1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 — The 2nd Day of Thessmas!

READ THIS: 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10

4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

WELCOME TO THE SECOND DAY OF THESSMAS!!!

In this section, we see how God's presence changes us and those around us. When Paul shared the gospel with the Thessalonians, they were worshipping all kinds of idols (which means they were Gentiles...aka not-Jewish), but then they heard about Jesus. Their lives completely changed, and they started to look more like Paul, who was trying his best to look more like Jesus. In verse 4, Paul says that it is clear God had chosen the Thessalonians because the Holy Spirit was working in them. At the time, a lot of Jewish people were saying that God wasn't going to save the Gentiles or do things through them, but Paul wants the Thessalonians to know that God doesn't just care about Jews, but the whole world! God DOES choose Gentiles! His presence is the reason for why they believe and why they are able to live their lives differently. Even more than that, it's not just Paul who can see the crazy difference in the Thessalonians lives, but EVERYONE can see it. 

When we start to live for Jesus, it's not just some inner change that stays there. An inner change leads to an outer change in everything we do. The way we speak, the way we give, the way we care, the way we do just about everything changes because we are doing through the Holy Spirit and are living with a deeper conviction. Before we have the Spirit, we don't always feel like sinning is bad, so our lives stay the same. But when God comes in, we can feel the affect that sin has on our relationship with Him, so we start to WANT to choose actions that please Him. 

Side note for the crowd who has been in Revelation with Dan/Liz the past few weeks: Look at verse 10! We've been learning about the "coming wrath!" Yay, Jesus rescues us from that!!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1.  Do you feel like you are chosen by God? Why or why not? Would other people say you are..?

2. How do you feel like your life is different because you know Jesus?

TRY THIS:
 
In verse 6, it talks about how the Thessalonians started to imitate Paul and his crew. Think about someone you think follows Jesus super well and dress up like them today (either fully or some clothing article that reminds you of them)! What would it look like for your actions to look more like Jesus?!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 2:1-5 — Marathon Training

R EAD THIS:  Galatians 2:1-5 1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about how Paul went to Jerusalem and shared the incredible things Jesus did, but today, we are hearing about Paul's second time visiting Jerusalem... 14 years later. Paul talks about a bunch of things that happened ...
Read more

Luke 8:19-21 — Jesus's Fam!

R EAD THIS:  Luke 8:19-21 19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Ummmm, hold up, is Jesus dissing on His family here? I mean, I know He is God's Son and all, but at first glance, this passage makes it seem like He is kind of hating on His family! However, if we really look into this passage, it's actually a lot more about us than it is about the family of Jesus.  In case you forgot, the last few passages have features Jesus telling and explaining different parables to a large crowd as well as His disciples. Clearly, the crowd has gotten so large that Mary and Jesus's brothers (yes... Jesus had brothers!) couldn't even reach Him. When someone told Jesus "hey dude, your fam is here an...
Read more

WELCOME BACK! Hebrews Introduction

WELCOME BACK TO DEEPLY ROOTED!!! Greetings fellow Bible readers and Jesus journey-ers! We're stoked to get back in the swing of things with y'all. For any new readers, this section would usually be where our handful of Bible verses will be. The section below would break down what in the world the verses mean. Then, there are some debrief questions for you to dive deeper and an application point. A new addition this year is the Song of the Week! We'll share a song that ties into the theme of the next few verses...if you gaze ahead and have song suggestions, comment below or text! HEBREWS INTRODUCTION: As with any book of the Bible, different Biblical scholars say different things about this letter, but we'll tell you the most probable take. So here it is: Hebrews is a letter written to a group of Jews who were being persecuted for deciding to follow Jesus. It is a letter to encourage them and to show that Jesus truly is the best person to follow despite how hard it was g...
Read more