  Lord, we get to center our lives on glorifying Him, and we get to
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  share the good news. Y'all God's choice.
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  It empowers us to obey and serve Him.
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  But our choice of God, it prompts us to please Him to live
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  lives worthy of Our Calling, as it says in Philippians 127.
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  So I want to ask you guys, if you're a believer, do you live
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  with authority and confidence as someone chosen by God?
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  And think about it, if you are approved by the creator of the
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  world, why do other people's opinions matter so much?
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  I was thinking about this. It's pretty wild to me that we
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  so often let the opinions of others created by the one who
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  approves of us, how we let those opinions shape our identity and
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  value so much. Like we should not even let them
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  have a say in our lives because we live for an audience of 1.
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  Secondly, we're called to share, but it's dependent fully on the
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  Holy Spirit. It says in Scripture that I just
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  read that it's in power and in the Holy Spirit.
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  So yes, we are commissioned to share the gospel.
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  First, Peter 29 says that we are a chosen people in a royal
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  priesthood. Second Corinthians 520 calls us
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  ambassadors for Christ and urges us to tell people to be
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  reconciled to God. But here's something so freeing
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  that we need to remember this spirit is the one who convicts
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  people's hearts, Zechariah, 46, says.
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  Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.
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  So it is not our job to change someone else's heart or their
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  destiny. That's the spirit's role.
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  Our mission is faithfulness. It's to share the truth and we
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  get to pray that this Spirit would provide us with the
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  courage and supply us with the words to say and ultimately to
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  soften the heart of whoever is receiving the truth.
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  But this is not an excuse to not prepare because we still do need
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  to study Scripture. We need to know what we're
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  talking about, know the Word of God, and really know our
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  testimony, how God brought each of us from death to life.
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  We see in First Corinthians 213, it says, and we articulate these
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  realities with the words imparted to us by the Spirit and
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  not with the words taught by human wisdom.
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  So the bottom line is that the Holy Spirit intercedes, He
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  empowers, and He gives the words.
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  And this truth should take pressure off.
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  At least it did for me, because we are vessels and messengers.
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  We're not the Savior. Also, we see Paul remind us
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  through his writing to the Thessalonians how he, Silas, and
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  Timothy lived among them. This is him saying that their
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  actions aligned with their beliefs.
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  And we see that authenticity. It builds his credibility.
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  Romans 12/2 commands us not to conform to the pattern of this
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  world, and they certainly did not.
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  But here's some honest questions that I reflected on and I'm
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  going to bring to y'all. First of all, does your life,
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  does it confirm or contradict your faith?
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  Is there evidence of good fruit or bad fruit?
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  And are you set apart or are you just a part of the crowd?
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  And I know I've said this in other episodes, but it's not
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  just the big moments. It's oftentimes in the ordinary
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  that matters the most. Think about how you treat
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  servers like in a restaurant, how you speak to your own family
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  and your siblings, how you drive on the road.
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  That was one that I was really thinking about.
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  The Lord is still teaching me patience here as a driver, but
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  also like how you interact with your coworkers or your
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  classmates, what you're listening to and watching or
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  even talking about with your friends.
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  Because obedience in the mundane, it does matter.
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  And also we are to expect suffering.
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  It's part of our call. We see that the Thessalonians,
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  they were marked by this, the Jews and Greeks, they were
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  persecuting them for their faith.
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  So we have to go in expecting rejection in a sinful world
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  because the reality is we are on a collision course with earthly
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  values and heavenly values. They do not align.
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  And as believers, we're foreigners here.
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  This world is in no way our home.
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  We often hear home is where the heart is.
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  Well, our hearts, they don't belong to this world, they
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  belong to heaven. So of course, this world is not
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  going to feel comfortable. And also like the ruler of this
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  world, it says in the Bible, the king of the air is the enemy of
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  the one that you belong to. He's the enemy of the Lord.
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  So practically, this might look like being excluded from old
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  friend groups that you once used to be a part of.
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  This might include lonely nights when you choose obedience over
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  old habits. I personally experienced that in
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  college and it was not easy at all.
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  It was painful at times but y'all it was so worth it because
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  it refined me and it taught me how to seek the Lord and find
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  Jesus in those moments. And also fighting against what
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  your flesh craves but knowing that it's wrong.
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  But think about these things and just what a chance to become
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  more like Jesus because Jesus knows every single feeling and
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  emotion that we experience. He knows the loneliness, the
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  rejection, the weakness, and he's interceding for you in
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  heaven right now. Second Corinthians 1/5, this is
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  my verse of the year, but it says we share abundantly in
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  Christ's sufferings, but also abundantly in his comfort.
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  So instead of asking why me whenever you face trials or
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  discomfort, what if we reposition that question to why
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  not me? Because if suffering shapes you
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  into Christlikeness, isn't that the goal?
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  And no, we don't need to desire suffering, but it's in the
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  hardship that you grow dependent on your Father, and you truly
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  encounter his compassion and His tender love in ways that you
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  probably would not otherwise. Now, Paul ends this chapter by
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  saying that they turn from idols to serve the living and true God
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  and to wait for Jesus. So this is the full picture of a
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  transformed life. You're turning from what what
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  once was drowning you in sin. You're turning to God.
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  You're serving him actively, and you're waiting for Jesus
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  expectantly. Titus 213, It says that Jesus is
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  our blessed hope. His return is what we wait for.
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  So here's how we finish this out.
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  Number one, is your faith evident everywhere you go?
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  Not just in parts of your life, not just with certain people,
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  but with everyone? Is there clear evidence of
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  change from your old life to your new life in Christ?
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  And have you truly turned from worldly idols?
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  And are you actively serving and waiting for your blessed hope,
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  Jesus? Because that's the identity that
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  Paul reminds them of. And it reminds us of this too.
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  We have been chosen. We are empowered and sent.
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  We are meant to be set apart, but we're hope filled.
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  So let's go ahead and move into prayer.
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  Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that our identity, it's rooted
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  in your heart. Would you help us to live
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  confidently as your chosen people, as your royal
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  priesthood, a holy nation, your special possession?
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  We are approved by you above all else.
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  Father, would you teach us to depend 100% on your Spirit as we
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  share the gospel? As we prepare for those moments,
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  would you mold our lives so that our actions reflect our faith?
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  And when suffering does come, Lord, just ground us in hope.
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  Would you make us more like Jesus?
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  Turn our hearts fully from the idols that once consumed us?
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  And would you help us to wait eagerly and expectantly for your
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  return one day? We ask this all in your name.
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  Amen. OK, that's what I have for you
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  guys today. I hope that it blesses y'all and
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  that the Lord will continue just teaching y'all new things, new
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  insight, and I'm looking forward to the next episode.
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  Bye y'all.