Heralds Digest

"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV) Within or without self, the human gesture that does not seem to directly promote the relevance of, or the respect for, self appears irrelevant. It is natural for anyone to only show appreciation when his expressions of need (to either God or man) are welcomed. Unexpectedly, man is called to always be grateful for the combination of the relevance and the irrelevance toward his life. Even while the relevance of human contribution is dispensed, the heart of gratitude represents an indispensable virtue of life.

"But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." (1 Thessalonians 5:8 NKJV) Without recourse to divine intervention, natural defense mechanism against invasion and hostility involves the deployment of all attacking arsenals in the direction of the enemy's encroachment. Whatever material/physical and emotional losses are suffered in every attack, it is instructive to know that the enemy is not after anything other than believer's joy and peace in the Lord. But whenever the heart can believe that its joy and peace are not reserved in whatever is susceptible to earthly invasion, the most reliable defense is deployed. Faith, love, and hope represent the state of the heart that rest always in the Lord for defense against invasion.

"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NKJV) The thrust of Apostle Paul's exhortation is that rapture is reserved for those who reserve the love of Christ in their hearts until the day of His appearing in the sky. It is a presentation of the priority of the pursuit of holiness over the prosecution of hostility. Honestly, it is impossible to share the love of Christ and the love for justice in this world within the same heart. But the unceasing desire for the final flight to the presence of the Lord represents a holy content that the riches of the expected fairness in this world cannot replace.

"...so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." (1 Thessalonians 3:13 NKJV) It is not possible for anyone to be invaded with affliction and distress, like the Thessalonian believers, and stay standing still. Although affliction would either move a man farther away from God or move him nearer to God, no saint of God gets established in holiness without the surgical experience of pain. Wickedness is rooted in the heart of man; and affliction appears to be the trusted tool that can expose its nakedness for possible divine intervention. Anyone is capable of wearing a sanctimonious look in an inviting environment, only a heart that remain blameless in an hostile climate is holy.

"For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans." (1 Thessalonians 2:14 NKJV) Unless its surfaces are blurred, a good mirror reflects a perfect imitation of all incident images. Being made in God's images, the original intention is the reflection of God's character, which is holiness. The natural accomplice of holiness in an unholy world is persecution; to the end that suffering for righteousness becomes the natural evidence of godliness. How grateful to God was Apostle Paul to see the imitation of the same suffering in the Thessalonian's relationship with their countrymen. A righteous reflection hold nothing back in the resemblance of Christ's true character, especially in times of intense persecution.

"But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts." (1 Thessalonians 2:4 NKJV) Almost all human engagements in life would receive a significant performance boost with encouragements from fellow men. The only drawback is the subtle elevation of the desired encouragements from men to the same level as the approval of God. The gospel, according to Apostle Paul, is a divine assignment to all believers, including the persecuted Thessalonians, representing the power of God to salvation. Once approved of God to get engaged, discouragement from elsewhere can only serve to test if our trust is in man or God. Generally, divine approval does not necessarily suggest the likelihood of human encouragements.

"And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 1:6 NKJV) Affliction can make or mar a man, depending the response of the heart to its call for submission. The Thessalonian believers have a reasonable taste of affliction that queried their loyalty to the Lord, through the consistent joy of the Holy Spirit. Following the submission of the Apostles, they demonstrated that what matter most is not the affliction that seek to bend us, but the self that readily bend to the pain of affliction. Total submission to the Lord takes away the option of being ruled or corrupted by any other beside Him. After all, a sold out soul is sacred to his redeemer and incapable of been undersold.