If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat!

2 Thessalonians 3:7-12(NKJV)

7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 

8nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, 

9not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.

10For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 

11For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 

12Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

We hear a lot about being compassionate, about social justice and fairness, but look at the verse above.  I think it makes an interesting distinction.  

We are told in scripture to care for the poor and I think that is a good thing to do.  However, what I like about this passage is it makes a distinction between  those who are able to work but won't and those who are truly needy.

"If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat!"

Wow, let someone starve?  That's not very compassionate or Christian!  Isn't it?  This scripture seems to indicate otherwise.  It gives us a clear warning about being taken advantage of by the lazy and shiftless. 

Something to think about!

When?

As I have written in the past, I don't believe that we are to know the exact time that Jesus will return.   Why not?   Because not even Jesus knows the time.  But we are given clues and here is one that I ran across today.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4(NKJV)

1Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 

2not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of £Christ had come. 

3Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of £sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 

4who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits £as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

So here we have a passage that tells us that Jesus will not come until these things happen.  That the anti-Christ is revealed and he is sitting in Jerusalem.  Do you see that yet?  Me neither.

So what should be we be focusing on?  Putting our hand to the plow and focusing on serving God.  The end times will take care of themselves.   In the mean time God has given us work to do so let's get to it!

Taking Vengeance, Wow!

2 Thessalonians 1:3-10(NKJV)

3We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 

4so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, 

5which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 

6since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 

7and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 

8in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

9These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 

10when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who £believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

I've never noticed this before.  Jesus will be taking vengeance on those who do not know God.  He's not just sending them to Hell.  According to this Scripture, the purpose of sending them to hell is to take vengeance on them. 

As I read this I wondered what the exact definition is of vengeance.  Let's take a look:

venge·ance

1. infliction of injury, harm, humiliation, or the like, on a person by another who has been harmed by that person; violent revenge: But have you the right to vengeance?

2. an act or opportunity of inflicting such trouble: to take one's vengeance.

3. the desire for revenge: a man full of vengeance.

4. Obsolete . hurt; injury.

5. Obsolete . curse; imprecation.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vengeance?s=t>

The infliction of harm on a person, by a person who was originally harmed by the first person.  In this case the harmed "person" is God.  As I've written in the past, it's not a simple live and let live thing for those that reject Jesus.  God doesn't just say "that's OK, whatever you want to believe is OK with me".

When someone rejects Christ, God is harmed, it hurts Him.  It's hard to imagine that we have the power to hurt God, maker of the know universe but that seems to be what this Scripture is saying. 

Now the good news is that whether you have to incur the vengeance of God is totally within your control.  All you have to do is accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.  Just say a little pray and simply ask Jesus to come into your life today.  You'll be glad you did!

Do Not Quench the Spirit

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22(NKJV)

19Do not quench the Spirit. 

20Do not despise prophecies. 

21Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

22Abstain from every form of evil.

How many of you are comfortable hearing directly from the Holy Spirit?  Does it freak you out, seem odd, or does it seem perfectly natural to you?

One of the biggest blessings that we get when we accept Jesus is that we get the Holy Spirit to guide us.  It's that little voice deep inside us that God uses to speak directly to us. 

If you will listen and take it to heart, in other words don't quench, the Holy Spirit, you will have an incredible resource to draw on for the rest of your life.  Let the Spirit live and flow through you.

1 Thessalonians also gives us a warning here.  As you get more and more comfortable listening to the Holy Spirit, more will be revealed to you, prophecies if you will.  Don't get freaked out by that or don't be fearful of that.    But don't just immediately accept it either.  If you think something is being revealed to you, test it against all the things that you know about God from the Bible.  Also continue to pray about it.  "God, here is what I think you are telling me, am I getting it correct?".

Does what is being revealed to you line up with God's word?  If you continue to get confirmation then run with it, it is good.  God has blessed you with some revelation.  The more you listen to the Holy Spirit, the more that will be revealed! 

A Gift for Service!

Did you ever think of your ability to serve others as a gift from God?

Numbers 18:7(NKJV)

7Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Aaron was given the priesthood by God, not as a duty but as a gift for serving.  Serving who?  God and others.  When we serve others it allows them to see the love of Jesus shining through us which is part of our service to God.

OK, that is talking about Aaron and the priesthood but what does that have to do with us?

Hebrews 7:14-17(NKJV)

14For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning £priesthood. 

