Today Our Daily Bread 1 Thesselonians 5 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-28
Watch For The Lord To Come Again
1You do not need anyone to write to tell you when and at what kind of times these things will happen. 2You know for sure that the day the Lord comes back to earth will be as a robber coming in the night. 3When they say, "Everything is fine and safe," then all at once they will be destroyed. It will be like pain that comes on a woman when a child is born. They will not be able to get away from it. 4But you are not in darkness, Christian brothers. That day will not surprise you as a robber would. 5For you are children of the light and of the day. We are not of darkness or of night. 6Keep awake! Do not sleep like others. Watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening. 7People sleep at night. Those who get drunk do it at night. 8Because we are men of the day, let us keep our minds awake. Let us cover our chests with faith and love. Let us cover our heads with the hope of being saved.
9God planned to save us from the punishment of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not plan for us to suffer from His anger. 10He died for us so that, dead or alive, we will be with Him. 11So comfort each other and make each other strong as you are already doing.

Christian Living
12We ask you, Christian brothers, to respect those who work among you. The Lord has placed them over you and they are your teachers. 13You must think much of them and love them because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
14We ask you, Christian brothers, speak to those who do not want to work. Comfort those who feel they cannot keep going on. Help the weak. Understand and be willing to wait for all men. 15Do not let anyone pay back for the bad he received. But look for ways to do good to each other and to all people.
16Be full of joy all the time. 17Never stop praying. 18In everything give thanks. This is what God wants you to do because of Christ Jesus. 19Do not try to stop the work of the Holy Spirit. 20Do not laugh at those who speak for God. 21Test everything and do not let good things get away from you. 22Keep away from everything that even looks like sin.
23May the God of peace set you apart for Himself. May every part of you be set apart for God. May your spirit and your soul and your body be kept complete. May you be without blame when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24The One Who called you is faithful and will do what He promised. 25Christian brothers, pray for us. 26Greet all the Christians with a kiss of holy love. 27I tell you to have this letter read to all the Christians. 28May you have lovingfavor from our Lord Jesus Christ.

~Lena’s Journalin’~Today
When we read this, we see our current world in the condition it is in. People in their coping mode actually think everything is ok. It seems the more immorality there is the more voices come alongside us and say, “Hey man, you’re ok, don’t let anyone tell you what’s so called right!”
As I read this I see how blinders can be removed from our eyes, if we believe God’s word is true and we love God’s word we will take it in as our personal counselor and take heed to what it is saying.
God’s word is true and says that the acts of sin are done in secret and in darkness even in our day when sin is so blatant at showing itself to receive acceptance in the daytime. I don’t even want to think of what is happening at night!
Anyway, the word is saying, see it, and know of which we are- Light or darkness. That revelation is not yet for condemnation. It is for salvation. If we see, we can be saved! We can ask for help with change, where if we do not see, we’ll not ever be able to be saved.
Thank God there is hope and thank God He has put people around us to help lead us into clear view! If you were blind and you were walking down a street and there was a man hole open, wouldn’t you want someone to steer you clear of it? Of course. It should be the same way with our desire to have counselors around us who love us and want to bring us towards the way that will save us. Let’s become more accepting of the help and helpers God has set up in our lives to save us and steer us clear of falling into a trap or a pit.
Have you ever had a mean boss? Ever have a co-worker who just wants to lord over you and he’s not in “position” to do so? Hmmmm. As we read this passage I wonder if he IS in position to do so? As appointed Divinely by God to squeeze us and see if what we preach is really what we believe and we live. We say if we love people it is evidenced that we also love God. Here’s your chance to show it. Showing it does not count in easy situations, no we’re talking about the core of who you are, your love reservoir. It says in other passages, it is easy to love the lovable, what about those who are not at all loveable? That is the test, and in Christ we can pass, especially if we see it. Maybe, just maybe that person was brought into your life by God so you’d have plenty of practice at being love and not only saying things like – “Jesus Loves You”….who’s He gonna love them through? Guess who? Tag – You’re it!
Think about it, did you deserve His love? Why are you so much more deserving than that hard-nosed guy who pushes your buttons a lot? It’s NOT about deserving, PTL! If we do not love them in demonstration, if we do not make and keep peace with them, we are not a true witness and we are not showing them God’s love.
When it says test everything here. I was thinking of how we can be aware and look for the test, prepare for it, and be ready for it, recognizing each situation as a test taking opportunity.
If we see things that way, we’ll do them unto the Lord and not unto men, if we do it unto men, we’ll pay them what they are due in a natural reciprocal manner, but if we take the test before God and it is about our relationship with God, we will respond to people differently. Let me explain a bit clearer.
You have a co-worker who aggravates you, seems like he knows he aggravates you, so he comes by your office regularly to push your aggravated buttons. Many times his aggravating of you changes how you feel about your day and even keeps you from really wanting to sing praise to God in your heart, in fact you don’t even think of praising God at all, you’re so aggravated. Other co-workers come by your office and now you’re aggravated, exasperated. They don’t really push your buttons, but he already did, they are nicer than he was, but they say one thing that wasn’t part of your plan for the day and you blow up on them. They wonder what your problem is, they think you don’t even like them. It comes to a point where you just don’t seem to like anyone there, because you relate the aggravation with being there, so everyone who is there gets the brunt of the agitations that have continually come your way through this one guy. You have a lot of reason, a lot of justifications for you behavior, you’re right in that he is aggravating, right?
OK, STOP, errrrrtttt. THIS is where Christianity and the agape love of God has been given great opportunity, not because anyone deserves it, but because we love God and He loves people. If we become a push over to this guy every time, we are not standing for righteousness. The stand for righteousness is our position before God. We know the guy is coming, right? We expect it, so we prepare. We pray and we bless the man, we ask God for strength, we recite a few promises of God before we get to work, like: I can do all things (such as loving this guy) through Christ who strengthens me. We pray in the spirit in our car on the way, while we listen to worship music and build up our soul. We decide, nothing can separate us from God’s love. We are preparing for our test today, we know it is coming. This is not about whether we can do this or how we feel or that this guy is worthy, it is about loving God and not allowing anyone or anything to steal that love relationship away. If I become aggravated, if I feel I want to pay him back evil for evil, I’ve taken myself out of the fellowship of the spirit that I came in with. My sin puts a gap between my own relationship with God. God sent me to wok here and God sent this man to work here, to help me learn how to love without being interrupted in my personal relationship with God Himself.
Will I allow anything to get in the way of my love relationship with God? Will I allow enemies to rise up and steal the joy God gave to me by His Holy Spirit. It is mine and I’m gonna keep it. The co-workers might think I’ve gotten saved or something!
I’m set apart by God and for God, and maybe, just maybe, as I do not curse this man in giving him back what was due him, he’ll see something about God in me. Maybe as I don’t give up my faith in action that quickly, he’ll want some or someone else will see their need for some! There’s no time like the present to start, displaying the love of God through an unmoving personal relationship with God’s spirit.
Keep away from everything that looks like sin, does impatience look like sin? Does anger look like sin, does wishing evil on a person look like sin?
Are you without blame in Christ? Or do people close to you, that know what you’re like, blame you for these things (impatience, anger, wishing evil …)? It’s time and never too late for change.
Change is for the best, for us and for God’s image in us to not be defiled, but kept pure in the earth. We-are-His-image in the earth. We’re it, Tag- You’re IT!

Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.