2 Thessalonians

Hey guys! We will be continuing the Thessalonians saga with 2 Thessalonians. This will start on Tuesday, and will end right before the retreat. PLEASE DO YOUR DEVOS!!!! Especially right before a retreat.

-Isaac

Ughh...First period World History...People on youtube, CS, Icy Tower, etc.

Lol and the guy beside me is watching J.I.M.P lol
2 Thessalonians 1

I am thankful for all of you guys in the team, and I feel blessed to know you guys, but did I ever thank God for a chance to meet you guys, I don't think I have. It's by God that we have this chance to grow together as friends and become a family. I was thinking what are the odds of meeting all of you and not someone else. Hmmm I know it's a weird thing to think about, but I really feel blessesd to be a part of this family.

Oh cr@p teacher is coming...not that I mind...yah

K take it easy you guys

-Allan

Hey guys, whats up..for today's biology class we did a lab on our science teacher's urine. Lol, anyways heres my devotions for today...

2 THESSALONIANS 1

"Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. therefore among God's churches we boast about your perseverence and faith in all the persucutions and trials you are enduring".

So in this passage, Its really similar with 1 THESSALONIANS 1. In these verses, God is telling us to always be thankful. Just like how to says in verse 2 that he has given us grace and peace in this world and in your minds. Why do we thank God for everything. There are some people in the world might think tghat way, beacuse of the violence that happens in the world, such as world wars, etc. To me i am thankful for everything, even if something terrible has happen to me. I am thankful because God has given me life. He gave me a soul, and his love. And you cannot recieve a gift like that from anyone. Another thing i learned in this passage, is that he gave his love by sending his son, jesus Christ down to earth so he can sacrifice himself on the cross for our sins. the blood of Jesus will clear our sins and will make our hearts clean. More like a new life to start. So i am very thankful.

AMEN......

Have a good day guys...

science teacher's urine, is that legal...EWWWW

ello guys!

intense passage today, lots and lots of meanings and such..First of all, the fact that God is just really gives me a piece of mind. It's weird but it creates a piece in me, it lets me know that those people that do bad things on to others and myself, will be dealt accordingly to God and his judgment. Key here is that it is God's judgment, and not mine. God sees the whole picture, but i only see a part and give them inaccurate judgment. He will give us relief, i think that is the best thing we can ask for when we are in a tight situation, it is GOD's relief, which would definitely give us peace, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Next it talks about those that did not repent to God and not accept Christ as their savior. This is very scary, but it is the bottom line and the truth of life. This pushes me more to evangelize to my friends and the people around me, as I for sure do not want to see my friends not go to heaven. It is scary, how it says everlasting destruction, shut out from God's presence and majesty of his power, but it is something that we must face and acknowledge.

11With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ

WOW! These two verses are so intense!!
Firstly, 'that God may count you worthy of his calling': This part really humbled me in remember that. We've all screwed up so much. But still God calls us back and takes us back and we come crawling back to him. Really, we're not even worthy of the things that he asks us to do, of his calling, or of his love. But becuase our God is gracious, restores in us his calling, and gives us the gift of having God in our lives yet again. So let's not take it for granted that we have a God-given calling. Let's not look at it as a pain in the butt, or a set of rules, but a privillege that we have to fulfill

"by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith."
This verse lets us know that every good deed, every act that we do really doesnt get fulfilled without God. This is why we struggle so much when we're trying to do something good, but we dont really do it for God or with God in mind. Because everything without God is useless. God takes everything that we give him and multiplies it, makes it so much greater to fulfill our good purpsoses. (Like the parable when Jesus took only a couple of loaves of bread and fed thousands. God really makes it count! ) Hahha. otherwise known as the multiplier effect in economics. hahah God is the one who multiplies. wow im such a loser.

i'm so tired.
i have a chem test tomorrow and i've been slacking. but its ok i'll wake up tomorrow morning and study it aha.

aha this chapter is very direct isn't it? It seems almost unfair ahaha.
ANyway i like verse 3.
"Because your faith is growing more and more, and the love everyone of you has for each other is increasing."

Umm, for Hannah and steve that missed the meeting on sunday. ahaha
We just talked about how much mroe we need to grow as a team, and actually become a family. And it clearly says in order to love each other more, it's essential to grow your faith in God. This is why we stress Devos so much. You know Roh started this thing well, and showed everyone what it meant to have an awesome friend right right? I want us to build so much more on that. I want us to go out together, study at the library etc. TALK OUTSIDE OF CHURCH?
ANother way is to encourage, i think we need to always be encouraging to each other, to acknowledge and just be there you know? Encouragements don't only have to be notes or a pat on the back, but encouragements can be said in different ways. Ie: Hannah always gives high fives ahaha, or Denise USUALLY gives you a dirty look, but somewtimes i find that encouraging, that they acknowldge i'm there.
ahah anyway that's my two cents? ahah ka-ching

This Chapter was very morale-boosting.
I think it also incurred a feeling of redemption in me while reading it.
The Christians at the time were obviously facing a lot of persecution, and I'm sure these words of encouragement brought a lot of hope and strength to the Christians at the time.
I learned from this that being a leader requires one to be passionate about what he/she is doing, and that they need to be able to use their passion to encourage on others who may feel like they're participating in a losing battle.
In terms of a more religious aspect, I learned about having strong faith in God regardless of the situation you're in.
Just because there are bad people doing bad things around you, that doesn't justify you, yourself, doing bad things.

hahaha Joseph, what kind of biology experiment was that? lol
allan's comment is funny too
good luck on your test tmr jacob

sorry for the late devo. I came back from the airport.

"because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing."
I think this really applies to our team. Our faith is constantly "flourishing" and we are getting more and more close to each other.
" 7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted "
During my discipleship class way back when i was in grade 8? i was in Pauline's group. Our motto was "God will provide!". Thats stuck with me even til today. Lets really trust in God, and that he will truly provide for us. Provide a place to practice, a place to play on sunday, and congregation to play infront of, new equipment and a bright future for this team.

Sorry for the late devos again!

-Isaac