God Provides Comfort - 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (ESV)

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

The fact that God sent His Son to comfort us and to show us His comfort is one of the most comforting truths we can know and hold to.  God wants to provide us with His comfort.  You will see that the Trinity is involved in that comfort if you read the verses below.   One of the most famous verses about God’s comfort is here:

Psalms 23:4 (ESV)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

Notice some of the verses in God’s Word about His comfort to us and for us:

word.  This is a great prayer list to pray each week about God’s amazing comfort:

MONDAY - COMFORT from the God of all COMFORT

2 Corinthians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all COMFORT,

TUESDAY - Comfort in the Holy Spirit

Acts 9:31

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the COMFORT of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

WEDNESDAY - Comfort from Scripture 

Romans 15:4

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

THURSDAY - Comfort in our Afflictions

2 Corinthians 1:5-7

For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in COMFORT too. If we are afflicted, it is for your COMFORT and salvation; and if we are COMFORTED, it is for your COMFORT, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our COMFORT.

FRIDAY - Comfort from other believers 

2 Corinthians 1:4

... who COMFORTS us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to COMFORT those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are COMFORTED by God

1 Thessalonians 3:7 (ESV Strong's)

7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been COMFORTED about you through your faith.

SATURDAY - Comfort from God’s shepherding correction:

Psalms 23:4 (ESV)

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they COMFORT me.

SUNDAY - Comfort is God’s promised blessing (Makarios)

Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be COMFORTED.

Live Out Load: John 3-4

John 3:1-2a (ESV)

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night ...

In order to fully appreciate the above passage, we should read the following:

John 19:39-40 (ESV)

Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Nicodemus, who first came by night to see Jesus, would eventually live his faith out loud by being the one who helped bury.  In the beginning, he had quiet faith. In the end, his faith was loud. That is the path of Christianity. When we first get saved, we’re more timid and less willing to live our lives in a way that others view us.  Later, as we grow, we get boulder in our faith. That boldness should cause us to live our faith out loud. Notice what the psalm writer wrote:

Psalms 100:1 (ESV)

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

Psalms 66:1 (ESV) 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

The Hebrew word for the word noise, and shout, and the above Psalms is that of a trumpet sound. God is not wanting us to be quiet with what we know about him. God is wanting us to live our lives out loud. It doesn’t mean we have to be obnoxious. It doesn’t mean we have to always be offensive. It doesn’t mean that we have to change our personality from an introvert to an extrovert.  What it means, is that we are to be so bold in our faith; that we back away from nothing. Think of these individuals who didn’t back away:

1.  Daniel ripped his feet out loud simply by refusing to eat the same way as other others. (Daniel 1)

2. Daniel also refused to be quiet about his prayer life. He literally threw the windows open so people could see him pray. (Daniel 6:10)

3. Daniel three friends were willing to burn in a fiery furnace simply because they would not bow down. That’s living in your life out loud.  (Daniel 3)

4. Noah live his life out loud with a hammer. (Genesis 6)

5. Nathan lived his life out loud by calling out David sin (2 Samuel 22-23)

Nicodemus, at first was quiet, and then he got the boldness of a lion, and lived his life out loud. That should be our trajectory.

Proverbs 28:1 (ESV)

The wicked flee when no one pursues,

but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Pray For Wisdom - Daniel 1-6

Daniel 2:17-19 (ESV)

Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

The background to the above portion of Daniel falls under Nebuchadnezzar having a dream.  It apparently was a disturbing dream and one that he could not understand.  Therefore he brought in all the wise man, magicians, and sooth-sayers from the kingdom to tell him the dream and the interpretation.   This merry band of men objected to the kings request.  They insisted that the king tell them the dream and then they would give an interpretation.   The king refused and held them all responsible to know both the dream and the interpretation.    They could not and the king threatened to kill them all.   This is where the above text comes into play.   Daniel injects himself into the story and requests to talk to the king.  Daniel promises the king that he will tell him the dream and the interpretation.   Yet, Daniel does not know the dram and interpretation.    Daniel calls for his three friends (who later, by the same king, will be tossed into the fiery furnace) and they laid the problem before God in prayer (praying to their God that would later get Daniel tossed in the lions den).    God reveals to them both the dream and the interpretation.    Daniel and the three go to God in prayer to ask for wisdom and understanding.   God gives it to them. 

James 1:5 (ESV)

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

As James states, coming to God in prayer to ask for understanding and wisdom is an act of faith based upon the faithfulness, goodness and steadfast love of God. 

Psalms 100:5 (ESV)

For the LORD is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

We are to come to God in prayer based upon His character and not our own.  The power of collective prayer is unmatched in the world.   

