As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance. - 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
Yesterday, I had one of those parental defense moments. We were eating lunch after the dedication service at the YMCA, and we had Graysen, our 8 month old with us. It was the first time we put him in a high-chair at a restaurant, and he was doing great. I fed him, then we got our food. Rhonda needed some more gravy, so the waiter was brought her some. When she set the gravy down, she set it right in front of Graysen. An eight-month-old boy is going to reach out and grab anything within reach and often things that are out of reach...right? As soon as she put it down, he went for it. His hand went in and she said to Rhonda, "It's hot." As soon as I heard that, I saw Graysen's little hand in the gravy and I reached in and grabbed his hand and he started crying and I had something well up inside me that was not pretty. I wanted to say very ugly things to this woman who just did something incredibly irresponsible for a waiter, and my son was in pain.
In Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, he has one of those "parental defense moments." He wants to encourage them, but he knows that there are people out to get him and there will be people out to get them as well. He has been addressing serious issues for this little church, and now he turns his focus just a little. I am grateful that he does so, because I think we need to hear this message today. Just as Paul asked the Thessalonians to pray, we are asking you to "pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored." We believe that we have a clear vision for the people of League City West, and that simple vision is what drives us - to see the presence of Jesus active in every neighborhood in our community. We want the message of the Lord to spread rapidly and be honored. So pray toward that end for us.
Paul also knew that wicked and evil people were going to be after them because not everyone had faith. While Paul actually had real people after him, you and I will have different "people" after us. Make no mistake, we have an enemy and he is real. Just as sure as our vision is to see the presence of Jesus active in every neighborhood, he does not want to see this happen. Some of the people that he will send after us are named: gossip, slander, laziness, materialism, greed, lust, divorce, drunkenness, divisiveness, doubt, etc.. There is nothing that the enemy will not throw at us in hopes to take our sites off the goal. We must pray for protection. The Lord is faithful and he will strengthen us and protect us from the evil one - the enemy. Our confidence lies not in the plan, but in the person of Jesus Christ, and we will continue to do the things that the Lord has given us to do. Oh, may He direct our hearts into His love and Christ's perseverance in these days.
prayTODAY ::
Pray for your pastors today. Cameron and Brad need your covering of prayer. Ask God to keep them pure in their hearts and in their minds, that they may be able to discern what His will is for them personally, for their families and for The Springs. Pray that God would protect their marriages and not allow any of the hard work to drive a wedge between them and their spouses. Call on the Lord to keep their families strong, and their kids to be strong and courageous in their own way during the launch of the new church. Pray for them to be the leaders that God has called them to be.
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