How to move head knowledge to the heart – 1 Thessalonians 2:13

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1 Thessalonians 2:13

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

My core struggle in life is searching for comfort. My head knowledge knows that the only source of true comfort is God, as everything else on this earth is fleeting and could be taken at any moment. Replace ‘comfort’ in those two sentences with ‘identity’, and that might be your story. Replace ‘comfort’ with ‘joy’ or ‘satisfaction’ and that might be your story.

Although we are all searching for different things in our lives, the answer, I believe, is always Jesus. It’s unfortunate, I think, for kids that have grown up in the church (like myself), that we have so much head knowledge about where to find what we are looking for to fill the deep, dark recesses of our heart, but we are unable to shift that head knowledge to our hearts. I have seen it time and time again; friends and family with incredible head knowledge about Jesus and God, but they fall away because they do nothing to move their head knowledge to their heart. So how do we move our head knowledge to our hearts?

I think the only way we can do it is through putting our complete reliance in God for everything. As in: My core struggle is searching for comfort. To rely on God for my comfort means that I should be willing to throw every other piece of comfort on Earth away and still feel comfort because I find my comfort in him who is not of this Earth. People with head knowledge often fall away because they see people around them with the same head knowledge, but without actions that show they have their reliance in God.

Putting our reliance in God for everything is a risk for us humans, but I think it is ultimately the most rewarding way to live life: If you find your joy, comfort, identity and satisfaction in God and rely on him for everything, what on Earth could possibly bring you down?

ASK YOURSELF: What am I searching for in life? How is that search visible in my day-to-day actions and activities?

Dear God, I need your help. I need you to be the center of my life for which everything else revolves around. Help me stay aware of your presence around me and you promptings to put my reliance on you. Amen.

The Wrath of God – Romans 1:18

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Romans 1:18

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness

The first reading of this verse raises two questions in my mind: What is the wrath of God? When is the wrath of God coming?

The wrath of God can’t sound pleasant to anyone who is an enemy of God. God is an all powerful deity, and the definition of ‘wrath’ is extreme anger. An extremely angry, all powerful deity is intense, and it certainly is intense when it comes to God. But the difference between the definition of wrath and God’s wrath is that God isn’t reacting out of a loss of emotional control. Instead, God has set up laws that guide us fallible humans into a stronger relationship with him. It is seen in the Old Testament that when the Mosaic laws weren’t followed, God would inflict his wrath upon people. At a few times in history, like at the city of Sodom (Genesis 19) or the threat to the city of Nineveh (Jonah), God’s wrath was supernatural and immediate. Paul believes that God’s wrath will once again come at the end of time at the ultimate judgement.

There are arguments made, however, that God’s wrath can be seen in the events that have taken place in history (even modern history), and events that are taking place now; that all the bad things that happen now are a result of God showing us a minuscule portion of his wrath that is to come on the day of judgement.

That’s a pretty sobering thought for almost everyone; the bad things and situations that happen to us on earth as a result of sin are but a blip of the suffering to come. But it also offer us hope that because of the Gospel, we have the opportunity to experience God’s grace and avoid his wrath and have an ever lasting relationship with him!

ASK YOURSELF: What difficulties do you have in your life? What difficulties do your friends and family have in their lives? What are you willing to do to help them see that a relationship with the one, true God will change their lives forever?

Dear God, I pray for the people in the world that are struggling to recognize you as a just God; capable of wrath but also of grace. Bring Christians across their path and open their eyes to see your love for them. Amen.