Thief in the night

I Thessalonians 5:1-3 (NIV)

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 

The day of the Lord is a common Old Testament term, used at least 19 times, the most well known being Joel 2:11 where the day of the Lord is described as “great” and “very awesome”.  In the New Testament this term is used 4 times, here and Acts 2:30, II Thess 2:2, and II Peter 3:10.  II Peter 3:10 is the scary verse, saying that the heavens will pass away and the earth and everything in it will be burned up.  Many people believe that II Peter 3:10 prophesizes the destruction of the earth and heaven by a cataclysmic world nuclear war.  The day of the Lord is associated with God’s final judgment where He personally intervenes in our history and ends it.  The day might be a single day or a period of time, no one knows, but it does signify when God will finally act to end and punish evil forever and fulfill all prophecies.

This day of the Lord will occur like a ‘thief in the night”.  This is not stating that Jesus is a thief, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  What comes to your mind as you think about a thief in the night?  A thief in your house in the middle of the night would be totally unexpected, right?  You would not be prepared to deal with a thief in your house, right?  A thief at night is a very frightening thought, right?  Well, God’s judgment on the world will be like this.  While everyone is feeling secure—peace and safety—vast destruction will suddenly occur and no one will escape.  If you believe in the Rapture and you are saved in Christ, then you will not experience this terrible time of the wrath of God upon the unbelieving world. 

Another interesting thought about the idea of the thief in the night---if you read on—I Thess 5:4-11—you learn that believers are in the light, not darkness.  Unbelievers are lost and in the dark.  Believers are not targets of God’s wrath (v 9).  Because of this wonderful promise and blessing, all believers should encourage one another (v 11).

My son, Ryan, decided to be born suddenly, in the middle of the night, ahead of his due date.  When my wife, Midge, woke me up, screaming that she was in labor, there was nothing she or I could do to delay or stop Ryan’s birth.  He was well on his way of being born by the time I got her to the hospital.  She was wheeled away and by the time I checked her in, the baby was born.  This is what Paul means by a woman being unable to escape labor pains once they start.  In the same way, the world cannot escape God’s impending wrath. 

Jesus said in Luke 17:26-30 that people were not expecting judgment until it was too late.  If you are not saved in Christ when the day of the Lord happens, it will be too late and you will not escape.  Think about what it means not to be able to escape.  Think of a movie or a newsreel of actual events where you see people trapped and unable to escape impending destruction.  Think of people on 9/11 airplanes or those trapped when a natural disaster like a tsunami or tornado hits.  Think of imagines in horror movies where people are fleeing impending disaster but cannot escape.  That’s the imagery that Paul is describing about the Lord returning as a thief in the night.  Those who do not have a personal relationship with Him will not escape whatever judgment is coming.  Do you realize your need to put Christ first in your life and accept His way of salvation?  Then you never will have to fear His coming again as a thief in the night.  While you have time, right now, escape the darkness in your life by asking the Lord Jesus Christ to come into your life and fill your life with His light.

Words you speak

Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 

When you think of “foul or abusive language” what comes to mind?  What comes to my mind are curse words and calling people names.  A study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2009 (doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01115.) reported that 10 words account for 80% of public foul language, that on average 80-90 words spoken each day are “swear words” and that foul language is associated with hostility.  While many reading this never speak a profane word, others speak foul/abusive words far too frequently. 

If every word you spoke during a day or a week could be recorded and reviewed, what percentage of your words would be foul or abusive versus words of encouragement to others?  You might be surprised. The Greek word that is translated “foul or abusive” is the word “sapros” that means “corrupt” or “rotten”.  This word “sapros” is used several times in the gospels referring to worthless trees that produce bad fruit (e.g. Matt 7:17-18, Luke 6:43, Matt 12:33).  Such words are not only foul language words, but also any word that does not build up another person, especially another believer.  So when you call someone any kind of derogatory name, you are using “sapros” language.  Remember, Jesus in Matt. 5:22 said that calling a brother a fool makes you “guilty enough to go into the hell of fire”.  The language you use is serious business in the eyes of the Lord.

