Scripture to Read: 1 Thessalonians 1:3
God finishes 1 Thessalonians 1:3 encouraging the believers in Thessalonica, and us today, through Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy about their “steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” The hope we are to have in our Lord Jesus Christ is to be unwavering, enduring even when our circumstances in this life do not make sense to us. We are not to have a hope with no substance or foundation. A hope with no substance or foundation would be a hope that says something like this, “I hope it does not rain today” or “I hope my favorite team wins the game” or “I hope that people are nice to me today.” All of these sentences use the word “hope"; but notice that there is no substance or foundation for this type of hope because we have no idea whether any of these statements we have made will come true. Our hope in Jesus Christ though is a foundation we CAN stand on and we know His Word is Truth and that He is Truth. Our ability to stand firm in the midst of this crazy, mixed-up world only comes through our foundation being in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Hope; He is our Joy; He is our Peace; He is our Provider; He is our Protector; He is our Love; He is our Faithful One, and no matter what we face we know He’ll NEVER fail us. We need to examine our lives and make sure others see, in us and through us, that our steadfastness of hope is truly in Christ.
Challenge & Application
1. What did God teach you today about your steadfastness of hope?
2. Who will you share with this week about your hope being in Christ and not in this world?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!