Joy, Love & Holiness - preparing to meet Jesus
NLT 9 How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. 10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.
11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
The heart of prayer (3:9-10)
OK, let’s be real! Did you read today’s reading? So you’re thinking: Paul, did you just overdose on happy pills? How does one experience so much joy when praying for people? I have been in prayer meetings, and I have heard my own prayers – not even close to the sentiment Paul is feeling! “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you” (3:9 NIV). I have a long way to go to get to where Paul is! These Thessalonian believers gave Paul great joy! Remember, he planted the church, established the believers in the faith, raised up leaders like Epaphras to lead the church, and then after some time left to preach in other places. But in that short time while he was with them, God did an incredible work of binding the believers together in faith and love. Was it the separation that caused Paul to miss them so fervently and long to be with them? Was it remembering all the great times they had together? The focus of Joy is God! He did the work in the Thessalonian believers. He changed their hearts; He knit them together in love; He was maturing them in the faith! The joy comes from watching God work in believers, especially the ones that we led to the Lord or discipled. See, it was the report Timothy brought about them, and how well they were doing – they were growing in Christ!. We saw that Paul was like a mother and father to them. They were his spiritual children, and he really loved them as such. He was so concerned for their spiritual well-being that he prayed continually for them, longing to see them again, to supply what was lacking in their faith; to equip them and make them stronger in their faith; to bring them to maturity in Christ (3:10). It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. The lesson of verse 9 & 10 is simple – before you enter into prayer and petition for people, be grateful for them, and the work God is doing in them. What a message to every pastor and disciple maker!
The Purpose of Prayer (3:11-13)
Paul wanted to see the believers again. We know that Satan prevented him from doing so (2:18). So, his first petition, (notice to God the Father and to Jesus) is for God to make a way for Paul to see them again. “Lord, remove the roadblocks please; I want to see these people again!” The parent wants to see his children!
Paul then prays for their love to increase, not only for each other but for everyone. He uses his own love for the believers as an example of the love he wants for them. That’s how much Paul loved them! Paul has already commended them for their love (1:3; 3:6) but wants them to grow in it much more. According to the Greek words used, it needs to be an abundant, overflowing love that extends to everyone, even our enemies, as Jesus taught. I like the way The Message puts verse 12, “may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you”. This kind of love can only come from God – God is love and is the source of love. It’s an area we all need to grow in, especially towards those who bring us grief - our enemies. Paul admonishes the believers again in chapter 4, “But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another.Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more” (4:9-10). What made this community such a wonderful church – it was their love for each other. God taught them to love each other, Paul says. But there are always deeper levels of love we need to get to. The kind that overlooks each other’s faults and shortcomings; the kind that keeps no record of wrongs, but learns to forgive quickly; the kind that perseveres through the difficult seasons of life; the kind that serves without expecting payback, etc. We can all admit we need to grow in love to reach the kind of love Jesus has and demonstrates toward us.
Lastly, Paul prays for holiness, which flows out of a heart established in love. The sentence structure of verses 12 and 13, seems to relate holiness and love. As we grow deeper in love, we grow deeper in holiness. What is holiness? In a nutshell, the absence of sin, or being more like God. God is love! God is Holy! We are commanded to love and be holy in scripture. The two are so intertwined. When we truly love God, we obey His commandments, which Jesus narrowed down (summed up) in these two: Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. When we love God from a pure heart, we naturally obey His word because our desire in love is to please Him above all else. When we love each other with a pure heart, we desire to serve one another, not steal, covet, commit sin against each other. Love produces holiness – right heart and actions towards God and each other. The best illustration I can think of is the picture of the bride (church) and Bridegroom (Jesus) in scripture. We know that Jesus is coming back! The bride needs to make herself ready to see Jesus (Rev. 19:7; Eph. 5:25-27). In order to be wed to Jesus who is holy, she needs to purify herself. She will do this because she loves Him and wants to be with Him. The bride makes herself holy, out of love for her Bridegroom. This is exactly how Paul ends his prayer, “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones” (v.13).
What’s the take home of this week’s devotional? Allow God to fill our hearts with love for God and others, because that love will produce holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). Jesus is coming back for a holy bride. You are not the bride; you are one member that makes up the bride. Do we really love the other members that make up the bride? Do we have joy when we think and pray for those other members? True agape love comes from God – let us seek a fresh and continual filling from the source, so that we can be ready when Jesus shows up!
Have a blessed week!
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