“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,”  (1 Thessalonians 1:3)

Paul’s first letter was to the church of the Thessalonians. He expresses thanks to God for the fruit of the gospel in Thessalonica. He singles out three fundamental traits - faith, hope, and love. He was encouraged by their energetic operation among the saints there. 

Faith is a firm persuasion, conviction, or trust in the unseen. Though one has never seen God, having examined the evidence they believe and trust in him. When one fully trusts God they will yield to his authority and will. Thus, true faith is active. 

Love involves a high regard, goodwill, or benevolence toward others. It is manifested in deeds of kindness toward others. In this context, love is coupled with “labor” – a word which is best rendered as toil and pain. However, when coupled with love, such effort is no longer a burden, but a work of the highest motives.

Hope is a confident expectation of the future. Jesus Christ and his appearing is the object of our hope. God‘s people eagerly await the Lord’s appearing with the eternal blessings he will offer. Because of this promise, God’s people are able to patiently endure the trials of life and fix their eyes on these rewards.

These three – faith, hope, and love are inseparable graces. Faith must always work by love. (Galatians 5:6) Hope is connected to love “because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.“ (Romans 5:5) Faith is “the substance of things hoped for.” (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is the root from which hope and love spring forth and bear fruit. Later in the letter, Paul exhorts them to put “on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation”. (1 Thessalonians 5:13)

Love must be guided by faith and hope. Hope is only a dream without faith and love. And love and faith can be motivated by hope. Paul is thankful that these three graces are actively operating among the saints of Macedonia.  What about you?
 

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”"  (Hebrews 12:11)
 
Bob Toledo, the head football coach at UCLA, once told his players: “I make you do things you don’t want to do so that you can become the players you want to be.”  That thought is so true in many phases of life.  The Olympic star, the successful businessman, the PHD, and the accomplished author all have one thing in common, namely hours of painful discipline.  They willingly submit to such so they can be the person they want to be.
 
God wants us live lives that honor Him in speech, action, and attitude. We must make it our desire to be the kind of person He wants us to be.  In order to arrive at the goal, we must change some of those bad habits.  Change is difficult and requires hours of training and discipline.  God doesn’t zap us with a magic potion that turns frogs into princes. Instead, he provides the tools necessary to achieve the task.
 
First, God provides a support group of Christians to allow for accountability.  "“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."” (James 5:16)  Confessions don’t come easy because of embarrassment, pride, and fear of how others will react, but it may be the only road to reaching the goal. 
 
Second, he asks us to exercise daily self-discipline and radical surgery to rid ourselves of those bad habits.  "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-- "where 'their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'" “(Mark 9:43-44)  Such a challenge will tax the very heart and soul of an individual but is necessary to have the victory.
 
Third, God allows us to be subject to trials and difficulties of this world.  The loss of a family member, economic loss, or sudden loss of health can either make us or break us. There may be occasions when we don’t feel like persevering, but we must!  God allows us to be tried so that He can sharpen our character and strengthen our faith!
 
Who do you really want to be?  God has a wonderful plan for you.  He loves you enough to provide all that is necessary to succeed.  Accept the challenge and one day you will reap the rewards.
 
by George Slover
 


 

He answered him and said, 'O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.'"(Mark 9:19)
 
The occasion of the words mentioned above was sometime during the 3^rd year of the Lord’s earthly ministry.  A father’s son was possessed with a demon causing him to behave violently.  Though the Lord had given his apostles the authority to cast out demons, because of their lack of faith they had failed in healing this boy.
 
Fortunately, Satan has no power today to possess a person as he did during the time of miracles.  However, there is still an important lesson for modern disciples.  Our faithlessness mirrors the faithless activity of these early disciples.
 
While we do not live the age of demon possession, Satan is still exerting much influence in our world.  Personal lives, homes, communities, and local churches have been affected by his power to deceive and entice.   We ought to be able to help that poor “demon possessed” friend, but it could be said of us as well – “they could not”.  The disciples could not and we cannot.
 
In our unbelieving generation churches have tried every gimmick in the book to gain the numbers.  Those churches on the left have tried the allurement of the social gospel – “win ‘em with coffee and donuts, fun and games for the family, etc.”  Other churches who would oppose such tactics have pushed such gimmicks as – “you’ll really like our singing, or our preacher, or our Bible classes”.  All of the above-mentioned methods are carnal.  We forget about the One who has the power to solve our problems. 
 
“Bring them to me”, Jesus said.  Our job is not about the latest religious gadget, but about winning others to Christ.  He is the only one who can bring them into a right relationship with God.
 
George Slover

By George Slover    |    Visit www.smcofc.org or www.ibiblestudy.net

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