In 1 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul sought not just to encourage the believers there who were facing persecutions, he wanted to answer the question of when would Jesus Christ return? Can we know the exact day he will return? How should believers live if we know we would stand before him at his second coming? These and more are some of the questions we would answer during our devotional in the next few days as we go through both of the letters sent to the Thessalonian believers.

It is worthy of note that the very same issues the believers then struggled with are still relevant today. In fact, some of the issues they dealt with, are with us today; persecution of Christians, disagreements about whether there would be a rapture or not, and whether believers can with certainty, predict the exact day Jesus will return. Paul encouraged them;

[14] And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews. [15] For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity [16] as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭2:14‭-‬16‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

Even today, there are those who try to stop us preaching the gospel. We must learn from the church in Thessalonian and not allow ourselves become discouraged. They persecuted the Lord Jesus, they will try and persecute us in hope of stopping the gospel, but we can't give in. Tell others about Jesus today.

As we conclude the letter to the Colossians in today's devotional, allow me to speak on 2 advises Paul gives this church;

[2] Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

Colossians‬ ‭4:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

Short and simple but carries a lot. Prayer requires devotion. With devotion implies there needs to be some consistency. Yes, there is a part to prayer that is impromptu and spontaneous, yes, but if you are going to be productive in prayer, give it your devotion.

Secondly, Paul says with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Stay focused. If God is going to speak to you, it is going to come in your thoughts, in your mind. So be vigilant. He gave this same advise to the Philippian church; think on these things, in other words, you decide what your mind will be focused on. And do so while being thankful. Be thankful for the little things. Be thankful for the relationships the Lord has surrounded you with. Be thankful you know the Lord. Be thankful!

Let's share one more;

[5] Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.

Colossians‬ ‭4:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

You are a Christian. You are an ambassador of the kingdom of God. You represent Christ in this world, never be careless at the way those who don't know God see you. In fact, for some us, we are going to be the first some will taste or see of God. So Paul says; live wisely among none believers, let them see the grace of God in and through you.

Living the new life, that's the focus of today's devotional. The fact that our lives is in Christ changes everything. It has implications for the way we live and how we relate with this world.

[1] Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. [2] Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. [3] For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians‬ ‭3:1‭-‬3‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

We live with the consciousness that we died to this life. We live with the consciousness that we are citizens of heaven, we are ambassadors of the kingdom of God. This world is not our home.

During the conclusion of today's devotional, we prayed that the Lord would give us an insight into the finished work of Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. We also prayed that the Lord would open our eyes to our current position presently in Christ.

[11] When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. [12] For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. [13] You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. [14] He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. [15] In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Colossians‬ ‭2:11‭-‬15‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

If every Christian would come to an understanding of these 4 verses, the church would be much more stronger and grounded.

It is in Christ, in fact, Christ himself performed the spiritual surgery of cutting away the sinful nature from us.

Paul says we were buried together with Christ. So we not only died with him on the cross, when he entered the grave, we went in there with him. In Christ, our old self and nature is dead and buried, a new us arose when Christ was raised from the dead.

This understanding is the secret to spiritual authority. When you understand what happened to you and who you are now today in Christ, you will understand why demons have no choice than to obey you.

Good morning, welcome to today's devotional. Paul's shares with us a mystery or you could call it secret about the Christian life. This is is the one reason why Christianity is different from every other; it is Christ.

[26] This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. [27] For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

Colossians‬ ‭1:26‭-‬27‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

Christ, the one who is the visible image of the invisible God, lives in every Christian. This is so powerful. Now you understand when the Bible says; we are the temples of the Holy Spirit, because Christ lives in us.

When you become conscious of this fact as a Christian, it changes everything, Paul says it gives an assurance of sharing Christ's glory. It also gives you an assurance of your salvation. The assurance you are born again and that you are a child of God.

Paul, with some of his final words offered words of encouragement to all of us;

"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice." Philippians 4:4.

Joy is contagious. But joy is also a choice. It is not necessarily a product of anything happening physically around you. Joy comes from the within, from an assurance that the one who loves us is with us and he has promised to never leave us orphaned. That is why we are joyful. Our joy gives us strength to face whatever comes tomorrow because we know it will be alright because God is with us. That is why the first thing the devil goes for when he is looking to bring you down is your joy.

Paul also advised; "don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6. NLT.

The last thing most people do is pray. Prayer is usually the last resort when every other thing has failed. We would rather first try; worry, anxiety, complaining and more about the situation than pray.

When we pray, we get an insight into God's perspective about what we are going through. Whenever I practise this scripture, I find I just tend to see the good or positives in situations others would give up on. So instead of worrying, pray about everything.

