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Give Thanks in All Circumstances First read of the above Scriptural command may generate such responses as: “Are you crazy?” and/or “You do not understand my circumstances”. Both responses and some other shocking responses can and should be expected from any one of us. After all, we are only human and what God is commanding us to do is contrary to normal human behavior which is to constantly complain and gripe. As we celebrate the biggest holiday in the USA – Thanksgiving Day, we should reflect on these words of Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit that he spoke to the Thessalonians. From our previous studies, remember that these are final words of a five chapter letter to the Thessalonians. Therefore Paul has reason to say what he is saying. Going back to the beginning of the Letter and the middle will help us understand why Paul is instructing the Thessalonians to give thanks. “For we know, brothers and sisters[b] loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you ...

Grieve and Live with Hope What is the fate of all who have died believing in Christ? Just like then and now, Apostle Paul addresses the Thessalonians regarding the second coming of Christ and what will happen to those who have “slept” (died) in Christ. The Thessalonians may have experienced some deaths among them since they last saw Paul and were concerned about the fate of those that have died. We can guess that the Thessalonians asked, if Christ comes for us that are living what about those who have already died believing in Christ? This is a very legitimate question. As we study this section of chapters 4 and 5, the key premise is in verse 4:14. “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again”. Another translation says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again”. This is the crux of the matter for life. Do you believe this basic and fundamental doctrine of the Christian Faith – that, Jesus died and rose again? We may have intellectual assent in this but there comes a time w...

Mind your own Business Continuing on the theme of sanctification and practical Christian living in holiness, Apostle Paul gives further instructions to the Thessalonians on loving other believers, not being an idle busybody but rather working hard to contribute to the good of the society. In the last study, we understood that God’s will for the Thessalonians (and for us today) is to be sanctified. One area that required immediate attention for the Thessalonians (and for us today) was dealing with sexual immorality and cultivating the discipline of controlling one’s own body since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Sexual sin (which is any behavior to satisfy/gratify sexual desires outside of marriage) is actually sin against God and against one’s own body (1 Corinthians 6:18). It is a command for purity both for the married and unmarried and Jesus said, even our lustful thoughts can get us into this category of sin. Someone said, “Satan’s not-very-subtle strategy is often to...

Abstain/Avoid Sexual Immorality I approach our current study of chapter 4 of Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians with utmost humility, trepidation, sadness and with much prayer. Why? You only need to look around and also watch the latest news to understand the reason. In particular, there are all kinds of sexual immorality exposures, confessions and accusations of the hidden practices of men and women in the world-wide Christian community. There is probably one going on and rocking your local church and/or your immediate family at this time. For me personally, I come with this sense of unease having learned recently of a highly respected pastor of a mega church who has confessed to sexual immorality. Though I have never met this pastor, I respected him because he was gifted and taught sound doctrine (including this subject for our study). I would listen to him on the radio. He has been off the air since his confession. Recalling from previous chapter 3, Apostle Paul said to t...