Instead, you are to speak words that are good, helpful, and encouraging.  What do these words do to those who hear them?  Mother Teresa said that “kind words can be short and easy, but their echoes are truly endless”. 

Think of examples and the people in those examples who either encouraged or discouraged you with their words.  Both can make a world of difference to you, one in a very positive way; the other in a very negative way.  Proverbs 15:4 summarizes the effects of both encouraging and discouraging words---“A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit”. 

Why not become a person who speaks words of encouragement to others?  Wouldn’t you love to be described as a person who almost always has a fitting word for another and has the ability to say the right thing at the right time (Proverbs 15:23)?  Jesus said that what you say comes from what you think and what is in your heart.  A mind and heart saturated with the word of God will result in a person who will speak words of encouragement to others and make a huge difference in hundreds, even thousands of lives.  May you be this kind of person.

“The people who are lifting the world onward and upward are those who encourage more than they criticize.” – Elizabeth Harrison  

Earthly tent

II Corinthians 5:1,8 (NLT)

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands…Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 

Janelle Green published a book in 2008 entitled “This Earthly Tent”, taken from I Cor 5:1.  She writes about her life after being struck with multiple sclerosis in 1975 when she was a young wife and mother.  While her earthly tent—her physical body—kept deteriorating, she fought to maintain a positive attitude.  She wrote the book to give hope to others that the grace and strength of God can provide those with damaged tents an active, giving, and caring life with great optimism that better days are ahead because this is what God promises.

Paul was a tentmaker by trade and so made the analogy between a tent and physical life.  Studies have shown that the body grows until about age 20 and then from that age until you die, the body deteriorates.  Every component of our bodies deteriorates over time after age 20---all our senses weaken (e.g. need for eyeglasses, hearing aids), muscles lose stamina, joints become weak, bones soften, the heart becomes more frail, the brain loses activity, hair starts graying and falling out, all cells lose metabolic efficiency, etc).  Sure, we humans do all we can to retard the deterioration process, some smart (exercise, right eating, skin care, alleviating stress, etc) and some ridiculous (phony anti-aging products, plastic surgery, massive Botox® treatments, spending enormous amounts of money at health spas, etc.).

No matter what you try to do, you live in an earthly tent that will keep deteriorating until it is destroyed.  Plus, for so many people, like Janelle Green, our earthly tents can become severely damaged, even at a young age; yet people still live in them for years.  Think of loved ones and others you know who are handicapped, blind, deformed, deal with chronic pain and hundreds of other physical maladies that affect these temporary perishable tents.  Think about the perspective these people have (and you never know if/when you might be in the same position?) and why this quote from Helen Keller is so profound: “Death … is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.”     

A tent is a temporary structure.  The word “tent” was first mentioned in Genesis 4:20 and Old Testament heroes like Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses and the Israelites, etc lived in tents.  Not only are tents temporary structures as our bodies are, but we as Christian people are like tents in that we are sojourners (I Peter 2:11) while on this earth.  We are on a journey to our eventual home, heaven. Take comfort in the reality that your tent body deteriorates for a purpose, that you are headed for a much better place, that when you die, you will be home with the Lord. Home is the place where you belong, where you find true love, shelter, security, fellowship, and acceptance.  Why wouldn’t you rather be where your true home is?

Hope in the midst of despair

Psalm 42:5-6a (NASB)

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me.  Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.  O my God, my soul is in despair within me…….

Have you ever been so depressed that you have been unable to stand, you can do nothing but sit or lie down?  Well, the Hebrew word for despair means literally to bow down, to crouch.  To be so down that indeed you cannot stand is what the psalmist here is referring to.  To be so despairing that you must bow down not only has an effect on the physical body but also on your soul, your inner self, your mind, emotion and will. 

