Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

2 Thessalonians 3:11-13
We hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.
There were people in the church in Thessalonica who thought they were so spiritual that they should spend their days waiting for the return of Jesus and not going to work. Because they didn’t work, they became a burden on the other believers who they thought of as less spiritual. Worse than that, instead of being busy workers, they became busybodies. They spent their time interfering in other people’s lives and causing grief. As CH Spurgeon, the Victorian preacher, said: “Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.”
Paul responded to these lazy people by pointing to his own example. He had worked hard day and night in order not to be a burden to others. He was convinced that everyone should work hard and never grow tired of doing good.
The problem that Paul faced in Thessalonica isn’t one that I’ve encountered, but his teaching does help us to reflect on the issue of work. Work is often spoken of as if it is a great evil which needs to be avoided. The good times are weekends and holidays, and the objective is to get to retirement as quickly as we can. However, God looks to us to be busy and to use the gifts and abilities that He has given us to bless other people.
1 Corinthians chapter 15 takes us to the heart of Paul’s teaching about the resurrection. Having praised God for the victory that He has won over sin and death, he challenged his readers to work hard for God. He wrote: “Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Life changes for all of us but whoever we are and however old we are, God calls us to be busy workers for Him – and never busybodies.
Question
What is the work that God has called you to do?
Prayer
Loving God, thank You for the work that You have asked me to do. Help me to do it with enthusiasm and determination. Amen

2 Thessalonians 3:1
Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honoured wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.
As Paul brings this letter to a close, we see into his heart. He asks the Thessalonians to pray for him. He could go into some detail about his specific needs, but he doesn’t. He immediately invites prayer that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly. A literal translation of the Greek would be “that the word of the Lord may run”. Because Paul so often used athletic imagery, he was almost certainly trying to convey his desire that the good news should be spread quickly and effectively. He longed for the message to be respected and accepted by as many people as possible. That’s what had happened when he’d visited Thessalonica, and he was eager that it should happen in the same way in the much tougher context of Corinth, from which he was writing this letter.
I believe that we need to be praying today with a new urgency “that the word of the Lord may run”. It’s all too easy for us to accept our multi-religious society and to lose our passion for sharing the good news of Jesus. We are called to show grace and generosity to people of other religions. It is good that we get to know them, befriend them and embrace opportunities for working alongside them. However, we are also called out of our love for them to be faithful to our Lord who came to die on a cross that they might experience His forgiveness and new life.
When we pray for one another, we should keep the focus on the spreading of the good news. Let’s pray that we will all become more urgent in our evangelism and increasingly eager to see word of the Lord run throughout our society.
Question
What do you find the biggest challenges to sharing your faith with others?
Prayer
Lord God, I ask You to give me a renewed determination to share Your good news with those I meet each day. Amen

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
Whether we are conscious of it or not, our thoughts about the future have a huge impact on how we live today. That’s probably most easily seen when we are worried about something – perhaps a visit to the dentist, a meeting with our boss, or a tense issue in the family which needs to be resolved. In this letter, Paul was particularly concerned that the Thessalonian church should have a clear understanding of the future that God had in store for them. He was quite clear that the return of Jesus was at the heart of this, but he was alarmed that some people had decided this was a reason to give up their jobs. Paul knew that the believers needed to keep committed to their regular employment alongside a confidence that the Lord might return at any time.
Paul wanted his readers to look to the future with hope because the best was yet to be. It’s really important that we handle the word hope carefully. Most of the time, there is a maybe in our voice when we use the word. We hope it will be sunny tomorrow or that the train will run on time. We would be delighted if these things happened, but we’ve lived long enough to know that they might not work out like that. However, there is no maybe in the hope of the New Testament. We are talking about certainties. Because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and know that our relationship with Him is eternal, we look death in the face with peace and confidence.
The biggest lie materialism tells us is that this life is all that there is. It’s very easy for us to fall for that lie and to become sucked into the world’s way of thinking. The hope we have in Christ lasts for time and eternity, and Paul wants that knowledge to transform the way in which we live our daily lives.
Question
What impact does your eternal security have on your daily life?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life. I pray that the way in which I live today will reflect the fact that I have a totally secure future. Amen

2 Thessalonians 1:11
We keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.
It is often, and rightly, pointed out that the Christian life is a marathon and not a sprint. Keeping something up isn’t too difficult if you are doing it for just a short while, but keeping going as a Christian for years on end is a different matter. Living for Christ consistently in the face of all the ups and downs of life is not easy. How do you keep up your faith when you are in pain or you have financial problems or family disputes or your work is difficult?
Paul’s answer is that God enables us to keep going. He gives us the power to do all those good things that He has called us to do, so we must not think of the Christian life as being a heroic solo effort. Although we might feel alone at times, God is beside us and we are never without Christian brothers and sisters, even if they may be far away.
The problem with our strength is that one day we may feel able to face every challenge, and the next we might be feeling limp and useless. It’s important that we keep our eyes fixed on God, who is entirely different. He never gets tired or has an off day. Isaiah wrote: “He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31).
As we pray for one another, let’s specifically pray that our Christian brothers and sisters will know that God is continually strengthening them as they live for Him.
Question
In what specific way do you need spiritual strength at the moment?
Prayer
Lord God, I need Your strength today. Please come to me in the power of Your Holy Spirit and make me strong for You. Amen

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4
Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering.
From this bold introduction to Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica, you might have thought that they were perfect, but they weren’t! As the letter progresses, he addresses a number of issues. They had got confused about the timing of the Lord’s return and many of them had become lazy, using the excuse that there was no point in getting a job if the Lord might come back at any moment. They were far from perfect, but there was still much to celebrate, and Paul did so with confidence. Their faith was deepening, their love for one another was growing and the way in which they were standing up to persecution was impressive.
It's so easy for us to focus on the failings of other people. Because churches are made up of sinners, we shouldn’t be surprised that there is often misunderstanding, tension and difficulty among Christians. Sad as that is, it is an inevitable part of living in a broken world. We must be careful not to focus our attention on the negatives. We need to encourage one another and so, amid the disappointments, we should look carefully for those things that we can praise and celebrate in one another.
Paul was clearly convinced that encouragement was the right approach. I think the most stunning illustration of this is found in his opening words to the church in Corinth. In his first letter he reveals such a long list of their failures that it might feel as if they got absolutely nothing right. Their worship was chaotic; they were divided; they totally misunderstood and mishandled spiritual gifts; and to cap it all they had a case of incest in the church which they hadn’t addressed. It was a very gloomy situation, but Paul began the letter by saying: “I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you” (1 Corinthians 1:4). What a wonderful attitude! When we are feeling glum and depressed about the failures of our fellow Christians, we would do well to remember Paul’s example.
Question
In what ways would you praise the members of your church?
Prayer
Lord God, thank You for the blessing of belonging to Your Church. Help me to celebrate the qualities of my Christian brothers and sisters and to forgive their shortcomings. Amen