15And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 

16who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 

17For £He testifies:      “You are a priest forever     According to the order of Melchizedek.” £

Hebrews talks about Jesus being a high priest in the order of Melchizedk.  Well once we accept Jesus we serve in the priesthood with Him.  So we too are offered that gift for service from God.

So the next time you are called to serve, do it with excitement and joy.  It's a gift from God to be called to do that!

Is God's Love Really Unconditional?

I heard a preacher recently say "God's love is unconditional" and I thought to myself, is it?  For some reason that didn't really ring true to me so I decided to take a look at what Scripture had to say on the issue.  Here is the conclusion that I came to.

John 3:16-19(NKJV)

16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

So in the big general sense I believe it is correct to say that God's love is unconditional.  From the standpoint that God sacrificed His own son for the good of all future mankind, that to me demonstrates unconditional love. 

But on the other hand, on an individual basis, no I don't believe God's love is unconditional.  I think Scripture very clearly tells us that.  Now there are many that will say "how can that be, look at I John 4:8."

1 John 4:8(NKJV)

8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

There are a lot of people that take that simple verse and extrapolate it to mean that God is so loving that He will always love us know matter what we do.  That God is so loving that He would never really condemn anyone to hell, He loves us too much.

I believe  this is false.  While I agree that God is love, God is also much more than that.  One of the other things that God is, is a Just God.  The whole point of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection was that there was still a blood price that had to be paid for our sins before we could be given eternal life.  That blood price had to be paid to satisfy God's sense of justice. 

Now think about it, if God would subject His only son Jesus, who I think God might love just a little bit more that the rest of us, to pay that price, what makes you think that God loves everyone else so much that He will let them skip out on the whole deal and give them eternal life any way.  That would mean the death of His own son would have been totally in vain.  Does that seem like something a Just God would accept?

Of course not.  Contrary to the God loves everyone unconditionally concept let me share some scriptures with you that tell us that there are people that God actually hates.    

• Psalm 5:5, "The boastful shall not stand before Thine eyes; Thou dost hate all who do iniquity,"

• Psalm 11:5, "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates."

• Lev. 20:23, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them."

• Prov. 6:16-19, "There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."
• Hosea 9:15, "All their evil is at Gilgal; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels."

For those that might be inclined to say "yeah but God loves them at the same time" I suggest you re-read Hosea 9:15.

So if on an individual basis God's love is conditional, what is it conditional on?

Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Take a look at John 3:16-19 again.

John 3:16-19(NKJV)

16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

At the point that you reject God's son Jesus, you have rejected God.  You have chosen to be against God.  Do you really think God loves you after you have just called Him a liar?  Do you really think God loves you after you reject what His son did for you before you were even born?  Read John 17:6-9 and then I'll make another point.

John 17:6-9(NKJV)

6“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 

7Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 

8For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

9“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 

Here we have Jesus speaking and He is telling us who He is praying for and why He is praying for them.  Is Jesus praying for everybody?  No.  Jesus is only praying for those that "have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. " Those that have rejected Jesus are known as the world and Jesus says specifically that He isn't praying for them. 

Here is my question,  if God loved every individual unconditionally, why would He allow Jesus to exclude them from His prayers? 

Now here is the good news.  You get to chose whether you experience God's love or not.  If you deny God then you have turned off the switch to God's love.  But the cool thing is that God let's you control that switch.  You can turn it right back on by admitting to God that you made a mistake in rejecting Jesus.

God will never deny His love to anyone who asks, unless they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit.  Other than that, no matter what you may have done, no matter what sins you may have committed, as long as you believe that Jesus is God's son, that God sent Jesus to pay the price of sin for all mankind, and you ask Jesus into your life, you will experience God's love in ways you could never imagine. 

So what are you waiting for?  Flip that switch.  Experience all of the love that God has to offer.  It's as simple as saying this prayer: "Dear Jesus, I don't really get all of the details, all of the ins and outs yet but the one thing I do get is that you are God's son and you paid the price for my sin.  Please come into my life and lead me, help me to discover God's love.  Thank you so much!  Amen."

Has the Lord's arm been shortened?

Numbers 11:23(NKJV)

23And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”

Ran across this verse the other day and I just love the highlighted phrase.

"Has the Lord's arm been shortened?"

Want a fun little phrase to help remind you that God can do anything and can fulfill any promise He has made to you?  Make a little sign for your car or office or whatever.  And then anytime you start to feel discouraged or your faith starts to waver just ask yourself:

"Has the Lord's arm been shortened?" and smile to yourself!