Peace

" Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. the Lord be with you all! " 2 Thess. 3:16










This morning as I read through 2 Thess. 3 it was a good reminder of how we as believers are to be examples to those around us. It is important to point out that Paul is speaking about believers not non-believers. He is admonishing the believers who are being taken advantage of and those who are being unruly.

The first thing he reminds them of is this :
3:5 " May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."

For me it is a great reminder of how my attitude needs to be focused on the One who matters and that from Him I will receive all that I need, for every kind of circumstance. Love does cover a multitude of things.

So to be mindful of starting my day seeking the one who is the provider of all things!

Then Paul goes right into how as believers we ought to be disciplined. He admonishes those believers who are being swept away or affected by those who are living undisciplined lives. Paul speaks specifically of those who are not working or and are busy bodies. But I believe it can be taken even farther to those who are gossips, who are living in open sin, who are causing others to stumble by their unruly life styles. Here's the key though, Paul says you need to follow our example and be people of discipline and those who hear this admonishment - then you need to keep away from them. BUT, don't view them as your enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Do this in a quiet fashion.

Now in closing he brings us to the verse again:

" Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all."

My hope today is that I would be focused on the example I am to others. Am I living an unruly life style do I speak as to direct people to Christ or do I sound just as the lost. This verse reminds me yet again where my source of Peace is and that I need to be praying specifically for Peace in every circumstance.