"More & More"

You can never get enough of a good thing! Recently, some girlfriends and I ordered a chocolate dessert at a restaurant. (We decided to be “healthy” and split the double chocolate fudge gooey brownie sundae 3 ways…that’s a little bit of an oxymoron!) The waiter gave us a cup of fudge sauce to drizzle on our grand finale to dinner. Wow! Our taste buds were thrilled! But once we had scraped the little cup dry, we looked at each other with the same expression…our eyes and smiles said one word… “More!” After our request, the patient waiter blessed us again with another cup of fudge sauce! Needless to say, he received a great tip! As I said before, you can never get enough of a good thing! The Thessalonians were doing some good things when Paul wrote them a letter around 50 A.D. In chapter four of 1 Thessalonians, he commended them of living lives that were pleasing to God (vs. 1), and showing brotherly love to others (vs. 10). But, he didn’t stop there- he said, “More!” “Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more” (vs. 2) & “Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so (showing love) more and more” (vs. 10). Paul challenged them to continue moving forward…living holy lives…pleasing God more and more and more and more and… While I was home this week, my dad challenged me with these same words…to keep on living for Him more and more. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that I read these verses of Scripture and was reminded that we have to continually ask, challenge, and urge each other to keep on keeping on in the Christian life...to never become weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9). You can never get enough of a good thing! Challenge one another today…don’t settle…live, serve, and love God “more and more!”

what is your destiny?

“It’s your destiny”- yeah, you hear that a lot in Hollywood movies- and usually it is surrounded by fame, glamour, and beauty. What is your destiny? But, Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 3:3 that trials are a part of a believer’s destiny. We were destined (intended, meant, ordained, designed) for hardship. Why? Because that is how God’s glory is going to be revealed. That is how is strength is made known most clearly. That is how His grace is proven that it is more than sufficient! The next time you hear, “What is your destiny?” Don’t picture Hollywood lights, fame, and fortune. Remember, Jesus’ destiny: He was born in an animal stable, he was the son of a carpenter, he had no place to lay his head, he was born to die…not so glamorous- but, oh, so eternal, so life-changing, so worth it.