2 Thessalonians 1

http://www.esvbible.org/2+Thessalonians+1/

Paul, Silas, and Timothy identify themselves as the authors of this letter to the Church at Thessalonica. They also talk about how they are united with the church in Jesus. This is true of all Christians. As long as we hold true to our belief that Christ died to save us from our sins and rose again on the third day, we are united. We are with all of the people who are out there right now ministering to, helping, or loving others. And likewise, we are backed by the entire Christian population of the world when we do these things and just all of the time. Essentially, nothing for Christ can get done without Him, and since we are in Him when we do it, and all of the other believers are in Him, we all do the works together. This is one of the reasons that Paul says in many of his letters to churches that we should encourage on another because we are all the body of Christ. After that, Paul continues with his normal, cheerful introduction with God's grace. This is not something to make light of. It is huge that God extends His grace to us because with the way things going as we deserve, God should condemn us all to Hell for eternity. Instead, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in one of the most excruciatingly painful ways so that He would take on the sins of the world and allow us to live in Heaven for eternity if we just accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and work to end our sinful behavior.

As usual, Paul starts with a prayer. We can bring this example into our own lives as well. Begin with a prayer. When you wake up in the morning, pray to God, and it will begin to make a difference in your life and the way you spend your day. Pray before all moments whether they're tests, speeches, presentations, seeing friends, eating, or ministering to someone. We should start with prayer. Paul, Silas, and Timothy pray for the Thessalonians in thanksgiving because they're faith grows stronger, and their love for on another increases. They even say they brag in other churches about how much the Thessalonians suffer. According to these three, suffering means that God's judgement is right and the church is doing God's will. If we start doing so, we will suffer because it is human nature to sin. As soon as we start doing something out of the ordinary by following God's will and doing good, we will face persecution from those who refuse to change. On the other side, God will give suffering to those that cause us suffering. Additionally, He will relieve us of our suffering. The main example given here is when Christ comes again. At this point, the letter takes a somewhat dark, but amazing and fantastical turn. The authors describe it as Jesus coming down from Heaven in fire with an army of angels. He will punish all of those that refuse to glorify the one true God and vanquish them, sending them to Hell where they will experience eternal separation from God. On this same day, He will be honored by all of those who glorify Him and His name. Paul says that with all that in minds, he prays that God will show the Thessalonians His will for them and to fill them with good desires and help them with their acts. Then, by honoring the good will of Christ, He will honor them.