Bible Study

October 9, 2025 (CSB)

2 Thessalonians 1:5 – 12 (CSB)

“Mercy verses Retaliation”

5 “It is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6 since it is just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, 8 when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength 10 on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed. 11 In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We cannot cover the complete understanding of this passage in one sitting and to often passages are taken out of context by us ministers to say what we need or want them to say. We will look at these verses for a couple of days.

There is o doubt the Church of Jesus Christ is undergoing persecution today but nothing as to what I believe it will see in the future. What believers must do is stay faithful. The promise Paul writes about in verse five that we will be counted worthy not because of what we have done but because of what Jesus has done it is His righteousness not ours. Now with that said we are not to sit idly by but our salvation is not marked by the number of doors we knock on, we are counted worthy because Jesus shed His blood for our sin and we have accepted His call upon our life to follow Him.

“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” is a quote from Romans 12:19, a Bible verse that instructs believers not to seek personal revenge for wrongs done to them, but to leave the consequences to God’s perfect and righteous judgment. That is the context of verse six, We are to be tankful for the mercy of God because without His mercy the question becomes “where would I be?”

His judgement will come to those who do not follow Him and He outlines when it will take place “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus when He comes from heaven, stay in faith when persecution comes there is a fantastic reward waiting for you.

God Bless.

Bible Study October 8, 2025

1. When you die there are one of two places you’re going to go – heaven or hell. If you do not walk with Him down below you will not walk with Him on streets of gold.
2. Critical race theory has no place in our schools If you are of a certain skin color you have no right to walk around with bias in your heart.
3. There are only two genders. A man can think what he wants in his head but that does not determine who you are.
4. Cowardice is not  fruit of the spirit.
5. Its asinine to call abortion murder is a white evangelical world view.
6. God will not only judge us for what we have done in our bodies but He is going to judge us about the way we vote. We cannot say one thing then go vote another way. We know what the Bible says.
7. Marriage can be perverted but it cannot be redefined. Two men standing before an altar is just two men standing before an altar and two women standing before an altar is just two women standing before an altar.
8. Ten mothers will never equate to one father and ten fathers will never equate to one mother.
9. The public school system hates the God of the Bible because this is true how do we expect the public school system to properly train our children.
10. You can’t be pro-abortion  and profess the name of Christ at the same time.

Here is the link if you would to watch it https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=679664057838728

God Bless.

Bible Study

October 7, 2025 (CSB)

2 Thessalonians 1:3 – 4 (CSB)

“Thanksgiving”

“We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions that you are enduring.”

There is this term pastors and others use to dig into the scriptures to determine the meaning of a verse. That term is “exegesis: which means “critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture.” What would the understanding of a believer look like if they did the same thing? Let’s look at today’s scripture with that in mind.

Paul wrote this book somewhere around 51 or 52 AD. 2025 it should mean the same today but how are we applying it? “We ought always to give thanks” is something that has not changed. But do we “count our blessings” as they say or do we take all we have for granted? Are we thankful for our faith that we have because Jesus died on the cross for our sin? Are we thankful for our friends, family, the goods that are borrowed while on this earth after all we have what we have because we are blessed?

We should feel an obligation to thank God for all He has done when things are accomplished in our lives. Paul is writing to tell them they had accomplished growth inn faith and love in his first letter to them. What three things can you be thankful for today? Express them to God.

The early church faced much persecution as is the church of today. We have false teachers in the church, we have politicians questioning religious liberty, we have false religions coming forth. The Thessalonica churched faced the same thing and Paul says they are growing in faith and love and doing it “abundantly.” How would your church feel if Paul said that to us? Is your church growing in faith? When is the last time Mark 16:14 – 18 was evidence in your (my) life, my church?

How steadfast and faithful are we to the scriptures? Tomorrow I am going to post in this Bible study ten things I heard a pastor was afraid to say from the pulpit in our churches of today. Are we thankful for pastors bold enough to speak the truth?

Be thankful, God Bless.

Bible Study

October 6, 2025 (CSB)

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12   (CSB)

“Eschatology”

“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

One of those big “theological” words that leave people scratching their heads wondering why we use such words, what does it all mean, is this meant to confuse me, and possibly who came up with these big “theological” words? Good questions when you can ail scripture and Jesus’ mission to John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” But is doesn’t hurt to look at some of these things but keeping them in perspective of the overall picture of John 3:16.

Much of Paul’s writing to the church here has to do with his expanding from the first book about the second coming of Jesus. Today a little background then tomorrow we will dive into some more scripture.

The theological term for the last days in the Bible is eschatology, it is simply the study of end-time events such as the Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment. The word “eschatology” comes from the Ancient Greek term eschatos, meaning “last,” combined with “-logy,” meaning “the study of”.

What makes up such a study? There are some elements that bear a looking at. First eschatology looks at the events associated with Jesus’ return, the resurrection of all believers as well as non-believers, His final judgment, the establishment of God’s eternal kingdom on the new earth He has promised.

