"Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other."
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
Just today I was talking to someone about the pressure our pastors are under. I can't put a statistic on this, not sure there is one but because I was one, I will speak: too many believers don't feed themselves spiritually therefore today's pastors are expected to be the sole spiritual nourishment of the believer. The weight of that allow is very heavy. There are other pressures these godly men and women face; financial accountability, congregational harmony, leadership of "worship style" (What a debate!-won't go there.), walking in holiness under the microscope of others, just to name a few.
Paul was fond of and in support of church leadership. He put elders in place before he left each location. I wonder if our friend had heard some rumblings of unfair or harsh treatment of local leaders. He asked the people of Thessonlica to do a personal favor: say thank you to those who lead you.
Why don't we follow Paul's wise counsel? Send a card, text, tweet, email or even call one of your spiritual leaders and thank them for their hard work. Share your appreciation with them. Perhaps the Amplified version of today's key verses will spur you on.
Now also we beseech you, brethren, get to know those who labor among you [recognize them for what they are, acknowledge and appreciate and respect them all]--your leaders who are over you in the Lord and those who warn and kindly reprove and exhort you. And hold them in very high and most affectionate esteem in [intelligent and sympathetic] appreciation of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
I gotta sign-off now. I have some appreciation to express.
11 Comments:
Wendy, I want to say thank you to you for your leadership and obedience to lead us this year and in the upcoming year. This has been a wonderful year reading through God's Word and I know next year will be even better :) I will make sure I encourage my Pastor today in some way. What you said about living under a microscope stuck with me. They are human too, they are people too and just as capable of falling. Because they are examples I am sure they get attacked even more, Satan just loves to see those in leadership fall. Anything to discredit the name of Christ.
When I was reading today's reading I marked some verses with the word "prayer." Verses that I want to pray over myself and others.
2 Thess. 1:11-12: Lord, may You enable me to live a life worthy of Your calling. May You give me the power to accomplish all the good things that my faith prompts me to do. May the name of my Lord Jesus be honored because of the way I live.
2 Thess. 3:5: May You lead my heart Lord into a full understanding and expression of Your love. Grant me patient endurance that can only come from You.
May I always be joyful, never stop praying and always be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
Have a great day sisters. I am going Christmas shopping today. Should be fun :)
Love,
Brandee, TN
Wendy, how my heart resounds with this word. I have often sent our Pastor or ministry leaders notes of encouragement or little gifts just to say I appreciate them. I think a Pastor's role is extremely difficult and demanding, yet they answer God's call willingly and serve faithfully. I also have a real heart for the Pastor's wife. This too is a high calling, and it's hard. I've heard many a Pastor's wife share that they find it almost impossible to have a really close friend within the church. Women can be so unkind with their tongues and gossip gallops around gatherings. So many expectations are also placed on them and they too are just human. Thank you for this encouragement today to show appreciation to those who help guide our lives spiritaully.
I was taken today by the following verse: "They asked him to stay longer, but he declined." Acts 18:20
Everything is going well. Paul loved the people of Ephesus. The door was open for further ministry. Yet Paul declined their invitation to remain. His life was surrendered to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The driving force behind his response was not his own desires or rationalizations. Although he may have longed to remain, he surrendered to the Lord’s leading.
Do you have a difficult time saying ‘no’ when a request is presented? My twin sister and I are exact opposites when it comes to responding to these inquiries. She is quick to say ‘yes’. I’m quick to say ‘no’. Neither is correct. So often the longing to please people or please self takes preference over God’s priorities.
One thing I have learned over the last few years is that just because a need exists, doesn’t mean God has called me to fill that need.
When a request seems honourable and good, we assume God wants us to step in and say ‘yes’, but have we even spent time seeking His will in the matter? What about when we’re presented with a great opportunity? We still must be convinced the open door is meant for us. We must still seek God’s heart and trust Him when circumstances seem to be guiding us in new directions and things seem to be a perfect fit. Our ‘yes’ or ‘no’ must be God’s answer.
We’re going to see in tomorrows reading that God had already planned who would fill the ministry position that Paul’s vacancy opened. God had His next chosen person in place. May this serve as a warning to us not to respond too quickly just because a need appears. If the Lord is prompting our spirit and we know we must answer the call, then do so with God’s blessing, but if we have any hesitation, let’s be careful to be in prayer, listening for God’s confirmation, before we take a position that God designed specifically for another. If it's in obedience to God, don't be afraid to say 'no'.
Blessings to you all today, and especially to Wendy in appreciation for all you do to help keep our eyes focused on God,
Joy
PS. Wendy, glad you listened to God's heart and said 'yes'. :)
Wendy, If everyone could live out your Words, and these verses our churches today would be able to do much more to further His Kingdom. Can you even begin to imagine the power if everyone would come together in unison and forget about the bickering, and many times it is over the songs, for crying out loud! Thankfully, our pastor touches on this throughout the year to remind us. He is so humble that it is just impossible not to respect him. The enemy has his way of coming in to churches; that is why so many fall apart. He hits the leader's in anyway he can, to try and get them to slip off the path and lose their focus. And, simultaneously, he's after the congregation, getting them stirred up about something! I don't think he closes his eyes either! They are looming all over, ready to pounce at any second! If the congregation could shower those in leadership and those volunteering with love and thanks, it would go a long way! God does not like it when we talk negatively re: our leaders. It's sin of the worst kind.
