How do you deal with pressure? Under pressure some people buckle easily; others escape; still others seem unmoved, for whatever reason. For all of us, life is full of pressures. As Christians we face pressures that challenge our faith, especially in our pluralistic and deceptive world. They come both from without and from within. Some think that those who stand firm are too rigid, not flexible, out of date, even out of touch. What is our faith? How can we stand firm and hold fast to it? And why should we? In today’s passage Apostle Paul tells us. As we meditate on these words, may God himself speak to our hearts today

Are you healthy? As we live our lives, sometimes we can seem to be doing fine, but all the while we have some kind of illness we’re not even aware of. It’s true both physically and spiritually. What does it mean to live as a spiritually healthy Christian? And how is that even possible? As we think about Paul’s opening greetings to the Thessalonians, we can get a clearer picture of what being spiritually healthy means. We especially want to learn from Apostle Paul how to pray for one another. May God open our hearts and speak to us personally through his words today.

As we’ve seen in our study, Paul was writing to the new believers in Thessalonica. After being there just a few weeks, he had to leave suddenly due to persecution, and these people had been left sort of as orphans. Timothy had been there for a quick visit, but Paul was still very concerned. He wanted to maintain a personal relationship with these new believers. He told them how much he cared for them, even though he hadn’t been able to go back to them yet. He reminded them of his hard work and mother-like care for them. He said they were his joy and crown. He wanted them to stand firm in their faith and live lives pleasing to God. So he taught them to abstain from sexual immorality, to love one another, and to work with their hands. While living in a corrupt society he wanted them to live with the hope of the second coming of Jesus and of the resurrection of the dead. In light of it, he taught them to be spiritually awake and sober, armed with faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. He urged them to encourage each other and build each other up. Now he gives them some final instructions. In these verses Paul teaches how we should treat our leaders, how we should treat one another and outsiders, what should characterize our daily lives, and his main prayer topic for us.

What does it mean to be “sober”? It’s usually the opposite of drunk. But the word “sober” can also mean moderate, or realistic, or serious. Often people get drunk or silly or extreme because they’re trying to escape some pain or sadness, or because they’ve lost hope. In today’s passage Apostle Paul exhorts Christians to be sober. Why? It’s because Jesus is coming again. It may be the greatest promise in the Bible. Paul describes what that day will be like. To be ready for it, we need to be spiritually sober. In this study we want to learn what that means, and how and why we should be spiritually sober living in a world that’s not. May God open our hearts and speak to us personally through his word today.

Last week we thought about Apostle Paul’s goal in life, which was leading people to become Christians. People who became Christians were Paul’s glory and joy. What a beautiful life goal, to lead others to Christ! Today’s passage has a similar theme: it challenges us to ask ourselves, “What am I living for?” Paul wants us to think seriously about how to live in order to please God. But pleasing God might seem too abstract. So he gives three specific teachings (3–12), and he especially focuses on the first one, which can be so hard for so many people to accept. May God open our hearts and speak to us through his word today.

Everybody wants something. In our world we are constantly being bombarded with marketing, whether it is on the internet or on TV or even in person. So there’s a saying, “What are you trying to sell me?” It can be exhausting. Young people have become very cynical about it. But in today’s passage we see a very different kind of person. The Apostle Paul is defending the apostles’ ministry to the Thessalonians, and shares that they lived in a way quite different to those trying to get something. Instead, they came to give, and to give purely.

  This letter of 1 John was written to clear up the confusion that had started spreading among the early Christians, confusion about who Jesus is and about what kind of people really belong in Christian communities. So in the first four verses, the author focuses on who Jesus is, and on the nature of the fellowship we have with him and with one another. It’s stunning: Jesus came in the flesh and was fully human; at the same time, Jesus is from the beginning.

The Apostle John was like a spiritual father to the early believers. In this letter, he often calls them his children. He wrote them this letter to prevent them from going the wrong way. It was so that they could continue in true fellowship with God the Father through Jesus his Son, and in true fellowship with one another. For this, they needed discernment, because there was a lot of false teaching coming from people who seemed good. In today’s brief passage John teaches how to recognize the Spirit of God, based mainly on what people are saying and teaching about Jesus.