Taking a look at 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10 tonight.
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
There are places in the world today where being a follower of Jesus is not the safe thing to do. Yet, these believers persevere. We need to thank God for them and pray that their faith which really can cost them a lot would keep growing.
UPDATE: Diane at Crossroads is wondering if persecution might be around the corner in America?
I wonder what kinds of challenges did the Thessalonians face during their life times?
We know from Acts 17 that Paul faced opposition such that he and Silas fled to Berea. Those same opponents went to Berea to caused trouble such that Paul had to flee from there as well. One would suppose that even with Paul gone, those critics would still put pressure on the fledgling church.
Paul placed their experience in a broader context ...
All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
I was listening to Dennis Prager on the radio the other day and he was talking with a caller about the existence of an afterlife. He asked her, do you believe there is a good god out there?
She said, yes.
Prager then said, if you believe that then you have to believe in an afterlife because a good god would want justice and if this life is all there is then the scales of justice would be unbalanced.
Other than this line of reasoning, I'm not sure one can argue for the existence of an afterlife.
This passage makes me also think about our current "clash of civilizations" with the radical Islamic followers. Am I allowed to turn Paul's writing here into a prayer for this day and age?
God, you are just. I trust that either in this life or the next you will pay back those who terrorize and kill innocent people. Grant relief to those who cry out to you how long must we suffer at the hands of people who would bomb markets and schools? Lord, may you be glorified in your people who exhibit faith, hope and love. Lord, speed the day when all will see your glory as you are revealed again but this time in the fullness of your glory. Amen.
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