Today’s reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-20, 3:1-13

“And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and everyone else, just as our love overflows for you.” - 1 Thessalonians 3:12 NLT

When we decide that we want to follow Jesus, one of the first things that God starts to work through with us is our love for others.

God’s desire is for our love toward each other to scale to the point of an overflow (excess).

The word Paul uses for grow is pleonazō, and it means “to cause an increase.” The word he uses for overflow is perisseuō and it means “to go beyond” or “more than enough.” 

Both words are associated with intensity. This means that God’s call to love will require us to be stretched. We know from this verse that it is God who will do the stretching. He will increase our capacity to care for others.

This isn’t easy work, but it is necessary for our growth as followers of Jesus. Ultimately, love will bring greater unity to the church and get more people into the family of God who have yet to say “yes” to Jesus.

Today’s reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-10, 2:1-8

“So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.” - 1 Thessalonians 1:6 NLT

Biblical joy can exist, and often deepens, alongside any suffering.

Imagine Paul cringing as he sees these new disciples encountering resistance almost immediately from persecutors in Thessalonica. Maybe he initially thought, “I hope they survive this!” or “God, could you have given them a little more protection at the beginning?”

No, Paul uses the word “rescue” (in verse 10) as he describes what God has done for the Thessalonian Christians.

I wonder how much joy we are missing out on each day because our perspective is off. Some of us view resistance as a sign that we are doing something wrong. What if we decided to see suffering as an invitation to a more secure form of joy?

It is hard to rob someone of joy who has already dismissed the idea of it being a generated emotion.

Draw us close, Jesus!

Today’s reading: Colossians 3:18-25, 4:1-18

“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart... Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus...He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you.”
- Colossians‬ ‭4:2, 12-13‬ ESV

These verses are so great because Paul gives them a specific instruction and then shows them an example, from their city, of what being devoted to prayer looks like.

The word used for “devote” is proskartereō, and it can also mean to “persist obstinately in” or “to attend constantly.”

There is no day that will not require an incredible amount of prayer. Moment by moment, we are to remember that we should not want to do this alone. We need God’s help and we need others to intercede for us.

The beautiful thing is that when others pray for us, we are more likely to return to the favor. May we be these prayer trendsetters.

Epaphras got it. He was asking God for strength and growth on their behalf. May we join him in this kind of stubborn prayer!

Today's reading: Colossians 3:1-17

'When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.' - Colossians 3:4 ESV

One of my favorite classic Christian hymns goes like this:

Coming again, Coming again
Maybe morning, Maybe noon
Maybe evening, and maybe soon
Coming again, Coming again
O what a wonderful day it will be
Jesus is coming again!
- John Peterson, 1957

Right now, honestly, it seems like a fantastic time for Jesus to return. Between COVID, political unrest, and all the hatred surrounding us, we may long to see the sky split, time stop, and Jesus coming back to set all things right (see Revelation 21:1-7). We look forward to the moment of our Savior's return with anticipation and longing!

Yet this isn't all there is when it comes to being a Christian. We aren't still here to just sit and wait. We are here to put off our old selves (verse 8) and put on the new life (verse 12).

The best way for us to prepare for Jesus' return is to hit darkness head-on with the lives of light.

What drives us? We are those "whom He loves."

Today's reading: Colossians 2:8-23

'Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him..' - Colossians 2:12-14

If someone were to ask you what your life was like before Jesus saved you, what would you say? You might mention a lot of the stupid things you did, or you might mention how selfish you were. You may even use language like "lost" to describe yourself before Jesus made you new; as if all Jesus needed to do was to gently redirect you with the crook of his shepherd's staff.

Sure, sometimes Jesus uses this "lost" imagery in his parables. Yet Paul tells us what was really happening.

We were dead, shut off from eternal life. Jesus didn't just go on a rescue mission; he also went on a resurrection mission. Can you see why remembering your baptism is important? Christ took us from death to eternal life!

