Episode 80 - 1 Thessalonians 5:24 - God Cannot Bless What We Will Not Do

This is episode number 80.

 

Today we are looking at the promises we find in the NT book of 1 Thessalonians, which is a letter the Apostle Paul penned to the church at Thessalonica. 

Chapter 5 of the book, verse 24. 

 

Today’s podcast episode is sponsored by The Power of God’s Will - 40 Days of God’s Promises - it is on sale now at Amazon at a temporary low price, the lowest of the year, $7.75 (normally 9.75)

 

In the Amplified, it says this: 

Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you (to Himself for your salvation), and He will do it (He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own).

 

The word of God is tremendous. The word of God is powerful. This is life change in a handful of words. This is the real thing. Nothing compares with God’s Word. Nothing. 

 

Who is this Lord making us all these many promises? He is faithful and He is absolutely trustworthy, that is who He is. Your promise maker is faithful and cannot be unfaithful. Your promise maker is absolutely trustworthy and will never do one single thing that deems Him untrustworthy. The promise maker is also the promise keeper, and it is He who has called you to HImself. 

 

This verse says that He is the one who will do what He intended to do. 

Now, that takes a whole lot of pressure off, doesn’t it?

That does not mean that I can pull off a weekly podcast episode or a live video in my prayer group or work on a prayer journal for parents without me doing anything. But the pressure is off. And frankly, I need to be reminded of that fact. Hey Jan - if one person downloads or a thousand today, the pressure is off you because it was never placed on you by the Lord. If one person watches the video or every member of the group does, the pressure is off of you because God never put that burden on you. 

 

My work is to be obedient and to trust Him to do what it is that He wants done. 

 

But that obedience does not usually mean sitting on my hands, resting on my laurels, doing a whole lot of nothing. God cannot bless what I will not do. 

 

If He has called you to a season of rest, say in some certain area, then you need to honor Him and show your love for Him by obeying that call to rest.

 

However - and this is a big, big however in light of today’s verse and the promises we see therein - however, not doing the work He has called you to be doing and calling that “resting” is not really a safe bet. Love the Lord your God with all your heart & all your soul & all your mind & all your strength. All - Your - Strength. That is absolutely God’s will for you, for all who are His disciples. And that does not sound like doing nothing. It sounds like someone who will do what God wants them to do, and do it as well as they can, with a fully devoted heart, and who will also leave the results to God. 

 

He is no less the Great I AM on this day than He was on the day He said those words to Moses in the desert thousands of years ago. 

 

God cannot bless what you will not do. 

So, be about the doing He has told you to be doing. But don’t internalize the end result of that doing. Don’t let that become your identity. 

What you do is not who you are and it never, ever will be.

But what you do is an indicator of Whose you are, and that is as it should be. 

 

He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own.

 

That word will tells us that this is a promise. And it assures us that we are not under the gun to make God’s promises happen. 

 

But what is He promising to do here, exactly?

To make you, to make me, holy. 

To guard us.

To watch over us.

To protect us as His own.

 

Guard us? Yes, please!

Watch over us? Oh, yes, more of that please Lord!

Make us holy? That process is sometimes filled with growing pains. But it is His will, and so it is what He is going to do. Since He has promised to make us holy, then we know He will keep that promise. 

And protect us as His own.

Don’t miss this - as His own. 

You were bought with a price, my friend, and that price was the precious blood of God’s only Son. The value is inestimable. And so, that makes you highly valued because you are highly valuable. He will today and tomorrow and next week and in 2022 protect you as His own. Because You are His - ownership rights belong to the Lord Most High. Don’t try to wrestle them back from Him. You got a good deal when you gave your life to Jesus. Let it stay right there, remind yourself that this was a very, very wise trade you made, this running your own life and facing the consequences now and eternally for your sins being traded for the life Jesus died to give you. Live THAT life - and live it right now. He has promised to protect you as His own, so let that happen and don’t fight against being owned by the Lord. It’s a good thing. Embrace it and receive all the blessing that comes with it. 

 

Have a blessed day and know that I have prayed for you - for everyone who listens to this episode. I know God hears and answers prayers - expect to see Him move in your life, even this very day. 

 

And remember, today’s episode is sponsored by The Power of God’s Will - 40 Days of God’s Promises - it is on sale now at Amazon at a lower price than normal for a short time. 

 

See you back here next time for episode 81.

 

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