Give Thanks

"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for Salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the Truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. "
2 Thess. 2 : 13-14






First ~ let me just say, my first day of classes went well. Actually first night of classes. :) It will be a challenge tonight seeing as though my classes are Psy and Speech but last night my Art appreciation and Math classes were interesting enough to keep me focused. Ofcourse it was the first night- just a flood of memories came back. Anyway- I could and I'm sure I will share some of my experiences from the classroom... Some of which will clearly show my age difference :) .

Now to the text! This morning as I was reading 2 Thess. 2 - 2 things stuck out to me and made me think about how I am doing in these areas of my life.

1. Paul writes at the beginning of the chapter giving a clear warning:
2 Thess. 2:1-3 Paul starts out by saying , I don't want "you to be quickly shaken or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, in the effect that the day of the Lord has come. " vs.3 starts off as "Let no one in any way deceive you,"

It is a challenge to me to be more grounded in the end times. See, we have worked in Asia for a while and I can tell you of stories that mirror this passage. Where we would have to speak to our Asian brothers and sisters and tell them these very same words. There are false religions that preach Jesus has come and you would be shocked at how fast a new believer can be deceived.

In America our deception is much more dangerous. It is that we become complacent in our lives, we just live without concern for the lostness around us. We go to work, grocery shop, buy things for ourselves all the while there are hurting and lost people all around us. We don't share our story of God's faithfulness in our lives or speak of God but only to other believers- for fear that we may offend. The coming of Christ is at hand! He hasn't come yet- but don't be deceived by thinking either He's already here or that you have a "Long " time till that day comes.

For me today- it has challenged me to speak about God's faithfulness and to give Him the glory for all that my life is; after all Paul reminds the believers again in verses 13 and 14 of God's choice of them......

I thought it was neat too how the theme is Giving Thanks but in doing that we also Glorify our Father in Heaven. But as a direct result of Giving Thanks 2 things are fruit of that: Our faith is greatly enlarged and our love for one another grows even greater....

Eph. 5: 20 - 21 - here the admonition is to : "always give thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ."

So today as I go about the day my prayer is that I will bold and share from my abundant experiences of knowing of God's faithfulness. Pointing not to my abilities but God's faithfulness and provision for me. Giving Thanks!

I pray you too will seek for ways to point people to Jesus by giving thanks to Jesus Christ .

Thank You Lord for the Day may I use it to Bring You Glory!