Let's take one more, the apostle says; "and now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippuans 4:8 NLT.

This one is huge. We are the sum product of the most dominant thoughts in us. Paul is telling us here that the responsibility is ours. We fix our thoughts.

It is also our responsibility to monitor what our thoughts are about. Use the simple test in this verse to choose your thoughts; it should be; true, honourable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise. If it does not pass any of the above test, push them aside.

I see people struggle sometimes with understanding the subject of salvation and righteousness, let's address it today with what the apostle Paul shared with the Philippians.

[8] Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ [9] and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. [10] I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death.

Philippians‬ ‭3:8‭-‬10‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

If there was ever anyone that could put confidence in his achievements both before coming to Christ and after, it would have been the apostle. But Paul said;

[7] I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

Philippians‬ ‭3:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

Essentially it come down to either trying to obtain righteousness by the perceived good works that we think we have done, or we put our trust in what Christ has done. Put beside each other, our work against Christ's, it becomes clear that our works can't save us.

"For God's way of making us right with himself depend on faith", not works.

In chapter 2 of Paul's letter to the believers in Philippi, Paul teaches us in about the power of submission. We often view submission as a weakness. Some think submission makes you inferior to the one you are submitting to. However, Paul ask us to learn from Christ.

Christ shows us that by humbling himself to the point of dying a criminals death in obedience to his Father even when he was innocent shows us the highest level of submission that we will ever see.

[6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. [9] Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians‬ ‭2:6‭-‬11‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

He was weak in the eyes of the ordinary person looking at him, but in the eyes of God, he was powerful. Because of this, God gave Christ a name that is above every other name so that everything and everyone in the universe must now bow to him.

Paul says; "you must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had." Philippians 1:5.

In today's devotional, we see the apostle Paul's recommendation for a successful marriage; submission. Submission first to Christ the head of the home, and then submission to one another. The husband is to submit to his wife, and the wife to the husband.

[21] And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:21‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

Take note that, the true head of the home is not the man, it is Christ. When a man obeys God's world and submit to his wife, he is not just submitting to her but to Christ. Exactly the same applies to the wife, when a wife refuses to submit to her husband, the person she is really rejecting and rebelling against is not him but Christ.

I understand that this truth can be somewhat confusing to most people because of what we have been taught, but listen; submission in marriage is in reverence to Christ. The question then is, what is submission because it obviously means different things to the husband and wife?

To the wives, Paul says;

[22] For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. [23] For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. [24] As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

Ephesians‬ ‭5:22‭-‬24‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

To the wife, in light of verse 21, submission means to respect, to defer to your husband. To not contend with him as he fulfils his role as the physical head of the home.

To the husband, Paul says;

[25] For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her [26] to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. [27] He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

Ephesians‬ ‭5:25‭-‬27‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

To the husband, submission to your wife means to love her inspite of her shortcomings just as Christ loved the Church and died for her despite her shortcomings. To submit to your wife means to be willing to sacrifice your very life for her.

I tell you the truth, if we would just apply this simple formula to our marriages, there was a sharp decline in marital instability and divorces. Paul concludes;

[33] So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians‬ ‭5:33‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

Submission to a husband means to respect him. While submission to your means to love her.

Did you know that every single member of the body of Christ, I mean every Christian is called and equipped to do ministry? I mean that every Christian is a minister of God. There are those who say the duty to do the work of ministry is the sole responsibility of those called into what we call the 5-fold ministries of; the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastors and teachers. But that is totally wrong and it is often due to a misreading of Ephesians 4:11-12. When read from the early translations, it sounds like those 5 are to do the work of the ministry;

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:11‭-‬12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

[11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Reading the KJV, it reads like Christ gave some the gifts of being apostles, and some teachers etc, for doing verse 12; for perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry (notice the placement of the commas), for edifying of the body of Christ. That sounds like these 5 and these 5 only, are suppose to do the work of the ministry.

Now compare it with what we read today;

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:11‭-‬12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

[11] Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. [12] Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

Here, their responsibility is actually to prepare or equip God's people to do the work of ministry.

That means, everyone reading this podcast and is a bonafide believer in Christ, is a minister.

Paul tells us here about a vital truth, the church is one body. Even though we have many unique parts, we are one. And just like the different parts of the human body, so is the church. The church will thrive and be healthy as each part, though different, does the role it has been given to do.

No one part of the body can be healthy on it's own. No one part makes up the entire body.

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:4‭-‬6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

[4] For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. [5] There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

Ephesians 4:4-6 NLT.

All of division, separations, breakups and infighting are totally unnecessary when we truly understand this Revelation.