Not A Failure

"You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure." 1Thessalonians 2:1"

I so love that the whole Bible fits together. You see, the Word of God is not a random collection of works that are independently written by men with no ultimate cohesive thread of connectedness. This visit and historical event that is spoken of here in this first verse of chapter 2 actually is recorded in Acts 17:1-9. On the initial visit to Thessalonica, Paul was received well and a large number of God fearing Greeks and many prominent women along with some Jews believed in the gospel, but those Jews who did not believe rallied some bad characters, city officials and a crowd to cause a terrible rabble, which led to a near riot, Paul's temporary arrest and a ton of local trouble.

Turn

".. they tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God," 1Thessalonians 1:9b

Every sin in my life, whether in thought, word or deed generally has to do with me putting something ahead of God. I choose, I let something.... my feelings, my opinion, my issues, my wants, my needs... whatever.. to become more important in the moment than who God is in that moment. Idolatry can happen as simply as my priorities getting out of whack. I trade, justify, excuse or cave in to my nature and put something above God. This phrase tells of how the Thessalonians were turning away from their idols (they may have been literal 'other gods', I don't know specifically) But, I do know mine. Those things that are so seemingly precious to me. You know the stuff. Join me in admitting them, my way, my time, my space, my control, my rights, my ego, my importance, my pity party, my popularity, my things, my, my my. The list goes on. I, like you have an inborn tendency to make me the center of everything, the universe included. It is really crowded there, in case you haven't noticed, which is most likely why we are so often conflicted with each other and bumping heads and crossing each other's boundaries. So what do we do? Do we just acquiesce to our weaknesses and not try to be better? No, look at the second part of the quotient in today's verse. We turn to God from idols when we serve the living and true God. I must admit that my idols are dead and false, not living and true. If I turn to the living and true God I can resist my weaknesses. I don't need to pout, I don't need to rage, I don't need to manipulate or connive or pretend. I just need to turn. In the words of the classic worship song..."Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." How true. But, I must turn. Nothing happens without me turning away from my inclinations, my machinations and my temptations. For me, I must make everything about serving Him. When I am serving Him, I can turn away more easily. When I keep Him in mind, I can do better, act nicer, be Christian. Because I am a Christian. I love Him more than my way and my anything. I encourage you to turn before you speak, before you act and before you do what you know He would not want you to do or say.

What We Know

"For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." Thessalonians 1:4"

I could so easily say this of the family of believers at Grace Harbor Church. As a matter of fact, I know it. The brothers and sisters of the Body of Christ that I know as my church family were chosen by God. All believers are, but I know it about this church family because of the evidence of their belief.

No Need To Say Anything

"Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us." 1Thessalonians 8b-9a

I can't believe it! Am I reading this right? Has there ever been a literal time when human beings were involved that there was no need to say anything? Incredible! Even though, we would all agree, actions really do speak louder than words, but oh how we like to add an extra detailed explanation to anything and everything. In this passage it seems the Thessalonians have earned a good report and reputation based on feedback that Paul and others are getting, so they don't need to say more. They just report what good news they heard and leave it at that. We do struggle with too many words. Funny though, not so much the good reports do we tend to add too many words to; it is the bad news and bad reports that we must elaborate on and on.

Giving Up All Hope

"When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved." Acts 27:20

When the storms of life take all the light out of our lives for days and days and the trouble and suffering does not let up, we can begin to feel that helplessness that means we just know we aren't going to make it. These times are devastating, when we can't believe in hope anymore. Our faith is finished and we are ready to throw in the towel. We start to relive all the decisions that got us into peril and the 'woulda, coulda, shouldas, start to come to mind. The fear of being aboard a sailing ship when it sinks in the middle of the sea is more than disheartening. We start to consider what it will be like to drown, and how exactly we will die. Luke is painfully honest here and even though they make it through this shipwreck miraculously, he doesn't edit his story. He tells us exactly what he was thinking and feeling at the point of despair.

