May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope, encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.
II Thessalonians 2: 16-17 (GNT)
Paul was a very caring minister. This is evident by the prayer that is nestled in the middle of II Thessalonians. This devotion looks at II Thessalonians 2: 16-17 to see how God extends to us love, grace, and hope.
Nuggets
- It is through Jesus that God answers our prayers.
- Because of that love, God gives us grace.
- This gift of grace gives us hope.
- We have the hope of eternal life; because of His love for us, God went Jesus to live, die, and rise again in order to be made perfect.
Don’t you love Paul? He is riding along, and then he breaks out into a worship service. In this instance, he breaks out in prayer.
This prayer, while a benediction, is intercession. Paul had a soft spot in his heart for the Thessalonicans, so it follows that he is going to break off into prayer when the mood hits him.
Think about it this way. The Thessalonicans probably had a tough row to hoe in the first century. The Roman rule would have been only one hardship that they faced daily.
Enter Paul with his message of hope. Jesus taught about love.
The Thessalonicans would have been greatly encouraged. Let’s take a look at Paul’s prayer.
Father and Son Duo
“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father …” (II Thess. 2: 16 GNT)
Wow. You would think that Paul would have put God first in the list. He didn’t. Why?
We do pray to God in Jesus’ name. When Paul prays, “… our Lord Jesus Christ himself …” (II Thess. 2: 16 GNT), that makes it sound much more personal. Yes, God is our God, but Jesus is our Brother. Paul had had personal contact with Jesus (Ac. 9: 5). He wasn’t just Jesus up in heaven.
Let’s look at some verses that tell us about Jesus and God.
Jesus can give eternal life (I Jn. 2: 25) to all who obey Him because He has been made perfect (Heb. 5: 9) by the shedding of His own blood (Heb. 9: 12). Because of His everlasting love for us (Ps. 103: 17), God will strengthen us when our flesh and hearts fail (Ps. 73: 26). We know we can count on Him, because the God of peace is the one who raised Jesus from the dead (Heb. 13: 20) and perfected Him (Heb. 5: 9).
God helps us get through this life. He loves us so much that He will help us navigate this life and has given those who follow and obey Him eternal life.
Think of how comforting that would have been to the Thessalonicans. Think of how comforting that is to us today.
Love, Grace, and Hope
… who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope … (II Thess. 2: 16 GNT)
As Father, God loves us. We previously defined God’s unconditional love as intense feelings of deep affection without limits or circumstances.
Because of that love, God gives us grace. Remember, we previously said that grace was where — even though we don’t deserve good things — God gives them to us anyway.
This gift of grace gives us hope. Hope is where you desire and know something. I have hope that God will answer my prayers. I desire that He will do that, and I know He will because He has done so in the past. Maybe not in the way I am thinking, but God has always answered my prayers.
That would give the Thessalonicans — and us — even more comfort. Our hope can be strong because God s consistent.
We can also hope because it is unearned. God offers us salvation as a gift, not dependent on anything from us — but accepting the gift. “For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it” (Eph. 2: 8-9 GNT).
God, who doesn’t lie or change His mind (Num. 23: 19), has developed a plan in which our relationship with Him is restored. He did this out of His love for us and grace.
We have the hope of eternal life (I Jn. 2: 25); because of His love for us, God went Jesus to live, die, and rise again in order to be made perfect (Heb. 5: 9). This gift was given and offered to us through God’s grace (Eph. 2: 8-9).
Courage and Strength
“encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good” (II Thess. 2: 17 GNT)
Having that hope in the knowledge that God is providing for us because of His love and His grace should give us courage and strength. It should bolster us so that we can do and say what is good.
Let’s face it, sometimes God calls us to do the tough things. Witnessing is really hard for some people. But the last recorded words of Jesus are that His disciples — including us —“will be [His] witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Ac. 1: 8 ESV).
Gnaw on that a little bit — Jesus’ very last words. They weren’t “I love you.” They weren’t even “Make sure you do all that I have commanded.”
Jesus’ last words were “go be witnesses.” Go do the hard. Open yourself up for rejection and ridicule. Go put your lives on the line. Do it in Jesus’ name.
What kept running through my mind when I was reading the research and writing this was that we have to make sure our hope is placed correctly. Let me explain.
We have to watch the object on which we put out hope. Maybe my hope is that I get a huge promotion at work. Or start a relationship that I hope will be lasting. Or win the lottery.
Unfortunately, my hope may not be in God’s Will. If it is not in His Will, I can hope all I want. It isn’t going to happen.
How Do We Apply This?
First off, we need to make sure we have the hope of eternal life. We need to make sure we have turned our lives over to God.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Then, we have to make sure that our hope is grounded in God and expanding His kingdom. Yes, I think He will reward us and allow us to have some things we want.
That still starts out with giving God control of our lives. He will reward us for doing His work.
We are to be witnesses. We are called to be examples. We are instructed to live out that hope.
Father God. Your love is limitless. It is unconditional. We stand in awe that You would choose to have a relationship with us. But You do. Help us to live for You, secure in the hope that we dine in Your Word. Help us to boldly tell others about Your love. Amen.
What do you think?
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Beautiful, Elaine! If only we would walk in the identities God has given us as his beloved at all times! This was a wonderful reminder to start my week! Thank you for your faithfulness to share God’s truth with the world!
Thank you for the kind words, Stacey. I love how you said “walk in the identities God has given us.” Yes! We wear more than one hat — and God has graciously provided them all.