1  Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you. For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief. For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.

For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

9  For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-9

Someone shared the above scripture with me this morning, and verse 9 caught my eye in particular, because my reading this morning included …

Doesn’t the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?
What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?  What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory.

Romans 9:21-23

God has prepared good works for us to do for His glory .
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.

Because the God of all creation has prepared good works for us to do, we should walk in faith, knowing that there will be result for Gods glory as we do what He has prepared for us each day. What it will be we may not have any idea yet, and we may not know for many days or years, but this doesn’t matter if we do or don’t know, but what matters is that we are prepared every morning to share the truth of the gospel with whoever we meet. Living it even if there is no opportunity to speak it, and speaking it in love when there is opportunity with whoever comes across our path. God may not tell us what will come today, but He does tell us to be prepared. We need to go into each day with the helmet of salvation which has been guaranteed and given by God through Christ which guards us from the doubts of our flesh, and the sword of the Spirit (Word of God) which is the weapon that the Holy Spirit of God helps us to use to divide between truth and lie; and the shield of faith that protects us against the fiery darts of the enemy, who wants us to question God’s goodness to us by bringing doubt, pride and self centeredness just like he did in the garden with Eve, and as he tried to do in the wilderness when tempting Christ.

But through Christ, we are more than conquerors.

We can do all this because God has blessed us with His help through Christ’s blood; we’re children of God, heirs of His kingdom! So that with God being for us we can walk out into the day with boldness and humility fully trusting in Him and seeing His hand in the matters of this world and opportunities through eyes of faith; the world can’t see these things presently, but they may yet if God opens their eyes.

Until the Lord Jesus returns, we’ll walk in the joy of our salvation with hope each day through Christ who strengths us!

“For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.“

1 Thessalonians 5:5

APO 5July2020

Picture (Strathgordon) supplied by Reuben O, Thanks!