Conflicting Truths

"They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: 'Go to this people and say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding: you will be ever seeing but never perceiving": for this people's heart has become calloused: they hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them." Acts 28:25-27

I find these words not only convicting but indicting. Oh how the people of America are similar to the people of Israel in that day. We too have heard for a long time and have not understood. We too have seen for a long time and have closed our eyes. If we would open our eyes and ears and hear and see what God is saying and showing us, we would understand with our hearts and turn and be healed.

Short Lectures

"After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ;Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island." Acts 27:21-26

My Dad was famous for short lectures. At the time I probably thought they went on forever, but as I now more objectively recall, he was a man of precise, concise and convicting words. There are some wonderful teachable words in this passage. I don't usually use such a long section of Scripture, but these words hang together and tell a piece of the amazing, but absolutely accurate and true story of Paul's sailing adventure to Rome. I would like to recap the story with a short lecture list like my Dad would give it to me. He loved to make points. He would point to his fingers one by one and list them out for me.

Give a Gift

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4

We are in the season of Advent, preparing to celebrate the birth of our Savior. At this time of gift giving, good tidings and cheer, we, as Christians, are again reminded that the birth of Jesus Christ was the ultimate gift of God to a sinful and detached people. He was and is a gift of unconditional love, grace and mercy to the entire world. Indeed, Christ’s ministry had at its core this very message.

And So

"... and so we came to Rome." Acts 24:14b

With this brief little statement Luke wraps up the harrowing adventure that had taken months and months across miles and miles. When we move forward in our lives we must find a way to sum up the past in just a few words. I sense Luke may have said this almost a little 'tongue in cheek'. We have all seen movies or television series that were about the harrowing adventure of a vacation or a 'three hour tour'. All of us have been part of life experiences that got way more complicated than they were planned. It is a common plot ending to have the adventurous group all looking at one another and just with their eyes saying, "I can't believe we survived that". But Luke, Paul, Aristarchus and the other 276 passengers did. Just like the movies, just like Gilligan, just like us. Our life experiences are sometimes life threatening and we don't die. We somehow manage to move on.

Continuou​s Prayer

"We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father...." 1Thessalonians 1:2-3a

As we study the Word of God more and more we can begin to see themes arising in the verses. Reading, studying and loving the Scriptures can give us richer understandings of the truth as we build precept on precept and principle upon principle. Paul is sharing his thankfulness for the Thessalonians as he writes to them these opening verses of the two letters he pens to them. Note that he says of prayer that it is always and continually. That is why we should in effect strive to pray without ceasing.

The Blessings of Shipwreck

"When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. "Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety." Acts 27:39-44

As unbelievable as it seems, all 276 passengers made it safely ashore. Amazing. Miraculous actually. Not only is there a devotional message in their survival, but there is an underlying message that is so very important. We can still count our blessings, even when things don't go exactly as planned. Sure Paul had forewarned them that they would run aground somewhere. But, when they spotted that sandy beach and little bay and headed for it, they had to hope that they would just sail into safety in one piece. I am sure they did not count on there being a shipwreck on a sandbar or soldiers who wanted to kill all the prisoners or the stern of the boat coming apart. But, they did all get to land safely.

We Need To Be Tougher

"On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land." Acts 27:27

Fourteen nights? Are you kidding me? Most of us could not handle such circumstances. They have no idea exactly where they are. No Coast Guard. No motor. No lights. The fear and anxiety must have been palpable. 276 passengers being driven by winds and currents across unknown waters. Sound exciting? Sound awful? Depends on how tough you are. Too many of us are not tough enough. We panic if we can't find our phone. We obsess on our symptoms of sickness. We are ready to quit if anyone questions us about anything. We live in fear and dread of what ends up being nothing. We do it constantly. Please understand that in a consumer society like ours we must be kept in a constant sense of need in order to be marketed effectively. We are kept soft in order to make us feel like we need something, when what we really need to do is to trust God and obey Him.