Day 14 - 2 Thessalonians 3:11-18

11 Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. 12 We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. 13 As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

14 Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. 15 Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.

17 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL. I DO THIS IN ALL MY LETTERS TO PROVE THEY ARE FROM ME.

18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Terrie's Comments:

Settle down and work to earn your own living... never get tired of doing good... don't think of those who aren't doing what is right as enemies, but help them get back on track by warning them as you would a brother or sister.  

It is probably best to not think of anyone as our enemies so we continue in Love for everyone.  It is true that there are some that oppose the gospel that we preach, but they are still humans that will spend eternity somewhere. At the very least we should have compassion on them because Jesus died for everyone and his desire is to see lives changed.  Speak the truth in love... if you don't speak the truth then you are hating them because the truth is what sets people free and gives eternal life.  I am sure that Paul, who at one point was an enemy to Christians, would agree that Jesus wants everyone to come to a knowledge of the saving grace of Himself!

Tori's Comments:

"never get tired of doing good" This includes that work we do for the glory of God. I have noticed as my work days have gotten longer, in order to keep up with the heavy load of schoolwork, that there is a peace that comes after a long day's work. And I try to remember God's peace and joy as I begin to feel overwhelmed, as that's definitely something God's been convicting me about of late.


We are finished "Thinking Through Thessalonians"  Tomorrow we begin "Seeing Through the Dim with Tim!"



Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 13 - 2 Thessalonians 3:1-10

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. 2 Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. 3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

6 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. 8 We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. 10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”

Tori's Comments:

Verse 5 is a beautiful hope to have for others...and myself. To fully understand God's love is something I'm not completely sure is possible. I forget so easily, and I myself put limits on how much I think He could love me, and I do this without realizing just how wrong it is, just how evil it is to do it. 

"idle lives" I think we should be constantly thinking that if Jesus came back at that moment, is our current situation what we would want God to find us in?

Terrie's Comments:

" Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.  Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer."

Paul addresses something that is very real ... his desire is that the Lord's message will spread rapidly and be honored but at the same time he knows that not everyone believes.  Our God is able to give us favor with man and rescue us from wicked and evil people who want to destroy the message of Jesus Christ.  Are we bold enough in our prayers to pray both... that the message will be honored and that we will be rescued from evil, knowing that not everyone will believe.

5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

Once our hearts have a full understanding of the love of God... and are overflowing in expressing the love of God, and we experience the patient endurance that comes from Christ... we will be able to serve others and spread the gospel message without hesitation because it will flow out of a place of perfect love that comes from God alone.

Finally he ends this passage by talking about not being idle.  Christians are called to be people of action.  We are to be doers of the word not hearers only.  Our actions show what we really believe.  Just as our words are an out pouring of what is in our hearts already.  You can study the Bible your whole life but if you never do what it says you will never see fruit and if you don't have any fruit then I would question if you really did believe what you had been studying.  We are not saved through our words and actions but our words and actions will be transformed as we renew our minds in God's word.  


Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!