WHY GOD? WHY?

Invest in goodness

Goodness is the only investment that never fails. 

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Peter, one of the original disciples of Jesus spoke about goodness, and how Jesus called us through His goodness.

1 Peter 1:3-8

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Peter said, we should “make every effort” to add goodness to our faith.

Are you adding goodness to your faith? Do you practice self-control, perseverance and godliness?

I know I fail miserably at these tasks on more days than I care to confess, but, I do try every day to be the person He requires me to be – the person who picks up my cross daily and follows His instructions to live life as a 24-7 committed follower of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I challenge you today to make the commitment to life as He intended. I challenge you to pray the Prayer of Salvation, which you can find at www.RetreatToBelief.com, and then do what you have committed – Follow Him.

My prayer for you today is that you will accept Jesus and that you will follow Him. Why? Because tomorrow may be too late. None of us are guaranteed the next minute, least of all the next hour or day on this earth. Amen

Today's quote

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.  
Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

Trust Him because God is always on time

Thessalonica today.

When we pray,

God hears more than we say,

Answers more than we ask,

Gives more than

We can imagine,

In His own time,

And in his own way.

So true. 

As most of you know, the apostle Paul shared the reason for prayer with the believers in Thessalonica. Find the text of his instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

History: According to Nelson’s Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible, Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia situated on the Thermaic Gulf and was a chief seaport of Macedonia. The city was founded at approximately 315 B.C. by Cassander, who populated the new city with people from 26 villages he destroyed. Cassander named the city after his wife who was the sister of Alexander the Great. The Egnatian Way, the main overland trade route of the day, ran from Rome through Thessalonica. 

Paul visited the city around 49 A.D. during his second missionary journey (find the account in Acts 17:1-9 NKJV). Paul’s visit created an enthusiastic group of Jesus followers. Members of the Jewish synagogue, gentiles and many former pagans joined in worship of Jesus Christ, embracing the Good News brought to the city by Paul, Silas and Timothy as recorded in 1 Thessalonians 1:1 NIV.

My prayer for you today – May the Lord bless you and keep you in His loving arms now and forever more. Amen.

Editor's note: Special thanks to the God Vine Facebook page for the poem that begins today's blog post.