Gracious Words - Proverbs 16

Proverbs 16:24 (ESV)

Gracious words are like a honeycomb,

sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Does our society know the power of "gracious words?" We live in such a harsh society. Our words are carried around in quivers at our side waiting to be shot from the tongue like arrows from a bow. Our bow strings are taut and stand at the ready with hurtful expressions and harmful dialogue. It takes extra effort to say "nice" things. It takes energy to say something that will bring healing to an argument or sweetness to a soul that is hurting; even wanting to hurt you. But, Proverbs 16:24 is never-the-less true. Even though, as James says, our tongues are a powerful weapon and, like a rutter of a ship, stears us in any direction, it has the potential to heal. We can see people who are damaged and injuried that can have their day resurrected with a kind word. We can still a storm with a calm response. Today we can make our speech matter. We can use our tongues in a mighty way to bring healing to the bones of a weary and wicked land. We need to speak pleasant words to those we come across.   If we think of Job's three friends we are reminded of how NOT to do this.   Note what Job says about his friends:  

Job 16:1-2

Then Job answered and said:

“I have heard many such things;

miserable comforters are you all.

Job's friends had committed to come to Job to offer him comfort.   Epic fail!!!   They could have brought words to comfort his suffering.  Instead they used their words as arrows, piercing his soul.  

Worship God - Psalm 93-95

Psalms 95:3-5 (ESV)

For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

Psalm 95 is a Psalm of praise and admonition.  It begins in praise and ends with an admonition to note forsake obeying and praising God.   God is worthy to be praised.  If we didn't just know that the writer gives us some valid reasons to sing out in praise.  No other god even claims to have made the earth.   Man, even in disobedience and unbelief, gives the creation of the world to another god.   Man has decided that the earth just made itself.   But, in the above passage the writer tells us to praise God because He is above all gods BECAUSE He made the earth; the mountains; the sea; the dry land.   Today man worships the earth. Going out to enjoy the earth without recognizing God's splendor in the earth is to worship the creation over the Creator.   Paul stated that man's sin leads him to do just that ... 

Romans 1:22-25 (NASB Strong's)

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

We are to worship the Creator, not the Creation!

It Is Always God’s Choice - 1 Chronicles 1-4

1 Chronicles 1:43 (ESV)

These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, the name of his city being Dinhabah.

1 Chronicles 1-4 is like reading an old phone book or computer data based for residents in a certain area.    It is almost entirely names and linages.   There are times the Chronicler’s pen, however, gives way to some nugget of interest concerning a certain person(s) listed.  For instance read here:

1 Chronicles 1:10 (ESV)

Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man.

In the above verse we have a significant change in the Chronicler’s approach.  Although the entire four chapter are about the linage of Judah, from all the way back to Abraham’s day, the Chronicler inserts the above mention of Esau (Edom), Jacob’s twin, but older brother.   Remember how this was laid out in Scripture:

Romans 9:13 (ESV)

As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

God, in HIs divine sovereignty, chose Jacob (the younger) over Esau (the older).   In the traditions of that day, the older son would get all the inheritance.    So as the Chronicler is laying out the ancestry of Judah (for the purpose of identifying the kingly line of David ... the theme for the rest of the book). In doing this work he takes time to mention who is not in the line of kingship.   He is pointing out that the kings of Esau were replaced by this long list of kings of Judah, the descendents of Jacob.  

It is importnat to realize that even though this might be just a list of names to us, to God is shows His sovereign will over generations. It shows He has established Judah as His people.   It shows He is not only honoring the covenant He made with Abraham, but how He was honoring it.  God is sovereign and puts up on and takes down another.  It is His choice. 

Psalms 75:7 (ESV)

but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

Keep Your Vow - Leviticus 24-27

Leviticus 27:1-3 (ESV)

Laws About Vows

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the valuation of persons, then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

We probably would read right past chapter 27 if we had our preferences.   But 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us all Scripture is profitable.  The thought behind this chapter is when a person makes a vow to give something to God, they need to keep it. They can adjust it and can keep a portion back, but it can’t be done in deception. It needs to be done based upon the rules and laws of this chapter.   The Priest are to be the administrators of this practice.   The item vowed was in the control of the person making the vow.   They could offer it out of the will, but had to follow these rules.   A key phrase in the chapter is if the donor wishes to redeem.   The point made this is a willing heart and they can give all or some of the offering.   But it had to be based upon a willing heart and not have deception.  

This is a good background for what happens in Acts 5 with Ananias and his wife Sapphira.  Note:

Acts 5:1-4 (ESV) Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

They were both killed because of their deception in worship.  They didn’t have to vow their land to the Church.   They did, but lied about it.   And like the rules and laws of Leviticus 27, they died for it.  

When we vow to God it is to be in good conscience and to be done to fulfill what we said we would do.   

Numbers 30:2 (ESV)

If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Feel free to make a vow or not.  But if you make one, complete the vow the way you vowed it.