A city wall controls both the coming and going of people. Its gates protect from unwanted entry, as well as keeping safe those who should remain within. Self-control is like a wall. It closes the eye, ear, and mouth gates to harmful things. In like manner, it controls what comes out too. Self-control is the 9th attribute of the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22-23). Are your walls broken down? Or have they been rebuilt by God? Who guards your gates?
Paul told Timothy to treat church members like family. The Spirit inspires a culture of mutual respect in the family of God. One that recognizes the unique way fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters are to be treated.
Paul taught young Pastor Tim to focus his ministry on these three things. This is a good word for today’s pastors. With the pull and tug of so many needs, pastors are called to “focus” on reading, encouraging and teaching the Word of God!
God promised Jeremiah a New Covenant, one written on human hearts instead of tablets of stone. Isn’t this the New Covenant we have in Christ?
Pray for presidents, governors, senators, congressmen, judges, and all those in authority. A good word as the election day approaches.
Jeremiah encouraged the Jewish exiles in Babylon to thrive in the city to which they’d been sent. This is a good word for the Church. Don’t just work on church stuff, but be a blessing to the city to which you’ve been called. Be a City Church that works for the “peace and prosperity” there. Be Salt and Light in Jesus’ name. And grow and multiply! Because you’re called to do this too!
Paul warned the believers at Thessalonica about wanting to be served when they should be serving others. One of the marks of a gospel movement in a formerly unreached locale is that new believers stop drinking and carousing and go to work, supporting their families and community. This has the effect of cultural lift on an entire city. Christ followers are workers. They are givers, not takers.
God gave Jeremiah the difficult task of prophesying Israel’s fall, but He also gave him a fuller revelation of Himself. Reading God’s Word we tend to look for answers for our situation, but the greater unveiling is God Himself. God is both immanent and transcendent, near and far away. God seemed far away from Israel because of their sin, but He drew near to Jeremiah in the midst of this trial. In the book of James we are told, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). The Bible is primarily about God and how we can be brought near to Him. Where is God in your life today?
Like a tree, the Thessalonian believers were growing, flourishing, … THRIVING! Perhaps it was the persecution that the Thessalonians endured that moved them to grow. In a time and place when being a believer could get you killed, they did more than survive, they thrived. What was their secret? Don’t you want to do more than just get by? To move out of maintenance mode? It’s time to thrive!
Paul says that we should “honor” our spiritual leaders. In a culture that celebrates individualism and rebellion against authority, we must swim upstream to honor our leaders. It goes against our worldview. Yet, those who follow Christ have transformed minds that recognize this need for submission to authority. Do you honor your pastors, teachers, small group leaders… do you honor those who lead in the Lord’s work?