There are varied views of Jesus’ second coming and the events that will occur during this period. When we have a sound biblical view of these events there is no worry about what will take place or the timing.

I believe scripture teaches Jesus will return and “rapture” His church. “Rapture” simply means “taking up” those who are believers both the dead alive at this time. We will get  ore into the events as we move forward. Plan on joining us for this study.

God Bless.

Bible Study

October 3, 2025 (CSB)

1 Thessalonians 5:23 – 28  (CSB)

“Stay in Pursuit”

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us also. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Paul concludes his letter after he has written with these words “himself sanctify you fully.” This not something we can do on our own. The sanctification or “setting apart” is done by God almighty we do not sanctify ourselves. He is the one who will bring us into completeness but we have  a part and that is to decide what we will do and where we will go.

He mentions we are to be holy in spirit, soul, and body, This where we choose where to take our body, what to put in it, what we think, how we conduct ourselves. He has called us to be faithful saying He is faithful to keep us. The God who calls will bring it to completeness, but what is our part?

Here is simple explanation. Baylee (our pit bull puppy) and I are at our RV this morning. Keep in mind these are not huge vehicles. But she is constantly following me. I cannot make the bed because she will jump on it, I go to make a cup of coffee and she is under my feet (of which she is not much help as I pursue my coffee) but I enjoy her company. She watches me brush my teeth, Right know she is sitting on the couch watching me type this study.

My point is this – if we pursued God as Baylee pursues me where would we be? Every step we take, we take with Him, every cup of coffee we make we make with Him, every thought that captivates our mind ends with a praise for all He has done. Where would we be?

God Bless.

Bible Study

October 2, 2025 (CSB)

1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 23 (CSB)

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy”

6 “Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Bobby McFerrin wrote a simple song called “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Part of the lyrics are “Don’t worry, Be happy, In every life we have some trouble.” Many would be thankful for “a little trouble” but life does not always give us little trouble. How we handle it makes the difference.

Paul wrote the same thing when he said, “give thanks in everything.” Now I will be the first to say not everything is good but there is good in all things. He told the Romans that in Romans 8:28. How we deal with the issues of life is important.

We all know people who are constant complainers never enjoying a happy moment. Paul says “give thanks.” When we complain and gripe we are giving the adversary an inroad into our lives. In fact, I would equate complaining with evil thoughts and we are told in verse twenty-two to avoid “every kind of evil.” We deal with enough issues to not create additional ones that interfere with our joy.

Paul is saying there are three characteristics of true believers: joy (16), prayer (17), and thanksgiving (18). If we concentrated on those three we have little time to complain. These three characteristics are to be done “constantly.”

If we were to take one day and spend time in prayer, looking for joy and thanksgiving think how much better we all would be – think how much better you would be – I would be. Try it today and then tomorrow.

God Bless.

Bible Study

October 1, 2025 (CSB)

1 Thessalonians 5:12 – 15 (CSB)

“Counsel Requires Great Wisdom”

“Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we exhort you, brothers and sisters: warn those who are idle, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.”

Each of the churches Paul wrote to was unique. This church for example the apostles was teaching them concerning a variety of issues beginning with the church’s relationship with its immerging leadership.

In the Greek and Roamn society leadership was based on status and social work while the leadership in Thessalonica was based on the hard work they did for the congregation. The Thessalonians should honor their leadership and work to live in harmony with one another.

It takes great wisdom to shepherd God’s people. Part of that responsibility to understand the different seasons of a person’s life. For those who are idle Paul says we should warn them. Comfort them and work with them when they are out of fellowship with Jesus.

The discouraged are the disheartened those in danger of giving up. There were most likely many because of the persecution the church endured and the deaths of other believers. The “weak” who may have suffered or who are suffering from some type of illness or those who had no social status or power such as a slave. But we should not stop here; we should exercise patience toward everyone. As you can see there were many opportunities.

Part of the teaching concerning relationships was that of non-retaliation. This was an important topic concerning these people because of surrounding community and internal problems within the body. Paul, like Jesus counsels the church to do good to the one who caused the offense.

God Bless.

Bible Study

September 29, 2025 (CSB)

1 Thessalonians 5:6 – 11 (CSB)

“We Will Live With Him If…”

“So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.”

Paul has spoken of the return of Jesus from our previous study and now he is talking to the believers. We have come from the darkness into the light from sleeping in sin and destruction to the light of a new life in Christ. As believers we are awake. Be alive, live a balanced life, living under the control of what God directs.

We are to face life with the armor (some versions ay breastplate) but we are to face the issues of life straight on without reservation knowing God has our backs. When Paul speaks of the whole armor of God in Ephesians six he mentions nothing about covering our back. Why? Because are not to run from battle but stand firm in the battle knowing God is working in the situation for us.

The wrath that Paul is referring to here is the wrath of eternal punishment being separated from God as he is talking about salvation which is eternal for the believer.

When he says “awake or asleep” this goes back tot ha analogy of 4:13 -15. It refers to being physically alive or dead one day we will live together with the One who died for our sin as our substitute.

God Bless.