May 15 - Keeping the Faith

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

“You long to see us, just as we also long to see you.”

No truer words have been written (and these are from thousands of years ago!)  Just like Paul and the Thessalonians were missing each other, so too are we missing our church family.

It’s been nine long weeks since I stepped foot in my church and I’m really missing it. I applaud the hard work everyone is doing to keep us connected. Emails and videos from church leaders are like Paul’s letters – checking in to make sure everyone is okay and providing instruction when they can’t be there face-to-face. And like the Thessalonians, we are being called to keep the faith.

Pastors are telling us – be encouraged, you are doing good and one day soon we will be together again. I imagine today’s leaders feel a lot like Paul felt - happy to hear good news about their congregation, but wishing they were there to witness acts of faith in person. Technology may allow pastors to “see” their church, but I’m sure they’d rather be gathered in the sanctuary than gathered around a screen.

Paul’s prayer for his people can also serve as our prayer, “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.  May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you” (v. 11-12).

Times change, but the love of God is constant and just as He sent Paul, Timothy, and Silas to the Thessalonians, he gives us strong leaders to walk us through these difficult times. And together, we will keep the faith.

Love One Another

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:7-8)

We all know where we are strong in our faith and we recognize also those areas where we can be easily swayed. Our weaknesses generally are unwelcome habits we have struggled to control for a long time. Then too, there are some hang-ups we have overcome; a few worldly issues we have given over to God and no longer deal with their power over us.

There are many habits we work on in our lives in an attempt to break their hold on us. We are all different and therefore struggle over many varied issues. When we are finally able to break the hold a particular sin has on us, we are wise to avoid all occasions of that sin.

We learn to steer clear of certain people who we relate this weak area of ours with. We surround ourselves with people who understand and support us in our new way of living. These two verses from the Book of Romans points out we are not to be stumbling blocks to our brothers and sisters. We are to support them, their new life, their recovery, every way we can.

We all understand that it is difficult to change; it is a struggle to create new ways of thinking and living. Once we establish different and healthier habits, we need the support of one another to maintain our new lifestyle. Let us take this seriously by encouraging our friends and neighbors and perhaps they will do the same for us.

Each day we face new challenges, some may be old habits waiting to win us back. We must remind ourselves daily..."we belong to the LORD."

Romans 14