Today's reading: Colossians 1:18-29, 2:1-7

'Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.' - Colossians 2:6-7 ESV

Like any good host, when Jesus knocks, we need to let Him in (see Revelation 3:20). Yet we are a little caught off guard -- due to the fact that Jesus is no passive guest. We are charged to get busy walking in Him, thus obeying God

When we decide to let Jesus have His way, gets after digging footers, causing us to be:

Rooted >> "to become strengthened" rhizoo

Built-up >> "to increase the potential of someone" epoikodomeo

Established >> "to increase inner strength" bebaioo

These three acts of investment cause us to overflow in thanksgiving. In them, we see that God is committed to seeing us succeed as we place our trust in Jesus. We are not left to fend for ourselves.

Next step?

Help others to hear the knocking of Jesus as well, encouraging them to let him in for some rearranging as well.

C.S. Lewis drives this whole idea home:

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

Today’s reading: Colossians 1:1-17

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” - Colossians‬ ‭1:15-17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

How incredible is our Savior, Jesus Christ? He not only died to give us freedom (verse 14), he also is credited here with creation. And to make things even more impressive, we see that he is currently holding the entire universe together.

Jesus is:

Originator

Redeemer

Sustainer

So when you hear those who have walked with Jesus for a long time say, “Jesus is all you need,” they could not be more correct. We needed him to exist, we needed him to die and rise, and we currently need him to hold our lives and all creation together.

“No creature is autonomous. All are God’s servants (Ps. 119:91) and dependents (Ps. 104).” - N.T. Wright

Today's reading: Philippians 4

'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.' - Philippians 4:6 NIV

Ben Witherington writes, "Verse 6 brings a further exhortation, this time to give up counterproductive anxiety, which in any case betrays a significant failure to trust the Lord."

Paul gives us the cure for anxiousness in every situation where we may find ourselves. The antidote is prayer. Yet he gives three different words to describe his prescription of prayer. The first term is the general word used in communicating with God (proseuche). The second word used speaks to the form of prayer that lays out all requests (deesei). The last word used (aitemata) probably speaks to the content of our prayers.

The point? We all need deep, consistent, thoughtful, and earnest prayer.

What are you anxious about today? What seems insurmountable? We see in the verses following that Paul had been worried about finances, and God had met him with what he needed every time.

Today's reading: Philippians 3:4-21

'But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.' - Philippians 3:7

In this section of Philippians 3, we get a great picture of what Paul thought about repentance. He uses the same form of a Greek word three times, zemia 2X and zemioo 1X, in two verses. The idea behind these words is freely forfeiting what you previously had.

We all fear loss. Much of what we do is positioning ourselves to avoid it at all costs. Yet when we lose our former lives of selfishness and pride, it frees us up to receive salvation from the hand of God.

Augustine of Hippo said it well:

"God gives where he finds empty hands."

Are you looking back on your past as something you wish you still had, or are you refusing to look back, knowing that you are cheating hope if you do?

Paul said, "I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead."

All of our successes and failures don't deserve our attention. God is doing a new thing. Do you see it? (see Isaiah 43:18-19)

Today's reading: Philippians 2:19-30, 3:1-3

'Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.' - Philippians 2:27 ESV

One time as I was going through a music rehearsal at church, I noticed that one of our musicians seemed troubled. This sweet lady had just recently overcome a cancer diagnosis and was healthy (and is to this day). We had prayed for her and wept with her through it. Yet she was still in tears. I had to inquire as to why. She mentioned that she didn't know why she'd been spared, and so many others hadn't. I assured her that none of us knew the answer to that question, but I did know that God apparently had more for her to do here. More songs to play. More people to reach with Christ's love. I can still see her smile through her tears.

Epaphroditus was spared, and Paul chalked it up to God having mercy (also translated as compassion) on him.

The compassion of God is expressed in so many ways. "Why?!" is the question that we may never get an answer for, but "What?!" is the one God will answer each time.

If we are spared, it is always an opportunity for us to reflect God's glory.