Wednesday
Read 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
1 From Paul, Silas, and Timothy—
To the people of the church in Thessalonica, who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
May grace and peace be yours.
2 We always thank God for you all and always mention you in our prayers. 3For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love made you work so hard, and how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm. 4Our brothers and sisters, we know that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own. 5For we brought the Good News to you, not with words only, but also with power and the Holy Spirit, and with complete conviction of its truth. You know how we lived when we were with you; it was for your own good. 6You imitated us and the Lord; and even though you suffered much, you received the message with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. 7So you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8For not only did the message about the Lord go out from you throughout Macedonia and Achaia, but the news about your faith in God has gone everywhere. There is nothing, then, that we need to say. 9All those people speak about how you received us when we visited you, and how you turned away from idols to God, to serve the true and living God 10and to wait for his Son to come from heaven—his Son Jesus, whom he raised from death and who rescues us from God’s anger that is coming.
To the people of the church in Thessalonica, who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
May grace and peace be yours.
2 We always thank God for you all and always mention you in our prayers. 3For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love made you work so hard, and how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm. 4Our brothers and sisters, we know that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own. 5For we brought the Good News to you, not with words only, but also with power and the Holy Spirit, and with complete conviction of its truth. You know how we lived when we were with you; it was for your own good. 6You imitated us and the Lord; and even though you suffered much, you received the message with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. 7So you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8For not only did the message about the Lord go out from you throughout Macedonia and Achaia, but the news about your faith in God has gone everywhere. There is nothing, then, that we need to say. 9All those people speak about how you received us when we visited you, and how you turned away from idols to God, to serve the true and living God 10and to wait for his Son to come from heaven—his Son Jesus, whom he raised from death and who rescues us from God’s anger that is coming.
Think
Paul fondly remembers the Thessalonian church - he remembers how they accepted the word of God with joy and with the Holy Spirit's power. He commends them for quickly learning to imitate Christ. Our world desperately needs people who more faithfully imitate Christ; yet we struggle so much. It seems it is only through the power and joy of the Holy Spirit that we will succeed.
Pray
Help our church to receive your word: "...not with words only, but also with power and the Holy Spirit, and with complete conviction of its truth." (Verse 5)
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