For Saturday, November 16, 2024:

1 Thessalonians 4:1 NLT: “We urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.”

Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian church: We have taught you to live in God’s ways, according to his commandments, according to his value system. We know that you are already living that way, but can you go a step further? Can you prioritize God even more in your lives? When God looks down from heaven upon the Thessalonian church, don’t you all want him to have a smile on his face? And when God looks down on each of our churches, aren’t we also looking for that smile of approval?

Can we all love the Lord a little more each day? More time and stronger devotion? And certainly we can do a better job of loving our neighbors, of taking care of the needy, the sick, the orphaned and the widowed. We should be the hands and feet that pour God’s mercy into the world. Friends, this kind of help and love has to come from the church. We cannot count on the government for benevolence, and we cannot legislate virtue. Only from God and his church can come these planks in our moral platform.

God’s will is for us to be holy!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship