Thessalonians Words ~ Day 20: Each Other

Day 20: Each Other

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

Today's verse is the last verse  of the passage we looked at yesterday's. Here Paul tells them, and us, that what he has said - everything about being prepared by living a holy life, about those who are living and those who are dead in Christ when He returns, and about our salvation from suffering the coming wrath of God at Christ's return - are meant to be used by them and us to encourage and build up the body of Christ.

There are a number of 'each other' and 'one another' passages in the letters to the Thessalonians. Such passages in the New Testament letters refer to how we are to live in the body of Christ with our fellow Christ-followers. Paul, and the other New Testament writers, make it clear that a part of holy living is how we live with one another as God's family. There are 100 verses in the New Testament that give us information on how we are to live with and treat each other as God's people. It is especially a topic Paul is passionate about with 60% of those verses being in Paul's writings. Another thing to note about both the verse we are looking at, and much of Paul's writings, is that this call to encourage and build up (edify) each other comes after he has given us the theology that should bring about that encouragement and edification. Paul often will lay a theological foundation - a teaching of biblical truths - and follow it with instructions on how to live with one another, on how we are to treat each other in God;s family. This pattern of Paul's shows us that right living flows from right learning (doctrine). In other words, what we learn about biblical truths should result in our living them out in community. This is not a parent telling his children to do something just because he says so! Rather it is a loving pastor teaching his people the truth of God's ways, and then, asking them to allow that truth to transform their way of living by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that they will be the holy people of God.

Here are the ways Paul encourages God's people to live with each other in the Thessalonian letters:

"May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you." 1 TH 3:12

"Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other." 1 TH 4:9

"Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1 TH 4:18

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" 1 TH 5:11

"Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other." 1 TH 5:13

"Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else." 1 TH 5:15

"We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing." 2 TH 1:3

Read through this list again, slowly. Think about our current day with our world and our country facing a deadly pandemic. Think about our country with so much divisiveness and hate prevailing. We continue to let issues of politics and racial injustice divide us. Now take special note of verses 3:12 and 5:15 about love and being kind. Use your observation skills to note what has been added. Paul calls us to not just love and be kind to those we are in community with in God;s family, but to love and be kind to everyone else as well. Paul's instructions on how to live in community are never conditional, as in love, be at peace with, be kind to, or encourage only those who act the same way to us. Think of how different things in our world, our nation, our cities, our neighborhoods, and our families might be if we Christ followers led the way in loving and being kind to everyone else. Not letting it matter if they are of the same faith or not, if they are of the same race or not, the same political party or not, the same generation or not, and on and on. Let's live out Paul's call - the words approved by God - to love and be kind to each other and to everyone else.

Over the weekend try going through 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 with the study method and techniques we have been learning. Next week we will begin to look at different ways we can respond to God and apply what we have discovered through study.

Thessalonians Words ~ Day 14: Live

Day 14: Live

Happy Sunday! I pray that today you are enjoying being with your community of God's people, whether you are in person in a church building, or participating online. Many of our church buildings may be closed, but God's people have learned new ways of flexibility and resiliency during this pandemic to continue to meet together and be the church! 

Over the past few days, as Paul has progressed through the letters to the Thessalonians, we have seen that through our union with Jesus Christ we are made holy (sanctified). We are then called to grow in holiness (sanctification) in order to please God. We please God by how we live our life, which is what we will look at today.

"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy live." 1 Thessalonians 4:7

Earlier, at the beginning of chapter 4, Paul states that he had instructed them when he was with them in how to live in order to please God. He then urged them to live this way more and more (1 TH 4:1-2). The Greek word Paul uses for 'live' is peripateo. It is a favorite word of Paul's. One he uses in almost every one of his letters. Paul does not write a letter that does not include instructions for how to live God's way of life. In fact, he will often contrast the Christ-follower's former way of life with that of their new way of life in God, and remind them of this to encourage and call them on to greater holy living. 

Peripateo literally means "to walk around' and is used figuratively in the New Testament to refer to the way Christ-followers behave or conduct daily life. It refers to their manner of life. It encompasses not just what one does, their behavior, but also one's speech, attitude and character. It encompasses all parts of life in order to live to please God. John Stott says, 

"Pleasing God is the foundation on which Christian ethical behavior is built."

