Two of Our Deepest Needs

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:1)

We as a church are “in” a Father and “in” a Lord. What does that mean?

The word “Father” implies primarily care and sustaining and protection and provision and discipline. So, to be “in” the Father would mean mainly to be in the care and under the protection of God as our heavenly Father.

The other designation is Lord: We are in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “Lord” implies primarily authority and leadership and ownership. So, to be “in” the Lord means mainly to be in the charge, under the authority, and in the possession of Jesus as our supreme Lord.

So, Paul greets the Thessalonian church in such a way as to remind them that they are a family (in the care of a Father) and that they are servants (in the charge of a Lord). These two descriptions of God as Father and Lord, and thus of the church as family and servants, correspond to two of our deepest needs.

Every single one of us has a need for rescue and help, on the one hand, and the need for purpose and meaning, on the other.

We need a heavenly Father to pity us and rescue us from sin and misery. We need his help every step of the way, because we are so weak and vulnerable.

We also need a heavenly Lord to guide us in life and tell us what is wise and give us a great and meaningful charge to fulfill, and reason for existence, some usefulness for the way God made us. We don’t just want to be safe in the care of a Father — as precious and needed as that is. We want a glorious cause to live for.

We want a merciful Father to be our Protector, and we want an omnipotent Lord to be our Champion and our Commander and our Leader in some great cause. So, when Paul says in verse 1, You are the church “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” we can take rest and help from the one — God is our Father! And we can take courage and meaning from the other — Jesus is our Lord!

John Piper 

God’s Final, Decisive Word

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. (Hebrews 1:1–2)

The last days begin with the coming of the Son into the world. “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” We have been living in the last days since the days of Christ — that is, the last days of history as we know it before the final and full establishment of the kingdom of God.

The point for the writer of Hebrews is this: The Word that God spoke by his Son is the decisive Word. By the Son’s own design, that word has been captured for the ages in the writings of the New Testament. He explicitly made provision for this, lest every generation be left to itself to dream up the decisive word of God. This word will not be followed in this age by any greater word or replacement word. This is the Word of God — the person of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, and the work of Jesus, captured by inspiration in the apostolic writings we call the New Testament.

When I complain that I don’t hear the Word of God, when I feel a desire to hear the voice of God, and get frustrated that he does not speak in ways that I may crave, what am I really saying? Am I really saying that I have exhausted this final, decisive Word revealed to me so fully and infallibly in the New Testament? Have I really exhausted this Word? Has it become so much a part of me that it has shaped my very being and given me life and guidance?

Or have I treated it lightly — skimmed it like a newspaper, clicked through like a quick series of internet postings, dipped in like a taste-tester — and then decided I wanted something different, something more? This is what I fear I am guilty of more than I wish to admit.

God is calling us to hear his final, decisive, inexhaustible Word — to meditate on it and study it and memorize it and linger over it and soak in it until it saturates us to the center of our being.

John Piper 

Are You Teachable and Guidable?

PRAY OVER THIS

“And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.’” Matthew 13:10-13

 

PONDER THIS

A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. In the story there is more than what meets the ear. Jesus often taught in parables. Why? He was sharing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it wasn’t for everyone.

The mystery of Jesus’ teaching is this: There is hidden truth in the Bible that cannot be known by human wisdom. Man’s wisdom and intellect is not enough. You may be a PhD, but you’re not going to pry truth out of the Bible. I don’t care how smart you are, how intellectual you are, how many grams of gray matter are between your ears, you’re not going to be able to wrestle truth out of the Bible. Some people receive truth and others do not. Why would Jesus do that? Psalm 25:9 says, “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way.” There is a certain kind of person He is looking to guide. It is not the person who insists on his or her own way; it is the one who is humble, who will yield to God’s way. Is that you? Are you teachable and guidable? If you are, God wants to share His sacred secrets with you.

How are you teachable and guidable? Where do you need to grow in this area?

How has God’s Word and truth changed something in your life recently?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray and ask God to teach and guide you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Do You Wish God Would Explain Things to You?

PRAY OVER THIS

“And they commanded the people, saying, ‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.’” Joshua 3:3

 

PONDER THIS

A while ago we got our family together to go look at the Christmas lights. I have a neighbor whose house is so beautifully decorated, and they were telling us about another beautiful house, and he said, “Now you need to go here.” He began to explain it to me, and it got kind of convoluted. So, the neighbor said, “Wait a minute, Pastor, just let me get in my car and I’ll lead you there.” I didn’t have to worry about a street name or a direction; the only thing concerning me were his taillights as I followed where he went. When he moved, I moved, and he took me right where I needed to go. This is similar to what we see in this passage, which says in effect, “When the ark moves, you go after it. Let God guide you with His presence.”

Have you ever wanted God to explain things to you? Have you ever argued with God, and said, “Lord, tell me why?” The reality is you couldn’t understand if He told you, and if He did, you would likely try to bend God’s will to fit yours. In my life, the only way I’ve known the plan of God is not to look into the future, but to call to God and say, “Lord, lead me.”

When has God guided you, even if you didn’t know where you were going?

What do you do to discern how to best follow God?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask a fellow Christian to share a testimony about how God has led him or her.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Have You Rejected God’s Guidance?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.” Acts 27:29

 

PONDER THIS

In this verse, the sailors prayed in essence, “Oh! If I just had some light; if I just knew what to do!” But they had rejected God’s light. And now they found themselves in darkness. The sailors of that day didn’t have the modern instrumentation that we have today. They sailed by the stars, the sun, the moon, the land, and the shore. But the Bible tells us in Acts 27:20 that the storm was so fierce, all these things had disappeared. They were gone! What do you do, dear friend, when the stars go out of your night and the sun disappears out of your day? These sailors were in suffocating darkness, wishing for the day. And their hopes vanished.

What are some of the things you might be tempted to turn toward when you lose your spiritual bearings?

Why is it important that we heed God’s guidance in these situations and not reject it, as these men did?

PRACTICE THIS

Is there anywhere God is leading you that you haven’t obeyed? Act in obedience today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers