Bible Verse of the Day Friday October 1st 2021

1 Thessalonians 4:1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact, you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

Paul's plea to the Christian Brothers and Sisters at the Church in Thessaloniki was to live their life so it would please their Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Paul urges them to do this not for him or in his name but in the name of the Lord Jesus. The people of Thessaloniki lived within a culture with prostitutes stationed at their places of worship, both male and female. Sexual intercourse played a significant role in their Pagan religious worship. The Roman Empire was morally decadent and corrupt; thus, the whole world was living as if there was no God at all. Into this profligate and self-indulgent world Paul was urging the Children of God to live their lives in a manner that would please their Heavenly Father so that they might reflect the light of Christ Jesus to a lost, dark and dying world.

Today's world is not far removed from when Paul preached to the lost souls of that day on two continents. His pleas and supplications are as relevant today as it was when he was preaching to the Thessalonians. Sometimes, as frail humans, we tend to want to follow the status quo so as not to be viewed as different. However, that is precisely what God wants us to do (2 Corinthians 6:17).

The status quo in the lives of Christians always leads to inaction, weakening, and degeneration in holiness. Christ Jesus does not call on us to live our lives by a set of legalistic rules and regulations but by Christian principles. The core foundation of Christianity is to teach us the viewpoint of God, thus developing God's perspectives into principles. When we choose to shun the world's status quo and apply those principles to our lives, God will then transform our lives into someone that we would never imagine we might have become. The Bible is not telling us we must work our way to a relationship with God because that is not the case (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Born again, followers of Christ Jesus are no more adequate and acceptable into the kingdom of God 20 years after their conversion, as they were the very heartbeat that they accepted Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior and surrendered their lives to God. The Blood of Jesus washed away our sins, and God sanctified us at the very instant that we accepted Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Progressive sanctification is an ongoing process that will continue as long as we are in this life. The closer we are to the Cross of Jesus, the farther away we will be from the ways of the world (Galatians 6:14).

“The world has been crucified to me,' means that I condemn the world. 'I am crucified to the world,' means that the world, in turn, condemns me." (Martin Luther)

The world and I are well agreed. The world cares little for me, and I care as little for the world (John Trapp).

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