Brandee, just loved your comments and many of your verses I highlighted as well, thinking these are the BEST verses to use in prayer! 2 Thes. 1:11-LOVE this!!!
Wouldn't ya just love to sit and listen to Paul preach? He just has a way of saying it that is easy to understand. Today he begs of us to:
*honor our leaders
*live peaceably
*encourage the timid
*care for the weak
**do good
*be joyful
*pray
His final greeting: Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. Jehova-shalom, The LORD Is Peace. What a blessing we are promised. What a God we serve!
Blessings, Lori - AZ
I hear you Wendy. My brother is a pastor so I know first hand how sometimes the impossible is expected of them. And also their wives. They are human. They are tempted. We need to lift our pastors in prayer and offer encouragement to them whenever we can.
One verse I underlined was 1 Thess.5:18. "Be thankful IN all circumstances." In, not for. Right now I have way too many friends suffering with terminal cancer, and keeping a thankful heart is difficult. But there's a big difference from being thankful IN versus FOR something. May God remind me of that daily.
Thanks Wendy for teaching and leading us!
Happy Tuesday
Morgen - MN
Let us all pray for the Body of Christ, every member is necessary to reach the harvest field that is so plenteous.
Father, In Jesus name.
Enable us to live a life worthy of your call. Give us the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts us to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way we live, and you will be honored along with us. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Amen,
Debbie - North Carolina
Wendy,thank you for the hard work and spiritual guidance you have given us - if you only knew how much God has prepared me for all the events that have unfolded this year through this study.
"I used to ask God if He would come and help me; then I asked God if I might come and help Him; then I ended by asking God to do His own work through me." –Hudson Taylor
Thank you for letting God do His own work through you.
Blessings, sweet sister -
Susan
PS Brandee, loved the verses to pray over.
Susan
I love your quote. I will have to borrow it, if you don't mind.
W
Hi Wendy,
Thanks so much for this Post!
I have a prayer request posted on my blog. Please take a minute and pray with me about this matter.
Love ya!
Pamela
Wendy, this is for you, but be sure and grab some tissues before you start reading.
Thank You For Giving To The Lord
I dreamed I went to heaven
and You were there with me
We walked upon the streets of gold
Beside the crystal sea.
We heard the angels singing
Then someone called your name.
You turned and saw this young man
And he was smiling as he came.
And he said, "Friend you may not know me now"
And then he said, "But wait"
You used to teach my Sunday School
When I was only eight.
And every week you would say a prayer
Before the class would start.
And one day when you said that prayer
I asked Jesus in my heart."
(Chorus)
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.
Then another man stood before you
And said, "Remember the time
A missionary came to your church
And his pictures made you cry.
You didn't have much money
But you gave it anyway.
Jesus took the gift you gave
And that's why I am here today."
(Chorus)
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.
One by one they came
Far as the eye could see
Each life somehow touched
By your generosity.
Little things that you had done
Sacrifices made.
Unnoticed on the earth
In heaven now proclaimed.
And I know up in heaven
You're not supposed to cry.
But I am almost sure
There were tears in your eyes.
As Jesus took your hand
And you stood before the Lord.
He said, "My child look around you.
Great is your reward."
(Chorus twice)
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.
© Copyright 1988 Gather Music/ASCAP All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission
You have made such a difference is so many lives this year. Thank you from the bottom of my heart...and looking forward to even more growth in the Lord next year.
Jan TN
Dear all,
It is 5:00 am in Basel and I arrived back last night after a week and a half in CA. It is the last trip where I will enter the US and list my old CA address as the place I will stay. The house is a mess as we get ready to put it on the market. I am counting the days until my husband joins me here (Dec. 12). There is so little left there and as I sat in my former house, with paint cloths all around, plastic hanging from every surface, belongings that we will donate piled in corners, I was reminded of the transformation that happens inside of us when we accept Christ. We are resurfaced, cleaned, repaired, made new from the inside out. We become desirable to others. We are viewed with critical eyes; people asking "is this where I want to be too?"
It's messy and uncomfortable, this process of transformation. Many times we sit among the mess and want nothing more than to flee it. We want the process to be over. But it is only by sitting among the mess and taking stock of the changes that the transformation is complete. I want a new inner house. I want the transformation to be complete. I want others when they come to look at me to see desirable attributes that make them want to be there too.
As a result of my trip to CA, I fell behind on my reading. I have spent the last day or two (in airport lounges and in my living room) catching up on the readings and on all of your wonderful comments! The Spirit is strong and active in all of you! I really loved all the discussion on prayer!
Susan and Diane, I am SO GLAD you both met up and were able to put bloggy faces to names! I know that your time together was full of love and fellowship. How special that you could truly share each others burdens!
Wendy, your post on praying for our leaders really struck home with me. Our church in CA is going through a very difficult time and there are lots of accusations being made and many hurting people! There is some belief that (as Paul warned in a previous reading) the leaders are getting the glory and not God. I ask for your prayers for that congregation and its leaders. I am not sure there is a good solution to any of this and I think some separations will occur that I wish wouldn't. But God has a plan and it is a perfect plan for all involved. He will see to the strengthening and renewal of His Church and He will send effective leaders to places that need them. We only need to listen and obey.
Still catching up, I'm on Monday's reading. But thank you again everyone for all of your spectacular insights!
Karen, Basel
"today's pastors are expected to be the sole spiritual nourishment" that is so TRUE!! Thank you for reminding us to say thank you... we forget that if we don't encourage, all they may hear is criticism.
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