Jesus Fellowship: Don't be idle. 10/20/15

Day 292

Today's song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9n84Uji2jw

No copyright infringement intended.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/2Thess.3

2 Thessalonians 3

Pray for Us

3 Finally, brothers,[a] pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,[b] as happened among you, 2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.[c] 4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.[d]

13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

Benediction

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

Simultaneous action October 20th

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws upon their hearts, and upon their minds I will write them, then He adds, Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” HEBREWS 10:16-17
To God, our sin is not even in His thought. That is how powerful the blood is. How ridiculous it is to be accused, when the blood has removed all our sins from God’s thought. He cannot remember them. Hebrews 10:18 says, “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin” (NASV). The blood was shed once for all. So all that is necessary is to have boldness to enter into God’s presence. Where is our boldness? Our boldness is in the blood of Jesus.

When the Lord was on the cross, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and out came blood and water. Simultaneously out of His side issued blood for redemption and water for life. What has the simultaneous action of the blood and the water done for us and over us? Here we are — messed up, sinful, unfinished people. As the blood is cleansing us, at the same time God is imparting His life into us. This is the new covenant. It is God’s agreement that He is going to write Himself into us. He is going to operate within. He is
going to change us from within. But He has to come in where all this dirt is. Where can He put Himself? It is all contaminated in us. In other words, He wants to come in and change our mind; He wants to come in and change our emotions. But how is He going to get into all those dirty parts? It seems He is restricted to one spot in us — our spirit. But the blood cleanses us for God to inhabit us and to operate on us imperfect human beings.

Pray Until Something Happens (PUSH)

Anna, Ariana, Ariel, Georgie, Wes, and Zoe.