1 Thessalonians 2:10-12
10 Ye [humeis] are witnesses, [martus] and [kai] God [theos]
also, how [hos]
holily [hosios] and [kai] justly [dikaios] and [kai] unblameably [amemptos] we behaved ourselves [ginomai] among you [humin] that believe: [pisteuo]
11 As [kathaper] ye know [eido] how [hos] we exhorted [parakaleo] and [kai] comforted [paramutheomai] and charged [martureo] every [hekastos] one [heis] of you [humas], [humon] as [hos] a father [pater] doth his [heautou] children, [teknon]
12
[kai] That [eis]
ye [humas] would walk
[peripateo] worthy [axios] of God, [theos] who hath called [kaleo] you [humas] unto [eis] his [heautou] kingdom [basileia] and [kai] glory. [doxa] KJV-Interlinear
10 You are witnesses, and so is
God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you
believers; 11 just as you know how we
were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would
his own children, 12 so that you may
walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and
glory. NASB
As Paul is speaking of
himself and those who were with him, in that he approached life and the
teaching of Bible doctrine, without any ulterior motives, without any attempt
for taking advantage of anyone, without any deceit of luring folks into a
following, for his own benefit.
And that is the way in
which not only instructors of the Word should approach their teaching, but that
is the way in which all people should approach life.
If you have been on the
internet for any length of time, then you have noticed that that there are many
folks out there who are scammers.They
send emails begging for help in getting their fortunes out of some foreign
country.They respond to your classified
ads, and want to pay you ten times the amount, so you can have a bonus and
refund them the difference.They send
you enticing offers in order to get your bank card information. They forge coupons from legitimate companies
in order to get you to respond and thus add your email address to a list of
valid addresses, so they can sell the lists.
One wonders if the
entire world is corrupt, and if they would only put in this much effort into
legitimate efforts, just how much good could they accomplish in legitimate activities?
From scams to cults, to
philosophies, to dishonest scientific studies, to power lust driven
politicians, the deceit and fraudulent efforts of the world seem to have no
end.
And in the one area
where people should be able to look, in order to find truth, honesty, and
sanity, Bible doctrine, there is no end to those who would use religion, faith,
and even charity to take advantage of those who just want to know the truth and
just want to do some good for others.
Therefore, you now have
several tests to help you decipher the honest Bible study, from the dishonest
one.
First, we have studied
that God demands no payment in exchange for His Word.
Second, continued study
will allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you, that which is legitimate and that
which is not.Time and repetition
reveals all.You just have to be patient.
Third, your study
efforts must be open minded. If you want to learn the truth, then you have
to approach Bible doctrine without preconceived ideas, and without bias. If you only want God to legitimize what you
think or do, then your approach is a false one.
Fourth, beware of
charities that have emotional appeals wanting payments for helping the children,
single moms, disabled this or that. Do your homework. Most of these outfits have huge
administrative costs that benefit the promoters and very little goes to the advertised
purpose of the charity.
Fifth, beware of any
appeal that is emotional only and lacks substance.
The spiritual life
consists of a daily study of substantive doctrine, and the consistent
application of that which you learn.God
needs none of these organizations to help His purpose. But through doctrine, and your legitimate
learning and maturing process, you will learn what you must do and discover the
means of doing it.
Jesus Christ controls
history.Man does not. Jesus Christ drives the events of
history.Man does not.
Some time ago, we
studied the winds of history.The winds
of the sea have long been symbolic of mans efforts to drive history. The winds of heaven are Gods efforts.
The sea has boundaries
and cannot leave them, even with raging storms.
Gods efforts have no boundaries.
God calls on you,
through doctrine, to live your life openly, honestly, and true to Him, such
that your life will be defined as worthy, and productive, and vindicated
through doctrine.Not a life of evil and
corruption, of selfishness and deceit, of games and schemes.
During your life you
are writing your very own story, drafting your very own song. As others may go in pursuit of their life s
quest, so you are involved in your life s quest on a daily and even moment by
moment basis.One day, Jesus is going to
ask you what your story is.
The vast majority of humanity
will not have a good one, and all of the human efforts of history will fade
from existence and forgotten.Other than
a few dates and events of history, do you know anything about any of the
hundreds of billions of people who have lived in the many past centuries? No, and that is the sum total of the human
contribution to life.
But if you pursue your
spiritual life, legitimately, on a daily basis, then your story, your song,
will a great one, a complete one, a divinely recognized one, and will be sung
forever.
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