When you are so down, do you know why?  The psalmist here is asking “why are you in despair, O my soul?”  He is so despondent, so depressed, so discouraged, yet he cannot pinpoint exactly why he has reached these depths.  He just knows that is where he is.  He has tried to think or to reflect on everything about his life, past and present, that might make him feel better and nothing helps.  There is nothing left in his own life that can lift him up.  The only thing left is hope.  Not just general hope, but hope in God. 

The preposition “in” has significant meaning here.  Just like there is a big difference between believing God or believing in God, there is a big difference here between hope on God or hope in God.  There is an imagery of that hope being within God Himself, not on the periphery around God.

Hope in God conveys a significant intimacy between you and God.  Hope in God conveys a deep faith that only God can help you overcome your despair.  Only God can overcome the trouble that is deep within your soul.  Have you ever been in a state of mind where you saw little reason why you should go on living?   When someone is close to committing suicide because of the significant despair in his life, if he does not have some kind of relationship with God, there is no hope in Him.  There is nothing that deep within that person’s soul can rise up and cause him to stop from committing this ultimate evil act of taking your own life.

The prophet, Elijah, wanted to take his own life (I Kings 19:4).   Why didn’t he?  God was there with him and enabled him to see some reason to keep going.  There was still purpose in his life.  God allowed him to see some light in his life and why he should not give up even though he wanted to give up. 

God will do the same to you, His child, as long as you have hope in Him,.  When you are in the deepest of despair, when you are “bowed down”, talk to Him, read His Psalms, allow Him to enable you see that there is still light in your life because of the hope He gives you.  His presence during your darkest hours will help you.       

The Christian’s hope is in the Lord

We rest secure in His sure Word;
And though we’re tempted to despair

We do not doubt that God is there.

No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.—D. DeHaan

Forsaken your first love

Revelation 2:4-5 (NIV)

You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first. 

Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation describe seven churches in Asia Minor.  Not only were these actual churches in the first century, but many Bible scholars believe that these churches represent the progression or stage of the Christian church from its beginning to today (with the seventh church, the church of Loadicea, being the lukewarm, materialistic, and complacent church that some scholars believe describes the 20^th-21^st century church). 

There is not room in this devotional to outline the commendation, criticism, counsel, command, and characteristic of each church plus how each church in Rev 2-3 teaches something about Jesus and teaches something about suffering.  The first church, the Church at Ephesus, is described in this passage as a church that has “forsaken” or left their first love.  This describes many Christian people, people who initially had such fervency for their faith and service to the Lord, but over time such fervency and faith deteriorated.  Pastor Greg Laurie preached a great message on this passage, emphasizing the three “R” words of verse 5—to remember what you used to be like, what excited you about your conversion and early Christian walk; to repent from what is currently preventing you from returning to that former happy, lively, loving person, and to return to or to restore the deeds that you did at first.

How would you feel if you actually could hear the Lord tell you to your face, “You have forsaken Me.  You have fallen so far!”  Think about that.  None of you would ever desire to hear these words.  Yet, hearing them while you are still alive and healthy gives you a chance to do something about it.  So give thanks and praise for being reminded and change your ways if, in fact, these verses apply to you.  What if you did nothing and then heard these words on Judgment Day?  There would be nothing that you could do.  How horrible that scenario would be.  Don’t give it a chance to happen. 

These verses not only apply to Christian individuals, but also apply to marriages.  With divorce rates as high as they are, how far couples have fallen from when they first fell in love and how they felt for one another on their wedding day.  If your marriage is stumbling or in real trouble, follow the “remember—repent—return/restore” principles.  It takes great humility, strength, and courage to admit that your marriage is described here and to do something positive to restore it. 

May the Lord use these verses if they apply to you to help you return to your first love—to follow and to obey the Lord God through His Son Jesus Christ.