2 THESSALONIANS 1:4

Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

TO PONDER

Christ will return. His return will bring relief and rest to those who face difficulties, challenges or even persecution.   But it will also bring judgment to the ungodly. For the one it will bring glory, for the other eternal destruction. By God’s power, we will go on producing those qualities of Christian character that are fitting for those whom God has called. Such character will bring honour to Christ now and will reach its full expression in the age to come, but it is also an encouragement to other members of Christ's body. Our endurance in the faith can inspire and uplift those who are also experiencing difficulty in life. This is why we must endure in the gospel, so that it might do its work in our lives and also reach into the lives of others.

PRAYER

We pray to continue to grow in faith, love, and endurance, in spite of the constant trouble and persecution we face.  We want to keep moving forward confident in the knowledge that you use our suffering to refine our faith and trust in you, to develop our character and to mould us into the likeness of Jesus so that the world might see him reflected more clearly in us. Amen

Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping