DAILY GUIDE DEVOTIONAL; Attitude to Situations and People

 

Bible Text: 1Thessalonians 2:13-20

"For this cause we thank God without ceasing". Paul was thanking God without because the Thessalonians were in verse  12, 

"walking worthy of God who called them into his marvelous kingdom"

This they could do because they received the word of God as they should.  They received it for the truth that it is. They received it with full assurance and acceptance of what it teaches. They did not receive it in pretense and hypocrisy rather, wholeheartedly. They received it as the wisdom of God and as the son of God. Consequently, their lives changed completely because they trusted in its efficacy (Verse 13)

The effect of receiving the word of God as the pure and powerful word that it is, can be seen from verses 14-16. These Thessalonian brethren became followers of the Jewish brethren who had received Christ before them. The apostles had been beaten, scourged, wrongly  accused, imprisoned, cast out of the synagogues and rejected by the Jewish leaders. They have been threatened and treated like criminals just because they believed in the teachings of Jesus. Yet, the Thessalonians chose to be like them. As they began to face similar opposition from their own country men, they did not throw away their faith, rather they remained resolute and immovable in their convictions. 

Read also; God's word,the perfect guide for life

The lesson for us here is; "how do we react to situations and peoples in our own walk with God?" Thessalonians could learn from the apostles and maintained their faith. When troubles came, they persevered. They didn't seek for a better gospel that will teach them that Christians should not suffer. This teaching that tries to remove suffering as part of a Christian's story can't be right. It completely negates Christ' teachings. In verse 15,  we see "who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men". The servants of Satan and darkness will continue to be agents of persecution to God's children in this world. The joy however, is the knowledge that we are over comers,  we are more than conquerors. We overcome by the blood of the lamb and by the word of  our testimony; not by power nor by might. 

Yet, everything boils down to one question. How have we accepted the word of God that is preached to us. Have we accepted it as a treasure? Do we cherish it? Do we find our pleasure in it daily? Do we see it as our sole weapon of warfare and victory? The value we place on the teachings of the scripture as a guide to our everyday living is what determines how we apply it in situations  good or bad and to people at every given point and time.