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For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17 |
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| Daily Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. 9/25/2025
Today's Passage:Judging Church Members BibleVerse:2 Thessalonians 3:13-18 "And you, brothers, must not become discouraged in doing good. And if anyone does not obey you in fulfilling this epistle, mark him as one with whom you will not associate, to shame him, but do not treat him like an enemy; rather, admonish him as a brother. 16-18 And may the Lord of Peace Himself give you peace, in every thing and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. The greeting is in my own hand - Paul’s - which I write as a mark in each epistle. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. " Message:
Verses 13-15 reiterate and develop the main theme of Chapter 3, that is, we must encourage our brothers and sisters who are doing good, and admonish and correct those who have gotten so far off the path that they are impeding the mission of the church.
Paul already told the Thessalonians not to put up with disruptive people, who spent their time “meddling” instead of working. Such people must be avoided and told to earn their own bread.
Paul now gives us a similar message, with a hard and a soft side. The hard side being that anyone who doesn’t follow the instructions in the epistle must be avoided and shamed; the soft side being, that this not be done in anger, but in love, to encourage them to come closer to Christ.
Paul in Prison
Paul writing a letter
The close of the letter is formal but nevertheless sincere, wishing God’s grace for all the church. Note that even in this, one of Paul’s earliest letters, he is not actually doing the mechanical writing. He only physically put pen to paper in verses 16-18. Using his own “hand” for the conclusion performed the function of a signature today; a mark of authenticity, ensuring the reader that the letter was actually written by Paul through a secretary. We see the need for authentication in the first two verses of Chapter 2: “Now we ask you, brothers, . . . that you not be quickly agitated or frightened by . . . a letter purporting to be from us.”
The problem of erroneous doctrine written in fake letters, purporting to be written by an apostle or prophet, is a huge problem even today in Christianity. These are called pseudepigrapha, from the Greek word meaning “fake writing.” Most of them seem to have been written between 200 B.C. and 300 A.D. One large group are Gnostic, claiming such doctrines as creation of the universe by a lesser god, and salvation through knowledge rather than faith or grace. Another major group (sometimes overlapping the Gnostics) claims to have secret knowledge not made available to the public.
Do not confuse these viciously and harmful errant writings with the Apocrypha, which are good and helpful Jewish (i.e. Old Testament) writings that simply are not considered inspired by God. There are also many interesting and helpful letters actually written by early church fathers, especially in the period 80-200 AD.
Meditation : “All theology, like all fiction, is at its heart autobiography.” ~ Frederick Buechner Prayer : et me not forget my prayers as I go out into the world. Holy Spirit, be with me, and let me praise you and remember you in my every action and thought, for the entire day long. In Christ’s name I ask this,,,Amen. |
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