Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Believing that Jesus is Lord | New Testament | 2 Thessalonians 2

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

Where in your life do you need to be reminded of God's power? What distracts you from kingdom life with God? In today's episode, Tanya looks at the reminders in 2 Thessalonians 2 to share the hope that Jesus brings. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Thessalonians 2

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. After a one-sided ego-defeating, 25 to zero loss, to a much more experienced football team, the players hung their heads and trotted slowly to the sideline. Never mind that they were in fourth grade, and they were about to have goldfish and Capri sons handed out by a team parent. it was still a tough loss.

When my friend retold this story and how her son handled it, she almost couldn't help but giggle her way through the best part. The coach gathered them around, looked each of them in the eye, made sure the parents could all hear and said, It's okay, boys, because Jesus is still Lord. The team didn't improve much, but my friend's son still loves to play football. And what the coach said that day didn't really solve the logistical problems for a losing football team. But it does actually solve a lot of bigger problems.

Maybe we take it for granted in the middle of our to-do list and our problems to be solved. But living in the truth of Jesus as Lord gives meaning to our tasks and hope despite our problems. Where do you need this reminder of God's power? We live in a time between fulfillment and promise. Christ the king was crucified and freed us from exile, and Christ will return his king to wipe away sin and death forever. When Paul was writing to the Thessalonians, there was some anxiety over what had happened and what they were still waiting for. Some of them were believing the day of the Lord had already come, and this teaching and thinking was creating anxiety and uncertainty. It was distracting them from kingdom life.

So 2 Thessalonians 2 is Paul addressing this problem. If you've read this chapter, it can be challenging to take in what Paul was saying. Even Peter says in 2. Peter 315 that there are some things that are hard to understand, and we might wonder if he had this chapter in mind. A rebellion, a man of lawlessness, a restrainer, what are these things? Paul warns the Thessalonians not to be deceived by false teachers. and he asks in verse 5, do you not remember that when I was still with you,

I told you these things? It appears that Paul's reminding them of what he taught them earlier, and he's encouraging them to hold fast because the day of the Lord has not yet come with all the future blessings that Christ's followers eagerly await. So rather than being frightened by missing something, he wants to reassure them of their future hope that lies in the gospel. or in other words, Jesus is still Lord.

Now, the two big takeaways are that Jesus will return to defeat all evil, and yet this time we're living in involves a lot of hard stuff for believers. Paul echoes Jesus teaching in Mark 13 and warns against false teachers who will lead unbelievers astray during this time. It's their certainty, though, about who Jesus is that will hold us. whole believers fast. Okay, you know how when you're in the middle of something, it can loom really big in your head. Our minds give things more power than they really have, and we can start to go down rabbit

holes of anxiety and what-ifs. Think about things that can have a big power over your mind, struggles, conflicts, tasks. Is it something coming up where you need to perform well? Is it a decision you have to make? Is it something you want to say no to but feel pressure to say yes? Is it someone's words about you? These are the kinds of things that we can allow to distract us from kingdom life. Paul warns the Thessalonians about those who will look for a time,

like they have more power than they really do. But before he even goes into the details of what that will look like, he describes how the Lord Jesus will defeat these things with the breath of his mouth and bring all of the false teachers and enemies to nothing. And we've heard this before in Isaiah 114, where with the breath of his mouth, Christ will defeat the wicked and overthrow the evil one. So it's interesting and significant to talk about how the enemy's power is both real and a delusion, is both part of a current reality, but will be destroyed.

for all of eternity. Now, certainly, we experience the realities of temptation and suffering. Certainly, those things hold our thoughts captive and affect our mental and physical bodies in real ways. They make us discouraged, tempted, proud, shameful, and lonely. They keep us out of kingdom life. But in this chapter, Paul reminds of Thessalonians that Jesus is Lord and offers practical encouragement and substantial tools for dealing with the life we have right now when the

lies of the enemy are trying to distract us from kingdom life, knowing that they don't have the power that we give them sometimes. So first, he tells the Thessalonians, they need to believe the truth, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved through sanctification by the spirit and belief in the truth to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is reminding them that there is trinitarian power behind who they are. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all worked together long ago to establish your identity and future status in God's kingdom. How would anything else be able to undo this kind of power and love?

You're eternally associated with the Father, who chose you to be saved. You're eternally loved by the Lord Jesus who bore your sins. You're being made holy by the spirit. Wow, Paul gets all of that in one verse, actually too. But this is the truth we believe and keep believing. So then, as Paul says, the second thing is to stand firm. In the face of persecution, false teaching, flex your spiritual muscles so you're not swayed.

This takes training in the Word of God. It takes alertness to the spirit. Standing firm is an active state of living in tension. If your life has no tension, maybe that should be more alarming because it probably means that instead of standing firm, you are tossing to and fro to fit into a lesser kingdom. Standing firm in the tension is assurance that you're waiting in a bigger hope with King Jesus.

We can stand firm. because he holds us firm from verse 16 in the grip of his grace. And third, Paul says pray for one another. And then Paul prays for the Thessalonians and teaches them to pray. Why is prayer so important? Well, we often use it as a last resort, so let's never miss an opportunity to talk more about how the Bible teaches us to pray. Prayer reminds us that we are dependent on God to do the things he tells us to do in His Word.

So how do we keep believing? How do we stand firm when we need God's help? Paul prays. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. So to pray like Paul, we pray for others, that they will remember that Jesus is Lord,

that they will remember that they are loved by God, that God will continue to do. to encourage them in their hearts and make them resolute in speaking and acting in ways that reflect their faith. Do you have anyone who can pray for you like this? Do you have people you are praying for like this? When it comes to those kinds of questions, there are two things you can do instead of just being discouraged.

One, you can reach out to us here at TMBT. You can find us on our webpage or our socials and tell us how to pray for you. We will do it. Second, you can start praying. Pray for God to do these things in you and pray for him to encourage others. Tell them you're praying for them. See where that goes and what God will do through prayer. And finally, will you pray with me? Lord, life is a battle. There's not only an outward world that opposes you, but I have an inward heart rebellion that denies you. Let me look to your promises and send your presence with me so I can face those ends.

enemies with confidence. Encourage my unbelieving heart when I need it and strengthen my muscles to stand firm instead of being tossed around. Keep me mindful that you have me in the grip of your grace. And let me live in humility and security. Thanks be to Jesus. Amen. Before you forget, sign up for the brand new TMBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.