SCRIPTURE: 1Thessalonians (NIV) 2:3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts….
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
OBSERVATION: No tricks, no deceitfulness were used by Paul to reach out to the Thessalonians. Paul was not interested in building his kingdom, but God’s. It was God who was using Paul to build the eternal Kingdom! Paul had been chosen by God and entrusted with a noble assignment. The good news of God’s great love for man, and the extent He went to show it, had been entrusted to Paul.
Paul’s motive was, to put it most simply, to make God smile. The test that concerned Paul, was not the approval of man, but the approval of God. God considers the heart, the motives.
Paul’s was thankful for their openness to God’s Word. Though it came through men, they accepted it as from God. It is a life-changing word that Paul could see was presently at work in those to whom Paul was writing.
APPLICATION: It was a joy for Paul to see people accept the scriptures as the Word of God and to see the Word at work in their lives. Paul’s thankfulness is very understandable.
Every SOAP begins with a Scripture about which I write an Observation. I prayerfully ask God to give me an Application of that scripture to my life. Then I close with a short Prayer.
PRAYER: Lord, I am greatly humbled to see how you are using these SOAPs every day. In them You show us that you love us. You are interested in our lives. And you speak to us each day. Touch each reader with you Holy Spirit today. Amen.
Pastor Leon
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