Monday, July 21, 2025

          I have had a chance to visit Thessaloniki—the city where Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write two letters.  We know these letters as 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Thessaloniki is a rather large city in Greece—the second largest city in the country behind only Athens.  1 Thessalonians is one of Paul’s most personal letters.  He commended the believers in that city.  He reminisced with them.  And he encouraged and exhorted them to live faithfully for the Lord.  Paul wrote, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  The Holy Spirit does encourage and refresh all believers.  But, at the same time, we have a mandate and a mission to refresh and encourage each other.  This mandate is one of the “one-another” commands that we find in the New Testament.
            There are some basic truths that the Holy Spirit often has to bring to mind for us.  First, we have to remember to stay faithful to the Lord and trust results to Him.  We cannot always achieve results and victories as we might like or desire.  But we can stay faithful. We can stay attuned to the work that God has for us to do.  We can do this work without murmuring or complaining.  It can be rather easy to slip into self-pity and complaining when things do not go our way.  If we remember to stay faithful, then we are liberated from the burdens of performance, results and achievements.  We want to be sure that we are not living by sight instead of faith.  Being driven by results can often mean we are driven by selfish accomplishments and passions rather than faithfulness.  We can be guilty of empire-building and not Kingdom-advancing.
            Second, we want to remember that God does and will provide.  We call this living by faith and not by sight.  God is not limited by how He chooses to provide.  He can often provide dramatically where there is no doubt that the riches of His power and provision have been poured out.  But He can also provide incrementally and steadily—like a stream of running water.  His provisions are always marked by abundance—they never run out and they never lack power.  Remember when Israel was in the wilderness?  God provided manna.  Those who gathered much did not have too much and those who gathered a little did not have too little. 
            Third, continue to live out and lean into the plans God has given to you.  Be the best parent or grandparent that you can be.  Be a student of His Word.  Seek Him relentlessly. Be a prayer warrior for others.  Stay on plan until God clearly guides you to serve in a new way elsewhere.  We can easily lose heart just before we begin to see the fruits and shape of a plan take form.  Do not grow weary in doing what is good!  Paul told the Thessalonians that he remembered their work produced by faith, their labor prompted by love and their endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3).
            Fourth, stay in the moment to see God at work.  Do not give up!  Do not quit when the enemy tries to persuade you that nothing good is happening or you are failing or everything is a mess.  God worked in Moses’ life after he had committed murder.  God worked in Paul’s life after he had spent years persecuting the Church and ruthlessly pursuing believers.  God can and will work in you!  That is the truth.  He has worked in lesser creatures and wretches along the way.  Celebrate the small victories that God brings. These small victories can lead to greater ones.  Avoid comparisons to other believers or being envious of their victories and success.  Stay in the moment and story that God is writing to and for you.  The story He writes for us is immeasurably better than any story that we could write for ourselves.
            Finally, remain fruitful.  Just as faithfulness is a standard so too is fruitfulness.  Let your prayer and passion be for God to produce fruit through you.  Remember the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.  This fruit lasts forever!  The human fruit of results, numbers, gains, achievements and accomplishments will wither and wash away.  Remember what Jesus said about treasures (something that is similar to fruit), “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).  The fruitfulness of your life may bless others in ways you could never imagine.  Your fruitfulness could change your family tree. And your fruitfulness will certainly last beyond this world.  Have a great Monday!