SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
4/1/2014 5:06 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Paul’s
Opening Reminder
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1
Thessalonians 2:1
Message of the
verse: “1 For you yourselves know,
brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain.” (NASB)
“1 My brothers, you know from your own experience that our visit to you
was no failure.” (Philips)
As we look at this verse we must remind ourselves of what
we learned in the first chapter of this letter, for we learned that there were
ten characteristics of the elect that these believers demonstrated, so this
surely means that Paul’s coming to them was not in vain. Let us look at the word vain to help us
better understand this verse: John
MacArthur writes the following about this word.
“Vain translates kenos, which
means ‘empty.’ The term also could
denote something that was without purpose, effect, or importance and was thus
inconsequential.” We know from our study
of the first chapter that this was not true of Paul’s coming to them.
Paul was a steward of the Gospel message and it was not
taught to him by humans. Galatians
1:11-12 says: “11 For I would have you
know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to
man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received
it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Latter on in the letter to the Galatians Paul gives a brief history of
what happened to him after Christ spoke to him on the road, which is seen in
the ninth chapter of the book of Acts.
Paul spent much time with the Lord who taught him the things that he
taught to others. Yes Paul was a steward
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but we must remember that we too are stewards of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are
accountable to our Lord as stewards, just as Joseph was accountable to Potiphar
as seen in Genesis 39:1-6. Jesus tells
us that all of His stewards will given an account to Him one day: “1 Now He was also saying to the disciples,
"There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to
him as squandering his possessions.”
This was a parable of an unjust steward who had to give an account to
his master. We can be assured that we
will also have to give an account to our Lord, and this will be done at the
Judgment Seat of Christ which is spoke of in both Romans and the letters to the
Corinthians. Warren Wiersbe writes “The
message of the Gospel is a treasure God has entrusted to us. We must not bury it; we must invest it so it
will multiply and produce ‘spiritual dividends’ to God’s glory. Some Christians think that the church’s only
responsibility is to protect the Gospel from those who would change it (Sal.
1:6-9). But we also must share the
Gospel; otherwise, we are protecting it in vain.”
Let us look at two verses on the word faithfulness, which
is what we as stewards are to be: “1 Let
a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the
mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one
be found trustworthy.” In the KJV the
word that is translated “trustworthy” in the NASB is translated “faithful” 53
times.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Just as Paul,
Silas, and Timothy were faithful in preaching the gospel to those who were in
Thessalonica so I want to be found faithful as a good steward of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Giving the pure truth of
the Gospel is probably one of the most important things that I can do, for in
doing this the Holy Spirit can change a life and also can change where a person
will spend eternity.
My Steps of Faith for Today: As a steward I want to be faithful.
Memory verses for the
week: Philippians 2:5-10
5
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who,
although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a
thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,
and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the
name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL
BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Answer
to our last Bible Question: “And Moses
made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a
serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:8)
Today’s
Bible Question: To the churches of what
place was Paul unknown by face?”
Answer
in our next SD.
4/1/2014
5:50 PM
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