We never want to separate our character from our behavior lest we fall into a lifestyle  like that of the Pharisees in Jesus' day. They practiced holy laws, behaviors that were meant to make then holy, but became self-righteous, actions divorced from the heart, merely giving them an outward appearance of holiness. Read Mark 7:1-23 for an encounter Jesus had with the Pharisees that describes this..

 What pleases God is living life by the way of life that is holy and worthy of Him. (1 TH 2:12, 4:1 & 7). So in his first letter, for example, in chapter 4 Paul gives some instructions on what holy living looks like in daily life in areas such as sex/marriage (4:3-6), work (4:11-2), and bereavement (4:13-18). Holy living is to penetrate every area of our lives as Christ-followers.

Jesus told us, "I have come that they [His followers] may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). He is "the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6), and calls us to be holy. Why? 

"Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16. As Christ's followers we are the people of God, called to imitate and live out His holy character in all that we do and say, and to be holy in who we are. Paul will remind us later in the book that Jesus died so that we may live in union with Him (1 TH 5:10). That union with Christ is the work and power of His Spirit living within us enabling us to live holy lives.

Today on the Bible Study Techniques page, you will find an overview of my Bible Study Method. It is a brief walk through of the process. Each of the technique pages develop and explain the steps of the process. The techniques page will be updated throughout the words challenge with further documents describing the techniques and steps.

March into April: Art Journaling

March Art Journaling

The season of Lent began on March 6th, so that has captured most of my art journaling practice. I have mainly posted my art journal pages from Lent Words on Instagram and in the private Words Challenge Facebook group.  There are links to both on this page in the right hand column. Below is just a sampling of my pages for Lent Words. I began the challenge making painted paper collage church windows, and did that practice up until last week, knowing I would need to simplify things with two upcoming trips.

In our Living Your Word of the Year group we are working through the alphabet, connecting words to our word of the year. My word for 2019 is sacred. Most of the words I am selecting have to do with God's call on us to live sacred lives. To live "sacredly" is to live a life of worship. When we worship something or someone, we are devoted to it or to the One we worship; we behold them. God's call to His people is to grow in faith and obedience, living every aspect of our lives in ways that please Him and glorify Him. This year I am journeying through how I worship God through my physical body. Does my eating and moving and health behold and worship God? What does it look like for my body, my life, to be a sacred vessel to be used for His purposes?

For the letter F, I selected the word freedom. The more we live for God and follow His ways, the more freedom we actually experience. Sacred living is living a life of freedom in Christ - "For in Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28.

I am making a journal monthly or bi-monthly this year just to have the opportunity to make journals, which I love to do. Making journals always inspires me. I used one journal for February and March, as I did not fill January's and did not want to have another half full journal.  I also started adding a calendar page for each month that I am using like a commonplace book, adding words or quotes or events that are significant to my days. I did my Lent Words pages in my March journal. My March commonplace page so far:

This week I am on vacation in Chicago. My friend, Bernice, flew into Chicago from the UK and we are spending a few days exploring Chicago, before she continues her U.S. trip. (#vacationwithbernice) I will get home Saturday and turn right around on Monday and head to Indianapolis for a conference for three days. I love to travel and explore, but I am also a home-body, so back-to-back trips will leave me very ready for a quiet weekend at home next week!

Into April...

Lent continues into April for the first 20 days. Here is the calendar of Lent Words for April. If you click on the photo it will take you to a downloadable PDF.

And here's one for Instagram.

The 100 Day Project begins on April 2. The idea is to pick a project and do it for 100 days, create a unique hashtag, and share on Instagram. It's a great way to stretch your creativity. I initially thought I would not do this project again this year, concerned that I would not keep up with it and the other creative things I am a part of. I did not participate last year, but I did enjoy it so much the previous year, and it really did stretch my creativity in making simple collages. So, I'm going to bite the bullet and jump in! I need to keep it simple in order to do this daily.

In 2017 I did 100 days of scrap collage, using scraps from my scrap box.  This year I will make small collages on index cards and use found words from magazines and books. Bernice gifted me with a wonderful vintage cardboard index box from a photographers studio. I'll add pictures in a future post. It is perfect to house this year's project! So here comes #100daysoffoundwords.

