Alive!

Alive!

1 Thessalonians 3: ⁷ So, in all our trouble and suffering we have been encouraged about you, friends. It was your faith that encouraged us, ⁸ because now we really live if you stand firm in your life in union with the Lord. ⁹ Now we can give thanks to our God for you. We thank him for the joy we have in his presence because of you. ¹⁰ Day and night we ask him with all our heart to let us see you personally and supply what is needed in your faith.

 

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Assessing my life, I felt dead. I was in a dead end job, alone and piles of debt. No longer did the parties make me “happy.” “Is this it?” I asked myself, because at the time life really stunk.

 

• I felt like I was dead.
• I thought that there should have been more to life than a rotten job and bills.
• I had run out of options when trying to make myself “happy” during difficult circumstances.

 

Paul, Silas and Timothy were encouraged in the middle of their suffering. Timothy had brought back “welcome news” about the faith of the Thessalonians. While Paul was the teacher, he needed to hear some news that other people were standing firm. He says “now we really live.”

 

My Observations

• Hearing that other people are standing firm in the middle of their trials makes me see that I can stand firm in GOD, just like him or her.
• After deciding to stand firm for the LORD, I can praise HIM for what HE is doing in other folks lives.
• GOD wants me to also ask for HIM to supply my needs as well as the needs of others.

 

Feeling empty or dead happens to some of us. I mean, when things are not going as I expect for an extended time, I can run out of gas. BUT GOD wants me to run out of gas. Why? Because HE wants me to rely on HIS power.

 

HE brings me through trials and HE delivers others from theirs. When I see what HE is doing in the lives of others, I get encouraged to stand firm and patiently wait on the LORD. I am grateful, HE is working everything out in HIS way and time.

 

Challenge

• Why do you think the writers were encouraged?
• Have you ever felt that life was not going as well as you expected?
• Will you be encouraged by what GOD is doing in other people’s lives and know HE has a wonderful plan for you as well?
• Will yu stand firm for JESUS today?

You are Alive!

 

You are Alive!

Romans 8: ⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

 

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Being granted the time off work excited me. My boss was gracious enough to give me some extra time to go on a missions trip. This excited me about the company I worked for at the time, though the work hours were very, very long and the environment could be filled with pressure. On the trip, I met a man who showed me his hut, wife, lemon tree and cow. He was so excited. He seemed more alive than I could ever imagine.

 

• There were times when I thought I was alive, but I may have been dead.
• There were times when I felt I was living “the dream” but I may have been in a nightmare.
• There may have been times when I believed I was the one in control, but I needed something else to live inside me to take control.

 

Paul switches over from discussing sin to speaking about the Spirit. He explains that the HOLY SPIRIT lives inside those who believe in JESUS as the one and only Savior of humanity. Paul also points out that if HOLY SPIRIT, who was powerful enough to raise JESUS from the dead, lives in you, HE can certainly raise you up as well.

 

• The HOLY SPIRIT makes me alive.
• The HOLY SPIRIT guides me daily.
• The HOLY SPIRIT gives me comfort, wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

 

The most overlooked being is the HOLY SPIRIT. I mean, the HOLY SPIRIT has to do the dirty work by living inside a sinful person like myself. HE warns me not to fall into the temptation, yet I fall anyway. HE then goes before the throne and advocates on my behalf in groans I could never understand.

 

HE rejoices when I step away from temptation and praises me when I serve those HE leads me to. HE protects, provides and brings me to an abundant life of heavenly riches, versus a dead life of earthly bondage. I am grateful for being raised from a dead life and made alive by GOD!

 

• Are you dead thinking you are alive?
• Do you have a lot of accolades but have not received praise from the HOLY SPIRIT?
• Will you seek what GOD wants you to do and be alive versus living a life tied to death today?

Alive

Alive

John 15: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

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Driving around the city, instead of riding the bus, made me feel alive. I was free to leave at any time instead of being stuck on a schedule. After a while though, I did not feel as alive. I barely had enough money to pay for gas. Some liquid always needed replenishing. To top it off… it would not start sometimes and I would be late. When the car died, so did I, or at least I felt that way.

• Moments of my life made me feel alive.
• Moments of my life made me feel like nothing could stop me.
• Moments of my life made me feel free to do anything I wanted.

JESUS says “I AM the true vine.” The vine is something that is alive and can bear fruit. Since JESUS “is” the true vine, all of HIS messages enable me to bear fruit. But what about my desires to be free to do anything I want? JESUS has a solution.

• JESUS wants me to believe in HIS word so I will be free indeed.
• JESUS wants me to live for HIS purpose so I will not be chained to temporary things that die.
• JESUS wants me to put all things in HIM so I can truly be alive.

Desire to live can make me die. I mean if I examine my life based upon what the world says “alive” should be, I would be sad, exhausted and unwanted. Utopia cannot be achieved by human standards. BUT GOD enables me to truly be alive.

HE gives me purpose, drive, determination and love that never fails. HE and HE alone is the truth in which I can place my trust. Human kingdoms come and go, BUT GOD’s kingdom will last forever! I am alive eternally because of JESUS.

• Are you dead or alive?
• Do you feel you are living a life of purpose?
• Will you turn to JESUS so HE can guide you to bear fruit, even through troubles, today?