Read Colossians 3:12-13 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Reflect Why do you think it is so difficult for us to forgive someone? Regardless, why does Paul say that we must forgive others? For most of us, forgiveness is not something that comes nat

Read Mark 10:42-45 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Reflect How does Jesus’ d

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:25-28 Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Reflect What should we be doing while we wait for Christ’s return? Today we conclude Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. One of the major themes has been to be ready for Christ’s return because it will come “like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonian

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Reflect How has God proven faithful in Your life? We hear empty promises all the time. Politicians promise to fix all the problems in the government. Our kids promise to clean their rooms. Our boss promises he’ll re-evaluate that potential promotion next quarter which is the same thing he said last quarter and the quarter before that. We find ourselves thinking things like, “I’ll believe it when I s

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Reflect How has God transformed your life? How has He made you more holy? Sanctification. Chances are, you’ve read or heard the word before. But do you understand what it means? It’s a big word, but an important concept to understand. So today, we’ll look at the word “sanctification” more clos

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from every form of evil. Reflect Prayerfully consider: are you allowing any form of evil in your life? What is it and what do you need to do about it? When it comes to things we know are wrong, we tend to think we can dabble in it as long as we just don’t get carried away. We push the boundaries and keep going as long as we don’t get caught. We play with fire and think it’s fine as long as we don’t get burned. But the apostle Paul didn’t allo

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21   Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.     Reflect   How can we know if a spiritual teaching is true or false?     Have you ever heard anyone say something like, “The Lord spoke to me and said_____.” Or maybe you’ve felt like God was leading you to do something but you had no idea if that feeling was from the Lord or from your own heart. How are you supposed to know if a message is truly from God? How are we supp

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:19   Do not quench the Spirit.     Reflect   What is the role of the Holy Spirit? How can we cooperate with His work in our lives?     In John 14:16-17, Jesus promised: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” In verse 26, He added, “But the Helper, t

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18   …give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.     Reflect   When you think about God’s will for your life, what comes to mind?     We all want to know God’s will for our lives. But when we think about God’s will, we often just think about our futures. Usually, we have a tough choice to make and we really wish God would just outright tell us which option is His will for us. It is definitely good and wise to