I spied my first sighting of crocuses yesterday on a sunny and mild day in Chicago. Now it feels like Spring! I hope you are experiencing Spring wherever you are. :)

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group: 

Living Your Word of the Year

Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I facilitate a Facebook group about Living your Word of the Year. In it we share insights through blog posts and connect with other like-hearted and like-minded people who want to live out a word focus throughout the year. We offer participants a bi-weekly A-Z Inspiration to help prompt reflection and creativity. as well as other inspirational ways to connect with your word of the year. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word throughout the year, explore new ideas, record thoughts, prayers, and events, you are invited to join our Facebook group.

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/203309083575277/

Please use #livingyourword2019 on social media.

Check out the other blogs:
Bernice: www.newlycreative.com
Valerie: www.valeriesjodin.com/blog

Lent Words Day 9: Guest Post by Bernice Hopper

Today's Lent Word is Compassion.

Today's post is written by Bernice Hopper. Bernice and I met a number of years ago online through a class she was leading through her blog. Bernice was one of the first women I met who was also combining her faith with her art journaling. We have journeyed together in the online world through the founding of the His Kingdom Come community in 2015, various guest posts on each other's blogs, and currently we are co-leading an online group on Facebook with Valerie Sjodin called Everyday Journals and Living Your Word for the Year. In addition to our online friendship we have had a number of opportunities to be together in person taking small road trips and creating our own personal retreats. Please visit Bernice on her blog Newly Creative.

Read Psalm 103:8-14 1 Peter 1:8-9

My church doesn’t follow the church calendar very much apart from Christmas and Easter. So apart from having pancakes as close to Shrove Tuesday as I can, I really don’t have much experience of following a Lenten tradition. However I feel that the word Mary chose for today – compassion – is

a year long, lifetime word. A bit like the ‘A dog is not just for Christmas’ campaign, I believe compassion is not just for Lent’.

God is a God of compassion. One of His names is Rakhum which is sometimes translated as Merciful God but can also be translated as Compassionate God.

In Deuteronomy 4:31 (NASB) we are told ‘For the LORD your God is a compassionate God;He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which Heswore to them’.

Psalm 103:8 (NIV) describes God this way: ‘The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love’.

Throughout the Old Testament we see God showing compassion to His people. We see people struggling through hard times but God always shows compassion and comes to their rescue. And then the most spectacular rescue of all is Jesus dying on the Cross for us. I find it really hard to grasp the depth of compassion God felt for us that He sent his Son to die for us. I could hardly bear to see my son hurt in any way and nothing that happened to him compared with what Jesus did for us.

We often use other words for compassion: pity, sympathy, feeling, empathy, understanding, care, concern, solicitousness, tender-heartedness, soft-heartedness, warm-heartedness, warmth, love, brotherly love, tenderness, gentleness, mercy, tolerance, consideration,kindness, humanity, kind-heartedness, benevolence.

But when we feel compassion (or any of those other words we use) we need to do something. We can give money to aid charities and think that is enough. But we need to act. We can show compassion in the way we live our lives, in the way we speak to and about people and in the way we pray.

We are made in God’s image so compassion is a trait we should embrace. 1 Peter 3:8 (TPT) says

‘Now, this is the goal: to live in harmony with one another and demonstrate affectionate love, sympathy, and kindness toward other believers. Let humility describe who you are as you dearly

love one another’.

Everyone needs compassion.

Mighty to Save https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lab0SHGXkA

I have been following along with Mary's Lent Words and writing one verse each day in my EveryDay Journal.

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group

Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I are using one journal to record events, experiences and relationships and  to explore our word’s meaning in visual and fun ways. We are each blogging about our experiences and our art. If you would like to connect with others about creatively organizing your word, your ideas, thoughts, prayers, events, or your projects all in one journal, you are invited to join our Facebook group: Everyday Journals – Living Your Word of the Year.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/203309083575277/

Hashtags on Instagram: #everydayjournals2018, #livingyourword2018

Check out the other blogs:

Bernice: http://www.newlycreative.com/

Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog/

Also, join us for Lent Words 2018 -  A Creative Challenge Through the Season of Lent. More about it in this post. There is  a private Facebook group for the Lent challenge:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LentWords/