Micah 4:1-3

Micah 4:1-3 

English Standard Version 

  One of the podcasts I'm hooked on is called Proof, by America's Test Kitchen.  They're always finding interesting food-related stories, and the most recent episode is all about a woman who dedicated her life to researching historical recipes.  They were talking about her love of source documents -- she always went to the source.  

  In today's modern age, we don't dig into source documents very often -- we don't look to authoritative sources.  As a kid, I remember going to the Cincinnati library to research my senior English essay.  We had to dig through obscure books to find research on the books we were researching.  It was hard work, but it connected me with the experts.  Now, we can go to Wikipedia, and we easily trust what we find there.  There are usually links to source documents, but we're often just relying on the idea that someone else did their homework.  It's why tweets can go viral even when they're not factually correct -- we have lost confidence in authority figures, and so everyone is an authority, and we trust anything and everything.

  Scripture reminds us that there is an ultimate authority figure.  As Christians, we bow the knee before the throne of grace, trusting in the God who will judge between peoples, who will beat swords into plowshares, who shall send forth God's word.  It is the Lord's house that will be established, and it is the Lord who will draw people from every nation into it.  We are subject to God's authority, and we can certainly rejoice that God comes to save and deliver us from sin and evil, but we must always remember that God, and God alone, has ultimate authority, and we should continually go back to Scripture, to the source documents, when we're looking for guidance and wisdom on how to live.

  

1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

1 Thessalonians 5:23-28 

English Standard Version 

  What's amazing is that this is exactly how it will work -- your spirit and soul (all of you!) will be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he makes you blameless!  His blood, shed on the cross in love for humanity, makes you blameless, and because he is faithful to his promises, we know that we can rely upon these promises!  

  The Gospel is as straightforward and as beautiful as that.  The grace of the Lord be with you, and as you go into the day, hold your head high, because the love of God sustains you and enables a future filled with hope.  Thanks be to God!

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

English Standard Version 

  There's probably some wisdom in spending a month with every single verse in here, praying for the wisdom to understand how to live it more fully, trying to courageously follow just that verse for a month, then moving on to the next.  You could spend a year in these 11 verses, then likely start all over, with still more ground to cover.  

  The Bible is like that -- deeper than we can imagine, a bottomless ocean that is always challenging yet comforting us at the same time.  If we don't read the Bible and get uncomfortable at times, we need to read a little closer -- Scripture is always pushing us out of our comfort zone.  Liberals, conservatives, those caught in the middle -- there's something here to challenge us all.  I once heard someone say that when you find out that Jesus dislikes all the same people you do, you probably need to rethink some things in your life.  

  And yet while Scripture challenges us, it comforts us, because it's continuously reminding us of the grace of God.  I read that verse about abstaining from every form of evil (wouldn't it be great if the worldwide church focused on that, rather than just cherry-picking particular types of evil and ignoring others?), and I know that I don't do that.  

  But Scripture consoles, too -- the sweetness of the Gospel is that in my weakness, I discover the strength of God, and in doing so, I am restored in my hope, for my future depends on God's generous and gracious love!

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 

English Standard Version 

  If you have ten pizzas, do you worry more about going hungry or who you're going to share pizza with?  In that instance, you're probably thinking about who you can bless with a pizza!  You're thinking of friends with frantic schedules or maybe people who are homebound, and you're dropping off pizzas and hoping they bring some joy or ease to someone's life.  The absolute last thing on your mind is running out of food for yourself.

  Spiritually, you have ten pizzas.  You are a child of light, filled with faith because of the work of the Holy Spirit.  Christ died for you so that you might live with him.  

  Therefore, we read -- we are charged to encourage one another and build one another up.  Our faith should not lead us to anxiety, but rather to turn the eyes of our hearts outwards to think how we can share the incredible joy that is an anchor for our souls, which are often tossed in stormy seas.  May we recognize the abundance of grace poured into our lives and think more of our neighbors than we do of ourselves.