Blameless
And Holy
May the Lord make your
love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours
does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and
holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all
his holy ones.
1
Thessalonians 3:12-13
As for other matters,
brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as
in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do
this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority
of the Lord Jesus.
It is God’s will that
you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of
you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not
in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this
matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord
will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you
before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore,
anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the
very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Now about your love for
one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught
by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family
throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and
more,
1
Thessalonians 4:1-10
People are urged to use
less energy and to decrease consumption. In the realm of faith, however, there
are no shortages of love and grace and strength. Therefore as followers of
Christ, we are urged to demonstrate His love of our lives in ever-increasing measure.
That kind of
ever-increasing love is possible only because it comes from God’s limitless
resources, not from our own dwindling supply.
Our
limited ability to love does not change God’s limitless power to love through
us.
Our
Daily Bread – November 27, 2012