2 Thessalonians 3: Living in The Light Of Jesus

2 Thessalonians 3 is the final chapter of 2 Thessalonians. In this book, we’ve been talking about proper Christian living, and how to trust God when the Anti-Christ comes.

Most of the issues in our lives can be attributed to improper belief in the character of God.

We think God is giving us something, and it doesn’t happen so we get bitter, or we pray for years that God would bless us, and it never comes.

Sometimes an unanswered prayer is a blessing in disguise. I remember in my 20s praying that a girlfriend of mine would be the one, and (spoiler alert) we broke up shortly thereafter.

However, it was a blessing she dumped me. We weren’t right for each other. And our lives would’ve been horrible together.

It’s the same with some of your prayers. We’re praying and hoping for the wrong things, and when God doesn’t deliver, we believe that it’s his fault, not ours.

In addition to that, when we’re dreaming we rarely take into account our character. Our character can factor into many gifts from God, and if we haven’t prepared it, perhaps we’ll be missing out on something.

Now that’s a scary thought…

2 Thessalonians 3: Paul Asks for Prayer

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. 

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
1 Thessalonians 1 Small 2

2 Thessalonians 3:3 states that the lord is faithful.

Believe it or not, a few days ago I would have laughed at that verse. I’ve been having trouble believing in the faithfulness of God. In the last few days, my mindset has changed and I’ve decided to trust in him regardless.

His timing is way different than mine, and while I don’t know what he’s doing, I need to trust him. My emotions need to be kept under control, and I need to fast and pray more.

In Psalm 121 we see an amazing example of waiting on God and hoping he will arrive to help. When he does it’s beautiful.

Sometimes we complain about God saying he isn’t here so we surrender. But we give up and walk away from the battle. This mistrust in the character of God stops us from receiving his blessings, and our deliverance never comes.

God wants you to trust him and participate in the battle, he’s already won it after all. But then you give up, and because of that the battle is lost. You gave your victory over to the enemy.

The same thing is being reiterated in the first few verses of 2 Thessalonians 3. In them, Paul invites the church to pray for them, and when they do that, they are helping with spreading the gospel of Jesus.

Oftentimes in the church, we value the people who preach, teach, or go. But if nobody supports them, how will they be able to go? In reality, everybody who participates will find a blessing.

How To Stop Worrying

2 Thessalonians 3: Encouragement For Proper Living

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. 

We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. 10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”

11 Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. 12 We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. 13 As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

14 Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. 15 Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

2 Thessalonians 3:6 gave me an awakening. We should be blessing our pastors and teachers, Paul even condones it. However, I like what Paul said here. If you don’t work you don’t eat.

It ties into what I was saying earlier, God wants our participation to transform the world. That’s why Jesus gave us the great commission when he went back to heaven.

Serving God and being his child doesn’t mean he does everything for us. We have to grease the wheels or often nothing will happen.

Yes, we should sit in prayer asking God what to do, but other times, he’s already told you what he wants, and you’re just being lazy and scared.

Case in point, I started this website over 3 years ago, and until September of 2022, I had an issue with site clicks. It meant I was writing all this content and nobody was visiting my site. Heck, half my posts weren’t indexed at one point.

I got so frustrated that I quit, and walked away focusing on my Snowboarding Website SnoFallgear. And while I know God wanted me to work on that site, I wasn’t meant to abandon this one. So for the last 6 months, I’ve been working and I’m starting to see tiny results.

2 Thessalonians 3 is about living righteously for God, and doing what he tells you comes in that territory. Because obedience is greater than sacrifice.

2 Thessalonians 3

2 Thessalonians 3: Paul’s Final Greetings

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

17 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL. I DO THIS IN ALL MY LETTERS TO PROVE THEY ARE FROM ME.

18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16-18

In the final verses of 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul writes that he is greeting them in his handwriting. I’m sad that I don’t get to see the actual writing.

I accept verse 16 in my life. I want the peace of God to be in every situation of my life. We need to strive not after Paul, but after how much he loved Jesus.

God has a plan for my life, and yours. We haven’t ruined it yet. God can use our screwups and make them work together for his good. All you need to do is ask him.

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