2 Thessalonians 2 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com: Not Just Mercy, but Grace

We are poor, spiritually for sure; monetarily, perhaps.  We’ve buried our dreams, desires, and aspirations.  Like the mother with Lupus or the businessman in the unemployment line, we’re out of options.

Yet Christ approached us “while we were yet sinners!”  “Will you cover us?” we asked him, and Grace smiled.

Not just mercy, mind you, but grace.  Grace goes beyond mercy.  Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance.  Grace threw him a party.  Mercy prompted the Samaritan to bandage the wounds of the victim.  Grace prompted him to leave his credit card as payment for the victim’s care. Mercy forgave the thief on the cross.  Grace escorted him into paradise.

Mercy pardons us.  Grace woos and weds us. Grace does this.  God does this.  Grace is God walking into your world with a sparkle in his eye and an offer that’s hard to resist!

“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5?

From GRACE

2 Thessalonians 2
New International Version (NIV)
The Man of Lawlessness

2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Stand Firm

13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits[b] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Ephesians 5:8-21

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
    and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Capture The Moment

September 26, 2012 — by Joe Stowell

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time. —Ephesians 5:15-16

My wife, Martie, is a great shopper. When she shops for groceries, she reads all the nutrition labels and considers the best deal by looking at the price per unit. But her best trick is looking for the “use by” date. She doesn’t just grab the first gallon of milk she sees, but rather she goes for the gallon with the latest “use by” date so she can bring home the freshest milk from the store.

In a sense, our lives are marked by “use by” dates—except that none of us knows the exact date when our heart will expire or we’ll take our last breath on this planet. Given that reality, shouldn’t we try a little harder to capture the moments we’ve been given? Capturing the moment means that we’ll do things like love more deeply, forgive more quickly, listen more carefully, and speak more affirmingly.

Paul gives this good advice: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). He also instructs us to “walk as children of light . . . finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (vv.8-10).

Since none of us knows our “use by” date, we should capture the opportunities to brighten our world with the love of Christ today!

Lord, grant me grace throughout this day
To walk the straight and narrow way,
To do whatever in Thy sight
Is good and perfect, just and right. —Huisman
Live each day as if it’s your last.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 26, 2012

The “Go” of Reconciliation

If you . . . remember that your brother has something against you . . . —Matthew 5:23

This verse says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you . . . .” It is not saying, “If you search and find something because of your unbalanced sensitivity,” but, “If you . . . remember . . . .” In other words, if something is brought to your conscious mind by the Spirit of God— “First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:24). Never object to the intense sensitivity of the Spirit of God in you when He is instructing you down to the smallest detail.

“First be reconciled to your brother . . . .” Our Lord’s directive is simple— “First be reconciled . . . .” He says, in effect, “Go back the way you came— the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing.” Jesus does not mention the other person— He says for you to go. It is not a matter of your rights. The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.

“. . . and then come and offer your gift.” The process of reconciliation is clearly marked. First we have the heroic spirit of self-sacrifice, then the sudden restraint by the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit, and then we are stopped at the point of our conviction. This is followed by obedience to the Word of God, which builds an attitude or state of mind that places no blame on the one with whom you have been in the wrong. And finally there is the glad, simple, unhindered offering of your gift to God.



A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wasted Bullets - #6708

Thursday, September 26, 2012

Back when my sons were young, they were watching Saturday morning television. One morning I walked by the living room and they were watching Superman. I'll tell you, I got hooked! It brought back memories.

Superman was originally on in the mid '50s, and Fred Flintstone was there in school with me at that time. You might remember that. Television was a brand new thing! We had this little seven-inch screen in our home. I could barely put words together, but I used to watch Superman. Oh, I never missed those 30 minutes. It was always amusing to watch the crooks try to stop Superman. Did you ever see that? They'd be firing this gun as many times as they could find bullets for it, and every bullet would bounce off Superman, and they'd kind of look at their gun quizzically, and he stands there like he's not even aware of anything...like the bullets were mosquitoes bouncing off of him.

Or they would come up and stab him with a knife and the knife bent and it hits them. Or they try to break a pipe over his head, and of course the pipe breaks and nothing happens to him. They sure did waste a lot of ammunition on Superman. But once in a while a clever criminal would discover Superman's one weakness. Kryptonite! That's right; that ore from his original planet. And if you could use a little of that ore on Superman, he would fall to his knees, powerless, and he was beatable.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wasted Bullets."

Well, Ephesians 6 is where we find our word for today from the Word of God. It's a very revealing chapter. It reveals the real battle that we're fighting; the spiritual warfare that you and I are involved in. And it gives to us a description of the armor that you can put on to protect your heart and your mind from what is called the Devil's flaming arrows. Then it goes on to reveal to us the only weapon he fears.

I'm reading from Ephesians 6:18. After you've got all the armor on, "...pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Now, the comparison between Satan and Superman is pretty inadequate. Satan is no hero. He is the Prince of Death. Superman was fiction; Satan is very real, very active around us. But there is a parallel when it comes to wasted bullets and spiritual kryptonite.

Prayer in Jesus' name renders Satan powerless. But unfortunately we usually fight our battles with wimpier weapons. We try to do God's work on the strength of good management, our great plans, our cleverness, more committee meetings, human charisma. We try to get God's work done with abundant programs, new buildings and persuasion. And the Devil laughs. Those bullets bounce right off of him.

How much time and money do we throw away on wasted bullets? We're trying to win a personal battle with schemes, and endless discussions, and phone calls, and emails, and back room politics, and personal determination. Those bullets are bouncing right off our enemy.

Our last resort, usually, is prevailing prayer. The kind when we get on our knees, we confess our total bankruptcy in the situation, we surrender all our schemes, we allow a total Holy Spirit takeover, we invoke the cross and the blood of Christ against our enemy. When you do that, Satan crumbles to his knees. He's rendered powerless by the spiritual kryptonite of fervent prayer.

Hey, for once, put all the other meetings on the back burner. You need a prayer meeting. You may need many prayer meetings. Without that, all our other weapons? They're wasted bullets.